Yesterday’s Obama rally was historic, and the record turnout of 75,000 people was only one reason. During the last election, a comparatively smaller rally for John Kerry (45,000) on a hot day led to over 100 heat injuries, with fire personnel having great difficulty finding people in the crowd or getting them out. Given the chance for a similar medical scenario yesterday, POEM activated the Woodlawn Neighborhood Emergency Team to coordinate a first aid response. Woodlawn NET recruited members from all of the associated neighborhoods around station 14.

It was a long hot day, especially for the medical strike teams that went out into the massive crowds with water. The need never ended, we continued to hand out water (entire gallons to families and groups) until the park was mostly emptied out. Andrew Ayers from the Woodlawn team estimated that the 5 pallets of water distributed represented 1,600 gallons of water, weighing 13,000lbs.

Special thanks go out to the Portland Water Bureau, which donated and delivered 8 pallets of water to our aid station. Dan from the Obama campaign was an amazing event manager as well, quickly providing everything we needed, from metal barricades to our own port-a-potty. Obama volunteers were also a critical component in preventing heat injury, about 20 of them continually took water/cups out into the blocks-long lines and into the crowd to keep people hydrated. It was inspirational to watch so many people seeing a common need and pitching in to help out.

The real measure of success was the fact that there were only a handful of serious cases for the fire bureau and paramedics to deal with, and we only had 3 individuals brought to the NET aid station for shade/cooling. Quite an achievement and a stark contrast to what happened at the Kerry rally. Thanks go out to the amazing team which mobilized for the better part of Sunday.

Steve Gough, a Eugene resident who attended the rally, wrote in to the NET program website on Monday following the rally: “I attended the Obama rally yesterday, and I was very concerned about the potential problems for heat related injuries. While standing in line for over 3 hours, I could tell that most people did not come prepared with enough water. Your group saved lives yesterday. You are to be commended for a fantastic job. You were very well prepared and totally organized.”

If you are interested in learning more about the City’s free Neighborhood Emergency Team Program, visit www.pdxprepared.NET

Several of your Woodlawn neighbors have completed the city’s free Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) training. What is NET, you say? NET teams are made up of citizens trained by the Portland Office of Emergency Management and Portland Fire & Rescue to provide emergency disaster assistance within their own neighborhood. NET members receive basic training on how to save lives and property until the professionals can arrive. The training also provides useful information about how to prepare your own family/household.

The idea behind NET is to equip a group of people in every neighborhood with the skills to help their neighbors without getting hurt themselves. The Office of Emergency Management may also activate NETs in the event of a more localized city disaster such as flooding. NET members also recruit neighbors for NET training, organize Team operations, and help assure that all households in their area are prepared for any citywide emergency. The Woodlawn NET team has identified upper Woodlawn Park (NE Dekum & NE Bellevue) as the primary staging site where trained team members report to in the event of a major catastrophe. The alternate site (should the primary be unsuitable at the time of a catastrophe) is the Woodlawn Methodist Church (NE 15th & Dekum). Primary and alternate sites are required and approved by the Office of Emergency Management. In the event that the NET self-activates after a catastrophic event, or is activated by the Office of Emergency Management, NET team members will organize at the primary staging site.

The Woodlawn NET welcomes new team members of all abilities and anyone over 14 who lives or works in the City of Portland is welcome to take the training. The Office of Emergency Management and Portland Fire & Rescue teach the free NET training one weekday evening or Sat morning class per week over eight-weeks. The next training is scheduled for this spring (2008). You can register on-line at: http://www.pdxprepared.NET or by calling the NET information line at the Portland Office of Emergency Management, (503) 823-1260.

If you would like to know more about the Woodlawn NET, contact Ethan Jewett, team leader, at WoodlawnNET(at)gmail.com