What happens if ‘The Big One’ or another natural disaster strikes Portland?
Neighborhood Emergency Teams are here to help
A Portland NET in training
We know that city emergency response personnel will be overwhelmed and unable to provide all the assistance necessary during such an event. Fortunately, Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) has created neighborhood emergency teams (NET) to step up during emergencies—whether catastrophic events like earthquakes or more common challenges like heat waves and ice storms, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
My name is Jessica Vaughan (she/her), and I’m the team lead for the newly rekindled and expanding Boise/Eliot/Humboldt NET. I live and work in the Boise Neighborhood and am one of the 30 active members in our tri-neighborhood cohort. We meet every other month, working as a self-led team committed to keeping our community safe and prepared.
NET members are trained to:
Be self-sufficient for two weeks during an emergency.
Provide emergency assistance to their family and immediate neighbors.
Work within an emergency response team to save lives and property in their neighborhood.
Guide untrained volunteers who want to help others during a disaster.
If you have a passion for community and any of this sounds interesting to you, please consider applying to become a member of our local NET. The trainings are free. The knowledge you gain is not just valuable to you, but to our whole neighborhood.
The next Basic NET Training session will start January 25, 2025.
Once you pass the introductory quiz, PBEM will notify you of upcoming training cohorts that fit your schedule. Learn more about BNT and register for the next training session.
Written by Jessica Vaughan, a Boise neighborhood resident and Team Lead for the Boise Eliot Humboldt NET.