Neighbor 4 Neighbor Growing in Rossmoor Highlands

Special to LosAlamitos.Patch.com

Ever increasing numbers of neighbors in the Rossmoor Highlands area of Los Alamitos embrace the concept of banding together to prepare for potential disasters utilizing Neighbor 4 Neighbor.

Accepting the working definition of disaster as any time needs exceed resources, residents gathered Sunday, Nov. 13 to form street-by-street alliances to look out for each other on an ongoing basis as well as to share training and resources that could prove valuable in a disaster situation.

Pattie Laird has been the driving force pulling together interested neighbors to form the organizing committee that produced the recent three-hour “Meet and Greet,” the second of three such events for the tract.  Support came from the Los Alamitos Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), West Orange County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), Southern California Edison (SCE), A-Plus Survival Products, and Marx Bros. Fire Extinguisher Sales and Service. Krista Hall tracked all the plans and acted as the point person.

“Providing opportunities for our neighborhood to pool talents and resources to increase our chances of withstanding and recovering from a disaster” is the stated intention of Neighbor 4 Neighbor, according to Laird.  “When neighbors pledge to trust each other and work together, amazing things get done.”

Fire Captain Vince Carpino of OCFA emphasized the need for citizens to prepare to be their own first responders when a disaster hits because police and fire personnel will not be able to quickly respond to every request for aid.  He noted the importance of storing water and food in advance of needing it, pointing to the recent South County power outage as an example of unexpected things that can happen.

Volunteer block captains look after residents on each street, and already are gathering information and setting plans for additional get-togethers and on-going communication.

Many residents expressed interest in CERT training as a great way to develop important disaster preparedness and response skills.   The course includes disaster preparation, team organization, basic fire suppression, light search and rescue procedures, disaster medical skills, disaster psychology and the national incident command system. (Interested parties can contact westcountycert@yahoo.com for additional information.)

Two SCE employees, James Head and Jessica Ritchey, volunteered their time to teach electrical safety to kids and parents alike utilizing an interactive display showing how to be careful around wires and transformers.  Small sparks and sudden buzzing sounds punctuated their points about unsafe acts.

Rich Gates of A-Plus Survival displayed various disaster supplies, water purification bottles being the most popular, and Ed Pacheco of Marx Bros. serviced and refilled fire extinguishers, and sold extinguishers to those who needed them.

The second of three events planned for the closely-knit tract, organizers were excited that an estimated 75-100 people participated in the neighborhood pot-luck affair..

Event number three is in the planning stage and will be held for south tract residents after the first of the year.