glostamon
NES Member
Safety in a bag
Seniors' council helps prepare for an emergency with evacuation bags
By Quinn Allen-Wardell
Staff Writer
If you had to evacuate quickly, in the face of a flood, a hurricane or some other emergency, would you have enough things together to evacuate safely, and effectively?
The Gloucester Council on Aging's TRIAD Council is hoping to help local seniors plan for that type of emergency. The council is initiating an emergency evacuation bag program, and making the bags available for Gloucester seniors age 60 and over. And beginning Tuesday, the council will be paying visits to various local senior housing facilities in hopes of promoting evacuation awareness and preparedness.
Using donated money from local businesses, the council has purchased 500 emergency backpacks, each carefully designed to fit an assortment of essentials. In case of a fire, flood, or natural disaster, seniors can grab their emergency bag with minimal effort, and quickly evacuate the building.
"In a state of panic," TRIAD's project coordinator Peter Jenner said, "many seniors do not know what to take or how to react. The Emergency Kits allow them to grab a simple bag, get out safely, and keep a peace of mind."
The Council hopes that the bags will prevent occurrences like the confusion that seceded the Poplar Park flood scare in May 2006, during which dozens of elderly Gloucester residents were left without many of their essential items, such as medications, glasses and hearing aides.
One of the backpack's smartest features is its easy-to-use wheeled capability. "Some of the senior citizens in Gloucester would not be able to carry a heavy pack out of a building," Jenner said, "so we chose a rolling backpack."
The council and retired Gloucester Public Health Nurse Sunny Robinson will travel to five different senior housing facilities, and plan to host a general meeting at the Rose Baker Senior Center in May. The bags will be available at a cost of $5 each.
Jenner said he believes it will take some time to reach the majority of Gloucester's senior public.
"There are over 6,000 senior citizens in Gloucester alone, and many more around Cape Ann," he said. "It may take years to reach them all, but the effect we'll have will be profound."
Gloucester's TRIAD council has become the first TRIAD in Essex County to initiate an emergency bag program, and estimates that the idea will catch on quickly. "A bag like this is essential for all elderly people whether in assisted living, or at home," Jenner said. "Every community should provide some sort of evacuation kit like this, and before too long, this could become a reality."
Emergency bag
distribution