By Dongyun Kwon
Healesville community members have gathered voluntarily to make the community more prepared for emergencies.
Healesville Community Emergency Hub (HCEH) aims to be a place for the community to coordinate its efforts to help each other during and after any disaster by sharing information and resources.
HCEH coordinating member Rachael Davidson said strong and connected communities would be better prepared to respond to and recover from disasters.
“As Healesville has experienced throughout its history, the community naturally comes together to support one another after a disaster,” she said.
“In a major emergency, emergency services and the council need to prioritise the most urgent issues, so it is likely that for the first few days, we may need to pitch in and help each other.
“The hub is a designated place where people can gather, connect with one another and solve problems using the skills and resources which already exist among us.”
HCEH is designed to be run by volunteers.
“Any community member is welcome to offer their help. You don’t have to be an expert in anything,” Ms Davidson said.
“We’re going to connect lots of groups in the community so that people can get help in the right way.
“The hub would have a role in communicating with the emergency management team in the Yarra Ranges Council (YRC).”
The hub will be only activated in emergencies and it remains the standby on ordinary days.
Rather than being in a set location, volunteers will set up a hub near the disaster in case of emergency.
“For example, if there were trees down and people in Badger Creek were isolated, we could stand a hub up in Badger Creek, so that people, who are affected, can easily access,” Ms Davidson said.
Another coordinating member Bruce Argyle said they had gotten the idea from the successful models in New Zealand.
“They have successful hubs as part of the response to earthquakes. Quite often in earthquakes, no one can get into the town because roads are damaged,” he said.
“So the community has to rely on itself.”
HCEH now has about a dozen members with the support from the YRC.
“We’re working very closely with the council. They’re very supportive of this. We also got a Regional Community Recovery Committees grant,” Ms Davidson said.
“It [HCEH] is also linked with the Healesville Community Emergency Group which was set up after the bushfires in 2015 or 2016,” Mr Argyle said.
HCEH is still in the planning stage.
“We want to let people know if they want to get involved to help and be part of our group, they are more than welcome to come and help us with the planning,” Ms Davidson said.
“We are hoping the hub will be able to have an independent power source so people can charge devices.”
Anyone, interested in or have further questions, is encouraged to contact coordinating members via their Facebook page, facebook.com/HealesvilleCommunityEmergencyHub
