On Friday 9 January, the Healesville Emergency Hub sprang into action for the first time.
Founded in response to multiple days without electricity during the 2021 storms, the Healesville Emergency Hub runs on volunteers from the community.
Healesville local and Emergency Hub Volunteer Alison Gommers said, “Having no electricity during the 2021 storms which resulted in limited access to information and practical support.
“Because of that, members of the local community came together to volunteer to fill this void for the next event that will occur, be it fire, flood, storm, until the specialist services arrive,” she said.
“On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we had our first opportunity to activate the hub. Members communicate via WhatsApp group and the decision was made to activate the hub and those available set it up at the community link for the first time.”
Located in the Healesville Library, the community link provided an airconditioned space for people and their pets who had evacuated the fire areas to go during the intense heat strike on Friday the 9th.
Tea and coffee was available, along with regular information and updates on fires nearby.
Ms Gommers said, “The hub volunteers wandered around car parks where people who were displaced had gathered and we invited them to come into the library.”
“Many of the people were in their cars with their air conditioning running because they had their pets in there with them because of the extreme heat,” Ms Gommers said.
“Many of them wanted to tell their story from where they’d come from that day. Others were pleased just to engage with us.”
Along with the Hub and its volunteers, the local community also rallied to provide all kinds of support on Friday.
“One person had their horse and a dog down at Coronation Park. They were under the shelter and someone helped out by connecting a hose so people were able to give their animals water and cool them down,” Ms Gommers said.
“Someone had medication that needed to be refrigerated, so we brought that back to the community link and looked after it for them,” she said.
“Some people were very well set up with caravans where others had come with nothing, bar their pet and that’s it, no toothbrush, no nothing.”
According to Ms Gommers, the help of staff at the Healesville Library along with efforts from the Healesville community were instrumental in Friday’s effort.
“People seemed to be grateful for us just wandering around and engaging with them and people said rather than going to Lillydale, they were finding people from Healesville who were so friendly and helpful that they were happy to stay here,” Ms Gommers said.
“Many of the local businesses offered free coffees, places for people to park their caravans, places to go to rest in the cool, so it was a real community event of people reaching out to help others,” she said.
The Healesville Emergency Hub is based on a model from New Zealand where community-led hubs respond to earthquakes as an interim between the actual event happening and the arrival of emergency services and aid, which can take multiple days.
Despite a successful first response on the 9th, the Healesville Emergency Hub is always on the lookout for more volunteers.
“We’re keen to get more volunteers because we do get quite a few emergency events here,” Ms Gommers said.
“Anyone is welcome to come along and find out a bit more or even just learn about what we do. Everyone is welcome to join our meetings.”
The Healesville Emergency Hub committee meets every second Wednesday at 5:30 in the Healesville Living and Learning Centre.
Head to the Healesville Emergency Hub Facebook page for more information.
