The first Family Safety & Preparedness Expo was so successful that the city’s emergency services department is going to host it again.
The second annual event will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Bridgeport High School.
It’s a free day featuring family-friendly fun and vital information needed to prepare for various emergency situations, said Emergency Services Coordinator Laura Pysz.
“We have planned even bigger, better things for this year’s expo,” Pysz said. “It’s along the same lines as last year, but we have more vendors offering information.”
Included are HealthNet, U.S. Army National Guard, the American Red Cross and Harrison County 911, among many others.
Perhaps the highlight of the second annual event is the official launch of the city’s project C.A.R.E. Standing for Community Awareness and Readiness for Emergencies, the program involves the organization of neighborhood-powered preparedness initiatives.
“We’ve been filming a video for neighborhood captains to use as a reference guide,” Pysz said. “We want to get citizens on board with regard to preparedness – for themselves and to take care of their families – for 72 hours. We want neighborhood groups to have resources available to them to make it all successful.”
Among the city’s resources is the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program, one of the strongest in the county and the state, Pysz said.
Also to be featured are experts in the fields of sheltering, 72-hour essentials, alternative energy, drinking water, disaster communications, crop raising, first aid and more. The expo will also showcase outdoor survival skill demos, instructional break-out sessions and activities geared for kids.
“We’ll have a scavenger hunt during which kids can visit vendors, ask questions and earn a little badge,” Pysz said.
Pysz said Bridgeport sets the standard when it comes to a concentration on preparedness – which could prove lifesaving in a number of scenarios – from winter storms to derechos to power outages.
“I travel around the state to meetings where I talk with other emergency managers and I know Bridgeport is very proactive when it comes to preparedness and safety for our residents,” she said.
In addition to preparedness, the expo will focus on general safety.
“We’ll have the police there to do child car seat checks and we’ll be talking about internet and bank safety and other safety issues,” Pysz said.
Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr said the city is, indeed, very proactive when it comes to preparing citizens for a number of potential emergencies – and for very good reason.
“In the event of an emergency, people become so fixated on the idea that we do have ambulance service, a fire department, police department and a hospital so between these groups, people should be able to receive help in the event of a true emergency,” she said. “But responders might not be able to get to your family in a timely fashion, so we think it’s important for families to be prepared and to be able to take care of themselves until they are able to receive help from our emergency responders.”
There has been much thought into preparedness offerings with regard to adults – including neighbors who are elderly and/or alone - children and even pets.
The event is free and open to the public.
Editor’s Note: Photos from last year’s Family Safety & Preparedness Expo are by Luke Kopp of Ben Queen Photography. See more photos HERE.
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