Help your friends, family and community get prepared for emergencies. Make a community emergency plan so your community can help each other in an emergency. Talking with other people in your community is one of the best ways to prepare for emergencies.
Get to know your neighbours
When you get to know your neighbours, you are more likely to look out for each other, especially during and after an emergency, like a storm or a large earthquake.
Swap contact details so you can get in touch in an emergency. Tell them about your emergency plan and ask them about their plans. Find out who can help you and who might need your help.
Join the Gisborne Neighbourhood Support Group
Join the Gisborne Neighbourhood Support Group. You and your neighbours can share skills and resources to help you get through in an emergency. Neighbourhood Support Groups bring people together to create safe, supportive and connected communities.
Gisborne Neighbourhood Support Group
Become a community patroller
Join a Community Patrol. Get involved with community patrols and help make your community safer. These patrols work with New Zealand Police, local council and their community during an emergency event.
Make connections in your neighbourhood
Neighbours Aotearoa (formerly Neighbours Day Aotearoa) is held every March.
It encourages neighbours to get to know each other. It doesn't matter if you're an individual, group or organisation or whether your neighbourhood consists of houses, flats, business or something else entirely. You can host an event tailored specifically to your neighbourhood.
Make a community emergency plan
A community emergency plan can help your community understand how you can help each other in an emergency. Talking with other people in your community is one of the best ways to prepare for emergencies.
There will be some groups of people or networks already in your community. These could be:
* Civil Defence Emergency Management - TEMO
* Gisborne Neighbourhood Support Group
* Volunteer, church and sports groups
* Schools
* Marae
* Service organisations.
Make contact with them and find out what they are doing. In an emergency, they may help with basic supplies and coordinating support efforts.
Contact your Civil Defence Emergency Management Group to see if there is already a community emergency plan for your area. They can work with you to identify strengths, resources, risks and solutions to help your community get through an emergency.
Get involved
Help keep your family, friends and community safe by getting involved in emergency preparedness.
Get your marae ready
This Marae Emergency Preparedness Plan is designed to help marae be as prepared as possibly in the event of a natural disaster or emergency. Preparedness planning enhances resilience and safety of marae, taonga and iwi. The plan encourages whānau, hapū and iwi to –
· Think about the possible impacts of natural disasters
· Recognise who could be called upon in the event of an emergency
Work through the plan to figure out what your marae will do. Here’s the link from Te Puni Kokiri https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/o-matou-mohiotanga/marae-development/civil-defence-marae-emergency-preparedness-plan-20
Get your school ready
Every school needs to have an evacuation plan in place and parents or grandparents shouldn’t hesitate to ask to see it. Schools play a large role in keeping the community safe.
Your school or early childhood centre may face an emergency. It’s important to be prepared for emergency events and know how to respond if they happen.
Early learning services and schools should have an emergency management plan for all hazards they may face.
Here’s a link to the Ministry of Education with some advice and guidelines to help you prepare your school for emergencies.
Teach emergency preparedness
This is one of the most important things you can teach your students. We know they take home your lessons to their whānau who will understand more about preparation for an emergency – like having a whānau plan, an evacuation route and more.
What’s the Plan, Stan? is a free resource to support schools, teachers and students develop the knowledge and skills to prepare for emergency events. It’s got some fantastic info in very easy to understand language.
Here’s the link https://getready.govt.nz/prepared/school/whats-the-plan-stan
