WHAT IS OUR DISASTER PLAN
Since the Christmas fires, considerable work has been done to formulate a plan that would cover all Dogs NSW Members in NSW at the one time, it is now believed that this can be done.
The old system called for volunteers capable of housing members and their animals, communication between other organisations, keeping track of fires etc, the big problem was that many of the volunteers lived some distance from the fire or flood and often were unable to get to those people in need because roads were closed.
It was also discovered that there were people who were available within these zones that had previously volunteered help but were not contacted due to the age of the lists, it is suggested that there be no more volunteer lists, if we don't have them then they cant get old but we will still call for volunteers at the time of the emergency from that area.
The new system offered is based on our membership list, whereby all members in the state will have their name, suburbs, postcodes and phone numbers listed on a sheet but no addresses only accessible to myself and DNSW Staff.
When an emergency is declared we look for the postcode for that area, where the fire or flood is causing distress, we look up the postcode and check the region then refer to our members listing, this will firstly give us the number of members in that area, and secondly give us a list of nearby members who may be able to help.
We can then contact members who live in nearby areas but who are not in danger and who can offer accommodation and the housing of pets etc.
We will use travelmate (travelmate.com.au), whereis (whereis.com.au) and Local Government maps to keep track of the fires or floods location.
The Web is an extremely useful tool, this site now offers
- Links to the NSW Rural Fire Services pages which informs of Fire Bans and Road Closures
- Provide a Message Board for DNSW Members who are in need of help or who can provide help.
- List zoning/regional area Maps
- Notes to let DNSW Members of the disaster plan situations and set up evacuation notices.
- Have a simple 'quick answer' page for DNSW Members who have been evacuated, to let us know where they are going to stay and when they plan to return home
With this plan and the website in place, I believe that the Dogs NSW will be prepared for its members in the event of disaster, other factors unseen at this time will be attended to.
Alan Candlish
Liaison Officer
Dogs NSW
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