by Sahar Foladi
A ‘Prepare for Heatwave-Emergency Management Exercise’ is set on Tuesday 19 September ahead of expected ‘never seen before’ scorching summer temperatures.
The event held at the Drum Theatre between 9am to 2pm will feature representatives from emergency services, the Victorian Department of Health, United Energy, business and manufacturing groups, members of the public, schools, aged care facilities and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
The event is in line comes after a motion from Greater Dandenong councillor Rhonda Garad highlighted the lack of emergency plans for heatwaves.
“I’m thrilled that this is the outcome and that the council is putting it into action.
“A lot of the people have contacted us from other municipalities to come, observe and implement it on their own (plans).”
The fine details were critical to include in the emergency plans, such as the availability of ‘cool zones’ to shelter vulnerable residents, Cr Garad said.
“We’re not sure about almost anything in relation to how this council will respond to a likely extreme storm events occurrence, and we need to be prepared.
“The risk is that plans are very general, there are a lot of grey areas, lack of clarity and a growing awareness of these gaps.
“How many vulnerable residents do we have? What’s the trigger? What are our cool zones? Do our cool zones have the capacity?
“We need to really focus on the details because we’ll have worse weather conditions from January to March, it’s particularly about being ready but also clarity amongst the emergency services and an effective community strategy.”
Executive director of not-for-profit Sweltering Cities, Emma Bacon will also attend the event and has worked with communities impacted by extreme heat.
“Heatwaves are the deadliest environmental disaster in Australia. It kills more people than all the others combined.
“In our coming summers, we expect temperature to be higher than ever before.
“If we look at the last couple of years around the world, we’ve seen temperature record after temperature record. We can expect that to be the future of our Australian summers as well and it will be unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.”
She says two most important aspects to consider is how to keep our house cool and checking-in on friends and families.
“People should know how to be prepared. Better blinds, shades, how to be prepared in terms of medical information and access to cool water.
“Check-in on siblings, grandma and friends and ask them what you can do to help them to be cool – because not everyone has aircon. Sometimes people feel trapped in their homes.”
Vulnerable people can be influenced by health and housing conditions. They can include elderly people, little kids, pregnant women, people with chronic illnesses and disabilities and people with outdoor jobs.
Cr Garad emphasises the need for a specific community-led plan to tackle this pressing issue, as it’s her “biggest concern.”
“We know in case of extreme emergency sometimes it’s not possible for services to get to the area. We need to build the knowledge, skills and awareness of the community.
“I would like to see us develop community zones where there are key people in the areas looking out for the community, a bit of the old neighbourhood watch group but structured.
“We don’t even have registers, so we don’t know how many vulnerable residents we have,” she said.
“It’s got to get local and personal, that’s the only way it can work. We can’t leave it up to the services.
“We know the scale and number of people effected will be greater and beyond the capacity of any emergency services.”
At the event, members of the community, local schools, adults, elderly residents will be given the chance to attend, learn and be better prepared in cases of extreme heat ahead of the summer.
Besides speakers from emergency services, attendees will participate in a virtual heatwave exercise with key stakeholders live on stage.
Cr Garad said the “exceptional” community interest was where the strength lies for this heatwave session.
“I spoke to a lot of people who’re keen to attend, I imagine The Drum will be full.
“My hope is that they start to harness the potential of the community to be part of this.”
