Bunbury highly commended for resilience project

 

On Wednesday 8 October the City of Bunbury was honoured with a highly commended award for its resilient communities emergency management project, U-4-72.

The award was presented at the State 2014 Resilient Australia Awards in Perth.

The awards recognise innovative Local Government projects and programs focused on making communities more resilient when facing emergencies and natural disasters.

The U-4-72 (Are you [U] ready to survive for [4] seventy-two hours [72] Resilient Communities project was implemented two years ago and was designed to teach the community on how to take responsibility in the event of an emergency.

Through workshops the project teaches community members about how to be emergency-ready so they can help themselves, their family, and neighbours should a disaster strike.

Emergency-ready kits containing items such as water purifying tablets, a torch, radio, basic first-aid kit and personal hygiene items are also available to purchase as part of the project.

The kits were designed to act as a catalyst for the community to begin to prepare to be resilient.

Community Law, Safety and Emergency Management Manager John Kowal said most people were not as prepared for an emergency as they thought they were.

“One of the main risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of the people in Bunbury, is their current state of unpreparedness; U-4-72 works directly to minimise this risk,” Mr Kowal said.

“By building self-responsibility and resilience to all hazards, the U-4-72 project provides the tools for people to be better prepared for worst-case scenarios, where these potential  risks  become a reality.

“People are now aware that non-routine emergency events do occur and that simple preparation and planning can assist to keep them, their family, friends and neighbours safe without reliance on other agencies.”

For more information on the project click here.

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