Seeing residents walking in their neighborhood on a Sunday morning is not an unusual sight. However, on this particular morning in early March, these residents were wearing red vests and talking on hand held radios. Block Captains on Cornelia Ave., Tamalpais Ave. and Dorset Lane participated in Mill Valley’s first Neighborhood Response Group Drill.
Mill Valley is following Central Marin’s NRG program encouraging neighborhoods to become organized and involved in the NRG program. Our initial pilot phase includes Alto Sutton and Cascade Canyon, but any neighborhood that wishes to join will be supported.
The heart of the program is the Block Captain role, residents who agree to look after 10-20 homes, helping the families with emergency preparedness and checking on them should a disaster occur. On March 8th, the Block Captains on Cornelia, Dorset Lane and Tamalpais Ave. practiced those roles, walking their streets and checking on their neighbors. Neighbors posted OK/HELP signs in their windows, a quick way to alert their Block Captains and first responders of their post-disaster status. Reports were radioed into a “Command Post”, which allowed practice on radio protocol and communication guidelines.
Many of our Block Captains are also CERT members; in the event of a disaster, they will carry out their Block Captain role first before joining their local CERT team.
If your neighborhood would like to be part of this new program, would like to participate or have questions, please contact the Southern Marin Neighborhood Response Group Coordinator.
Thank you to the Block Captains on Cornelia Ave., Dorset Lane and Tamalpais Ave. for a successful first Drill. Thank you also to the Outdoor Art Club for their gracious grant to help supply our Block Captains.