The INDEPENDENT, September 19, 2012
National Preparedness Month is
the time for emergency plans
Oregonians should restock
emergency supplies, develop
an emergency plan or consider
becoming a health care volun-
teer during September’s Na-
tional Preparedness Month,
Oregon Health Authority offi-
cials say.
“National
Preparedness
Month serves as a good re-
minder that we should all be
prepared in the case of an
emergency to protect our-
selves, our families and our
communities,” said Jean O’-
Connor, J.D., Dr.PH., Oregon
Public Health Division deputy
director. “People should take
time this month to talk to co-
workers, neighbors, friends
and family members about
their emergency plans. Doing
so now will help ensure all Ore-
gonians are ready the next time
a public health emergency
strikes.”
September 2012 marks the
ninth annual National Pre-
paredness Month, sponsored
by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency in the
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security. One goal is to edu-
cate the public about how to
prepare for emergencies in-
cluding natural disasters, mass
casualties, biological and
chemical threats, radiation
emergencies, and terrorist at-
tacks.
Getting prepared for an
emergency takes only three
simple steps:
• Be informed. Identify the
hazards and risks in your com-
munity and plan accordingly.
• Make a family emergency
plan. Make a plan so you know
who to communicate with and
how to find your loved ones if
an emergency occurs. If you
have relatives out of state, they
may be just the ones you need
when your local friends and
family are affected by a disas-
ter.
• Build an emergency supply
kit. Make one for your home, at
work, and in the car. Be sure to
include water, food and first aid
supplies to help you survive if
you lose power or get stranded
in your car. This is especially
important for dealing with icy
roads and snowstorms in the
winter. Don’t forget a kit for
family pets, too.
Oregon Health Authority
also is recruiting medical per-
sonnel to serve as volunteers
in the event of a public health
emergency. Health profession-
als interested in helping with a
public health emergency re-
sponse should contact the Ore-
gon Health Authority to learn
more.
“Health and medical volun-
teers are critical to responding
to public health emergencies.
As previous emergencies have
revealed, government agen-
cies alone cannot respond ef-
fectively and efficiently to
emergencies,” O’Connor said.
“More than 1,500 people have
volunteered to help with public
health emergencies in 33 Ore-
gon counties, and our goal is to
have health and medical volun-
teers in all 36 counties.”
For more information about
preparing for emergencies, vis-
it healthoregon.org/prepared
ness. For more information on
the State Emergency Registry
of Volunteers in Oregon
(SERV-OR), please visit the
SERV-OR website.
Page 13
Power of the People
By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager,
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
Energy Efficiency
Tips
With the advent of a
rate increase starting this
month, I wanted to be able
to help our members find
ways to use energy more
efficiently. Knowing that a
lot of our members cannot afford to change the
source of heat in their homes and some of the
other methods of cutting heating and cooling
costs are too expensive; we have compiled a list
of less expensive ways to achieve energy effi-
ciency without spending a lot of money. While
we are in the business of providing electricity,
we want to encourage and assist in the efficient
use of it. Using the following energy tips will help
you save energy and money throughout the
year.
• Lower your thermostat at night and whenev-
er the house is unoccupied. Close off and don’t
heat unoccupied rooms (unless you have a heat
pump).
Set your thermostat back at night at least 10
degrees.
• Lower the thermostat and dress warmer. As
little as 1 to 3 degrees makes a noteworthy dif-
ference in energy consumption.
• Lower the temperature on your electric wa-
ter heater to 120° F.
• Set refrigerator temperatures between 37°
and 40° F. Clean the coils, vacuum underneath
and behind the refrigerator and freezer. Keep
the refrigerator and freezer stocked; it takes
more energy to cool an empty one.
Consider replacing your older model refriger-
ator, especially if older than 10 years. Older
models can often use over 3 times the energy of
newer models.
• Wash full loads of dishes and air dry.
• When washing clothes, use warm or cold
water and rinse with cold. Air dry clothes when-
ever possible, but not indoors, as this creates
unwanted mold and moisture problems.
• Shut off lights, computers and other elec-
tronic appliances when you are not using them.
Use a “smart strip” to plug things in and then you
can turn them all off at once when you turn off
the smart strip. This greatly reduces what is
called “phantom power.”
• Use a microwave or toaster oven for small-
er items.
• Install a low-flow showerhead. Showers use
less hot water than baths; also consider taking
shorter showers. Install CFL light bulbs or LED
lights.
• Close your fireplace damper and seal the
opening shut when not in use.
• During the heating season, open south-fac-
ing window coverings during the day. Close all
window coverings at night to keep the heat in.
• Install foam gaskets behind electric-outlet
and switch-plate covers.
• Examine and adjust, if necessary, weather
stripping, door sweeps, and thresholds. If un-
able to replace old doors and windows, try addi-
tional caulking and weather stripping. At least
put a rolled-up towel in front of a drafty door.
From the Sheriff’s Desk
by Jeff Dickerson,
Columbia County Sheriff
Recent telephone
scams
The Columbia County Sher-
iff’s Office is reporting a num-
ber of fraudulent telephone
scams being attempted on
county residents in recent
weeks. One common scam in
recent weeks has been the
“grandparent” telephone scam.
In these types of scams, a
perpetrator calls a grandparent
or other relative pretending to
be their grandchild/niece/nep-
hew, etc. The caller sounds up-
set and says that he or she
doesn’t have much time to talk.
The caller might also say that
they have a cold if you don’t
quite recognize their voice, or
they will attempt to solicit feed-
back from you to sound even
more convincing (scam victims
often report being asked, “Do
you know which grandchild this
is?”). Their story generally fol-
lows a familiar line: they were
traveling in another country or
another state with a friend, and
after a car accident or legal in-
fraction, they are in jail and
need bail money wired to a
Western Union account as
soon as possible for their quick
release.
Sums can vary from several
hundred to several thousand
dollars, sometimes over the
course of two or three calls. In
some instances a second
scammer calls back later pre-
tending to be a law enforce-
ment official or attorney, to con-
firm the story or ask for addi-
tional money. They may even
claim to be an employee of a
U.S. embassy or consulate
overseas!
Should you be targeted in
this type of scam, there are ac-
tions you can take to protect
yourself. Although the sup-
posed grandchild may plead
with you not to tell their family,
you should immediately reach
out to parents or other relatives
to verify the information you re-
ceive. In the vast majority of
cases, the real relative is safe-
ly where they should be – at
work, school or home.
This scam has been going
around the United States in re-
cent years, and we’ve had a
number of calls in recent weeks
right here in Columbia County. I
want to remind everyone to be
very cautious about giving any
personal information out by
phone, and to be very wary of
anyone asking you to send
Mariolino’s
them money for any reason
whatever.
It is not typical for a law en-
forcement agency to accept
money in this fashion in order
to bail people out of jail.
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