Editorial
January 29, 2013
Good reasons to attend health fair
Save the date! The annual Issaquah/Sammamish Health & Safety Fair has a whole lot of reasons why you and your family should plan to attend, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at Pickering Barn.
Perhaps you’ve been meaning to get your family more prepared for emergencies. There is still time this year for a big winter storm to knock out power for days on end. Will you be ready?
The Issaquah Citizen Corps Council, Issaquah Medical Corps and the city of Issaquah will be at the fair with timely information to help you get started.
Community Emergency Response Team training is available
January 29, 2013
Registration is open for Community Emergency Response Team training in Issaquah.
CERT training is designed to prepare residents to help family members and neighbors during a catastrophic disaster. The training is important because professional emergency services personnel cannot help everybody immediately, so citizens can use CERT training to protect and save lives.
CERT courses include disaster first aid training, disaster preparedness, basic firefighting, light search and rescue, and damage assessment skills.
Issaquah Citizen Corps Council to teach chainsaw safety
January 29, 2013
Learn chainsaw safety basics as the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council hosts a class soon.
The training focuses on chainsaw handling, operation and maintenance. The free class is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 2 at the city Public Works Operations Building, 670 First Ave. N.E. The class size is limited, so interested residents should register at the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council website, www.issaquahcitizencorps.com.
Issaquah health fair offers wellness screenings
January 15, 2013
The annual Issaquah/Sammamish Health & Safety Fair returns to Pickering Barn from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9 with plenty of free health screenings to make it fun and worthwhile for area families.
The fair will feature 50 or more health care professionals. Free health screening will include blood pressure, glucose, eye pressure, injury screening, posture and spinal analysis, oral cancer, sleep apnea and orthotic evaluations. There will be free gifts and information to take home.
The King County Police Union will host its MY ID Club, offering parents free fingerprints of their children, an important tool should children be abducted. The Issaquah Citizen Corps Council, the city of Issaquah and Eastside Fire & Rescue will offer safety and emergency preparedness information.
Issaquah/Sammamish Health & Safety Fair offers free screenings
January 14, 2013
NEW — 10 a.m. Jan. 14, 2013
The annual Issaquah/Sammamish Health & Safety Fair returns to Pickering Barn from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9 with plenty of free health screenings to make it fun and worthwhile for area families.
The fair will feature 50 or more health care professionals. Free health screening will include blood pressure, glucose, eye pressure, injury screening, posture and spinal analysis, oral cancer, sleep apnea and orthotic evaluations. There will be free gifts and information to take home.
The King County Police Union will host its MY ID Club, offering parents free fingerprints of their children, an important tool should children be abducted. The Issaquah Citizen Corps Council, the city of Issaquah and Eastside Fire & Rescue will offer safety and emergency preparedness information.
Community Emergency Response Team training is available in Issaquah
February 28, 2012
Registration is open for Community Emergency Response Team training in Issaquah.
CERT training is designed to prepare residents to help family members and neighbors during a catastrophic disaster. The training is important because professional emergency services personnel cannot help everybody immediately, so citizens can use CERT training to protect and save lives.
CERT courses include disaster first aid training, disaster preparedness, basic firefighting, light search and rescue, and damage assessment skills. Participants can also learn how to turn off utilities and about the psychology of disaster response.
The training program is $35. Learn more, and register for the CERT course, at the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council website, www.issaquahcitizencorps.com/cert/cert-class. CERT training courses typically fill up quickly.
Community disaster response training is available in Issaquah
February 27, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. Feb. 27, 2012
Registration is open for Community Emergency Response Team training in Issaquah.
CERT training is designed to prepare residents to help family members and neighbors during a catastrophic disaster. The training is important because professional emergency services personnel cannot help everybody immediately, so citizens can use CERT training to protect and save lives.
CERT courses include disaster first aid training, disaster preparedness, basic firefighting, light search and rescue, and damage assessment skills. Participants can also learn how to turn off utilities and the psychology behind a disaster.
The training program is $35. Learn more, and register for the CERT course, at the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council website.
Receive free health screenings at Issaquah-Sammamish Health & Safety Fair
February 7, 2012
The eighth annual Issaquah-Sammamish Health & Safety Fair will be held at Pickering Barn on Feb. 11 with plenty of free health screenings to make it worthwhile for area families. The free event is from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The fair will feature more than 50 health care professionals. They will offer a number of free health screenings, including blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, blood sugar, eye pressure, body composition and spinal/posture.
Citizens help others prepare for disasters
April 5, 2011
In Issaquah, a city of more than 30,000 people, only a handful of the population has completed the most rigorous training to respond to disasters.
The unfolding disaster in Japan — caused after a magnitude-9 earthquake rocked the island nation early last month — renewed attention on emergency preparedness on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Even in a city as focused on preparedness as Issaquah, some gaps remain in the system.
The city has spearheaded lessons in Map Your Neighborhood — a program to coordinate disaster recovery on a block-by-block basis and identify special skills, such as medical training, among residents — for dozens of neighborhoods, although less then 300 people had completed the more rigorous program, Community Emergency Response Team training, by mid-March.
City and independent emergency planners said the numbers belie the effect of trained responders, especially as CERT members start to educate family members and neighbors in disaster preparedness and response.
Leadership Eastside is committed to change
March 29, 2011
Leadership Eastside’s mission is to create fundamental changes — within the community and within the individuals who participate in the organization.
“One of our alumni recently said that the real project is you,” said James Whitfield, president of Leadership Eastside.
The nonprofit, officially launched March 16, 2005, “partners with the community’s greatest assets, its leaders, to meet the community’s greatest needs,” Whitfield said.
Indeed, the combination of community involvement and personal enrichment has seen much success during its past six years, largely due to what Whitfield refers to as LE’s primary product, a three-year leadership-development program, which accepts 40 to 45 applicants per year.
Issaquah Highlands resident Stuart Linscott, who was drawn to the program in 2006, said he believed the training would give him a “toolkit of skills” which could then be applied to many aspects in life, including furthering his community leadership, as well as personal and business relations.
Additionally, the people you encounter in the process, who share your values and goals of moving the community in a positive direction, often become lifelong friends, Linscott said.
“I think the neatest thing about the organization is that the people are all passionate about community involvement, and that really struck a chord with me,” he added.
