A disaster resilience workshop has helped Noosa’s aged care facilities enhance their ability to be prepared for future natural disasters.
The workshop, conducted by Noosa Council, follows several site visits by Council’s Disaster Management team to Noosa Aged Care and Retirement Living Centres.
Council’s Disaster Resilience Officer Ian Williams said about 50 people attended this year’s workshop.
“In partnership with Primary Health Network commissioning organisation, Country to Coast, we focussed on a heatwave scenario to provide those working in aged are centres with a better understanding of how to handle such a situation,” he said.
With the assistance of emergency services representatives, the workshop highlighted the need for a detailed facility plan and the importance of each centre being fully prepared to handle evacuations.
Deb Leask is the Village Manager at Southern Cross Care’s Noosa Waters Retirement Estate. She applauded Council for its proactive approach to disaster preparedness.
“The workshop was incredibly informative and is critical to developing a resilient and connected aged care sector in Noosa,” she said.
“The heatwave scenario enabled all of us to plan for impacts on our local villages and how to best deal with these situations and possible evacuation procedures and put them into our own evacuation plans,” she added.
Council will continue to work with the sector to enhance disaster resilience.
“One of the great tools Council provides all of us is the Noosa Emergency Action Guide. I know our residents and many other local aged care facilities have copies so we can be more prepared,” Ms. Leask concluded.
The community is again reminded of checking out the Disaster Dashboard for vital information on how to be prepared for any unexpected weather event. A digital version of the Noosa Emergency Action Guide is also available on the dashboard.
