Part 4: Before you open

Some common initial objectives:

Establish a working Community Emergency Hub.
Provide a safe gathering place.
Find out what has happened in your community.
Tell people what is going on.
Solve problems using what the community has available.
Match requests for assistance with offers of assistance.
Coordinate the community response.

Come together as a team

Once you have set up the Hub, bring everyone together to ensure they are clear on objectives, their roles, the layout, and how they will share information and work together.

Regularly repeat this briefing with the lanyard holders to ensure things are working smoothly.

Follow these 4 steps:

1. Give an overview of who might be available to help

Include community members, volunteers, people, and organisations involved in response planning. Check the lists of organisations and business listed in your local Community Emergency Hub Guide.

2. Check everyone is happy with the role they have

If not, change roles/lanyards as appropriate. If there are roles that still need to be allocated, people may end up with two or more roles. Pass them on to other people as they show up to offer help.

3. Understand the Hub processes

Make sure everyone has a clear idea of how the Hub will run and how information and people might move through the Hub, depending on their needs.

4. Open the Hub

Put up clear signage that the Hub is running.
Contact the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to let them know that the Hub is open.
Call the EOC if phones are working, otherwise, use the radio from the Hub kit.
Bring the Hub team together regularly to make sure everyone knows what is going on, to inform them of any significant issues, and to check everyone is okay.

Part 5: Your community's response

Go to your community's response