The Villages Homeowners Advocates (VHA) opened the doors of its normally members-only quarterly meeting to the public Monday afternoon and more than 300 people showed up for the Staying Alive: Everyday & Emergency Preparedness in The Villages workshop at Paradise Recreation Center.
“Because of the subject matter and government officials presenting information, I felt this workshop should be open to the public,” said Joan Testa, VHA Vice President North. She and other VHA members distributed fliers inviting residents of the Historic Side of The Villages to attend.
“There are 3,691 rooftops in all three Villages on the Historic Side and each household received an invitation to come today,” said Testa.
Making up the presenting panel were Dep. Walter Wolf of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office; Nehemiah Wolfe, head of Community Watch; Lt. John Longacre with The Villages Public Safety Department; Tommy Carpenter, Lake County Emergency Management director; and Gregory Holcomb, Lake County Public Safety communications technologies manager.
Wolf introduced and updated the crowd on the Vial of Life program, the SafetyNet program, a tracking bracelet and Lake County’s Senior Watch, a daily call-in system.
“We have saved lives with this program,” he said.
Wolfe urged attendees to keep their information current with Community Watch. “Phone numbers change, and when they do, we need to know,” he said.
The Community Watch Adult Watch program, also a daily call-in program, differs from the one administered by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in that residents specify a time they want to be called. Wolfe also noted that Community Watch will call any homeowner whose garage door is open between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.
“We are preventing crimes of opportunity,” he said.
Longacre covered three topics – weather radios, Knox Boxes and AEDs. He said weather radios are the fastest way of getting alerts.
“They can be tricky to program,” Longacre said, adding that residents can take their weather radios to any fire station and they will be programmed for them provided they have the proper batteries.
The Knox Box is a system that allows the fire department – and only the fire department – to have access to a key to a person’s home.
“In an emergency, we are coming in, one way or the other,” Longacre said. For more information on this system, go to www.knoxbox.com.
The AED program, a volunteer program involving residents who purchase the life-saving equipment for their neighborhoods, is continuing. Longacre said they would like to see more neighborhoods in Lake County become part of this program.
Carpenter said he was there to make sure everyone was aware of AlertLake. By signing up, residents will receive the latest information in an emergency situation via cell phone texts or by e-mail. The need to get the word out was stepped up after Hurricane Irma.
“This is not just for hurricanes, but all hazards,” said Carpenter. For more information about this system, call 352-343-9420.
Similarly, Holcomb was there to make everyone knew about SMART911, a program that fills in plenty of pertinent information ahead of an emergency. Then, when an emergency situation arises, the person working the 911 dispatch center can pull up a screen with vital information, including what medications the person needing treatment is taking. This information can be lifesaving. Residents can sign up for free by going to www.Smart911.com.
The presentations were followed by a brief Q&A session, with attendees also visiting information tables to get more questions answered and additional brochures and vials of life to take home.
Village of Country Club Hills resident Joann Cline was happy she took the time to come to the workshop.
“I did not know about AlertLake and Smart911,” she said. “I am going to get signed up for both of those right away.”
Also glad to get the information was Cathy DePalma, of the Village of Sunset Point.
“I vaguely knew about these programs, but this workshop really filled in the details,” she said.
The next workshop organized by Testa and her team will look at ways to lower cable bills. “Cutting the Cord” will be for VHA members only July 19 at La Hacienda Recreation Center at 7 p.m.
