Streamline Blog

Jackie Vaughn has been serving the Lockwood Fire Protection District, in the tiny town of Volcano, California, for more than 20 years.

Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District had wanted an internal staff site for years, but when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred it became critical that they tackle the project right away. They were used to being closely connected and celebrating accomplishments, and wanted a way to continue doing those important things during the stay-at-home orders. The district spans three different work sites, has employees who work remotely around the clock, and had closed their offices to the public. Yet in spite of these challenges, the district was determined to find a way to collaborate remotely and support the great culture they had built over the years.

In 2019, wildfires across the west coast brought attention to local fire departments and districts, putting a spotlight on outreach and effective communication to protect the public. A local Oregon district, Philomath Fire and Rescue, responded immediately, and made the push to upgrade their technology to accommodate these fast-paced and growing needs. The district understood that a key part of making this successful was to make sure their internal team was working efficiently to show the public that they are operating on all cylinders.

I want to share a story from the Carmel Area Wastewater District - a story that highlights the amazing work special districts do behind the scenes, as well as the great job they’ve done sharing critical information with the public during the covid crisis.

Twain Harte CSD plays a big role in their community by providing a variety of essential services, however finding an efficient way to communicate with the public wasn’t always easy. While they had a website built by consultants on a free platform, it was so challenging to use that no one at the district could make changes. The result was only the most basic information was posted, the formatting was always a mess, and website usage suffered. This was particularly painful during emergency events, like droughts and wildfires, when staff were then required to handle a large number of phone calls and walk-in inquiries, host community meetings, and send costly mailers.

Streamline is the only company in the world building online tools just for special districts. Why is that?

Recovery is defined as the actions taken to return the community to normal following a disaster. Repairing, replacing, or rebuilding property are examples of recovery.

The need for special districts to plan for unforeseen events has become more obvious than ever before. Whether it’s a threat from a pandemic that forces people to work from home, a catastrophic fire that wipes out entire towns, or the possibility of riots and looting that may affect your ability to operate, special districts need to be ready to face the unknown.

Response is defined as the actions taken to save lives and prevent further damage in a disaster or emergency situation. Response is putting preparedness plans into action. Response activities may include damage assessment, search and rescue, fire fighting and sheltering victims.

Preparedness takes the form of plans or procedures designed to save lives and to minimize damage when an emergency occurs. This is a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluation and improvement activities to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. These activities ensure that when a disaster strikes, emergency managers will be able to provide the best response possible.