Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. A windstorm could knock the power out. A snowstorm might keep you from driving home. A dangerous outside threat may force a lockdown. There are a lot of reasons people should always be prepared for the worst, and Westlake wants to help.

One threat that we’ve considered is the idea of ‘The Big One’ coming. A shift in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 1,000km long fault line that stretches from Northern Vancouver to California, is anticipated to hit with a 9.0 earthquake. We don’t know when and we don’t know where we’ll be when that time comes, but Westlake has started to take the necessary steps towards being better prepared. The first step in emergency preparedness is education. A portion of our staff isn’t native to the Portland metro area, Oregon, or even the West Coast. It’s important to bring awareness to the inevitable truth that a catastrophic event is predicted to happen within the next 50 years. So, what can we do to make sure our staff and our office are ready to respond when tragedy strikes? Westlake has begun discussions about emergency preparedness as a firm, and we are planning at the management level to prepare.

An emergency supply kit is crucial for resiliency in the aftermath of a disaster. A basic disaster supply kit checklist can be found on the American Red Cross, FEMA, or other emergency preparedness websites. The cost of supplies can quickly add up, but it’s important to remember that little contributions to your safety kit, over the course of time, can be extremely beneficially. Given the uncertainty of the event, it is advised to have three separate emergency kits prepared for work, home, and your car to ensure readiness no matter where you’ll be.

We hope that conversations will bring awareness to action. Each employee is encouraged to start thinking about what supplies would be critical for them if they were, unexpectedly, stuck at work for a few days. Does an employee have backup supplies of important medications? Would Westlake be ready to provide water for all 50 employees? These are important questions, and it’s better to have a plan and not need it, than to wish we had considered things sooner.