Sun City Anthem residents stay prepared

For Bob Berman, being involved in the welfare of Sun City Anthem's residents has become virtually a full-time job, even though his work is voluntary.

Berman organized the security patrol at Del Webb's age-qualified community in Henderson and served as its chief for 2 1/2 years before accepting the chairman's position for its emergency preparedness committee. The committee aims to provide facilities, equipment, supplies and communications in the event of an emergency that impacts the entire community.

"This work is so rewarding. It has been an awesome task. I learned about the emergency preparedness committee that Sun City Palm Desert initiated in California and thought it would work well at Sun City Anthem," Berman said.

"Sun City Anthem, I believe, is the first major community in the Las Vegas Valley to establish a similar program. It took nine months of organizing and planning, creating the 10-person committee, and recruiting volunteers. Currently, we have over 300 volunteers and we've graduated two classes from the Community Emergency Response Team training program."

The training program, taught by the Las Vegas Fire Department, provides information on disasters, basic first aid, fire hazards and prevention, and search and rescue.

"Homeland Security's prime directive is that a community be capable to survive from three to five days on their own without any external resources, such as water, electricity, fire or police departments," Berman said.

In order to serve the 7,000 homes that will comprise the community, he said the committee hopes to double the number of volunteers. It also established eight emergency districts, each with two or more coordinators, block captains and a medical treatment center that is usually housed in a volunteer's garage and filled with donated supplies.

Del Webb's nearby Sun City MacDonald Ranch also has formed an emergency preparedness committee.

Twelve single-story designs measuring from 1,496 to 3,175 square feet are available. Homes are priced from the mid-$360,000s to more than $600,000.

To visit, take Eastern Avenue south, two miles past St. Rose Parkway, turn left on Anthem Parkway and then turn right on Alexandria Drive. The models and the sales office are open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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