My name is Tony Kinderman and I’m a senior at Nevada Union High School. This school year, I have the pleasure of being the youth intern for the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services or OES for short.

OES brought me on because emergency preparedness isn’t something we should leave entirely to our parents and guardians. As young people in Nevada County, we have an important role to play for our families and our community in being prepared for emergencies.

I started with OES after my classmates, and I took part in filming an emergency preparedness video. I decided I wanted to help more to push the message that being prepared is important for everyone, including young people I know that we sometimes overlook problems and tend to think that we can’t help when big events like severe winter storms or wildfires threaten Nevada County. I’m here to tell you
that’s not true. We can make a massive difference. I know I’m helping my family be prepared every time I watch over my younger siblings. I’m personally signed up for CodeReEDEmergency Alerts. I know what
our wildfire evacuation zone is. I know what’s in our emergency kits and where they are so I can watch over my siblings if my parents can’t get home in a snowstorm. These are all steps I’ve taken so that my parents have less to worry about in the case of an emergency. Since joining the OES team, I have learned a lot about what I need to do to be prepared for emergencies and hope to pass that on to you.

As the youth of Nevada County, we can play a big part in being ready because we are the next generation. We shouldn’t think that it’s up to adults when we can make all the difference, especially in the winter. For example, do you know how to drive in the snow? Is your car four-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, or neither? Do you have chains for when it’s icy? Do you know how to put on those chains? These are just some of the questions we need to be asking ourselves. They might not seem like very important questions, but they are because those are some steps we can take to be prepared.

To promote youth involvement in emergency preparedness, we’ve added a section to the Ready Nevada County website. It gives quick and easy access to information that will help keep young people safe and prepared. As a community, we can all help Nevada County be more prepared. This can happen as easily as informing your family, friends, and neighbors that they have a part in emergency preparedness no matter their age! We are all in this together.

Tony Kinderman