Exemplary work is being done in Ylä-Muuratjärvi to improve the safety of the village. Neighborhood assistance activities are highly organized and the village has, for example, implemented a 24-hour evacuation drill.
Organized neighborly help ensures that every villager is in the circle of help when they need it, and no one is left behind. Confidentiality and working as a team are important in the activities. The affairs of the person seeking help must not be known to outsiders, and by working as a group, the help is not personalized for anyone. According to the experience of the people of Ylämuuratjärvi, there are more people offering help than seeking help, so the villagers must be encouraged to ask for help themselves in an emergency.
In Ylä-Muuratjärvi, an overnight evacuation drill was also carried out by the village volunteers. The functionality of the village hall as an emergency center without electricity was tested for 24 hours. During the 24-hour period, exercises were carried out, including alarming, communication, and contacting the authorities using the village radios.
The exercise taught us things through practice that might not have been observed in theory.
– Children need to be taken into account differently than older people in an evacuation situation, and for example, taking personal medication with them must be taken into account for everyone, said Outi Raatikainen, who led the exercise.
Village experts from the South Ostrobothnia Leader groups visited Ylä-Muuratjärvi in December. Ylä-Muuratjärvi is a village in Korpilahti, which is now part of Jyväskylä. The study tour provided information gained through experience for the 4K – Capable and Sustainable Partner Villages project, which has started in the South Ostrobothnia Leader areas and promotes village safety, community spirit and preparedness.
In the picture from left: Outi Raatikainen from the Ylä-Muuratjärvi village hall to the emergency center project, Tuija Takamäki Leader Suupohja, Jaana Sippola Leader Kuusdaan, Helena Mieskolainen, chair of the Ylä-Muuratjärvi club and Ina-Maria Mieskolainen, secretary of the club. (Photo: Eija Pippola)