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Colleen Perdue, of Seattle, talks with her daughter Christy in Ashland's Beanery, where a Cygnus emergency triangle was displayed as part of a community wide drill on Saturday. Need aid? Turn your triangle By Paul Fattig of the Mail Tribune ASHLAND -- Ever since flood waters roared through this community in the winter of 1997, Wayne Schumacher has been mulling over how to strengthen neighborhood reactions to disasters. Another flood, another power-sapping wind storm, another blanket of traffic-stopping snow is bound to happen, he figures. If that isn't enough, there is always Y2K lurking at the end of the year, he observed. "I've been wondering what we can do as neighbors and communities to be more resilient in times of emergency," said Schumacher, 51, director of family housing at Southern Oregon University. "We'll have them: flood, earthquake," he added. "Even Y2K is a big unknown. We need to find a way as neighbors to be able to help each other more." His solution, being tested this weekend in Ashland, is the Cygnus Emergency Response Triangle. The color-coded triangle system he devised could be placed in a window or some other prominent place during emergencies, signaling passers-by about the condition of the household inhabitants. "This is something that neighbors can do that is very affordable, very understandable," he said. "This is something that a 5-year-old can understand that can communicate a message without using the telephones that can be a positive influence in an emergency situation." The triangle is actually a square folded in half, creating four different-colored triangles. One triangle is green, indicating everything is fine and no help is needed. The opposite side is a blue triangle, letting passers-by know that the occupants are available to volunteer should they be needed. The third triangle is yellow, indicating the occupants have a non-urgent need or request. The final is red, signaling an urgent need in the household. The name Cygnus comes from the star constellation which includes three stars forming a triangle. Schumacher has contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to see if there is a national interest. The agency suggested Schumacher conduct a drill. He held a small one at the housing facility in May. Satisfied that it worked well, he decided to try it out for size on the broader community this weekend. He estimated that up to 600 people are participating in the drill. One is Pete Peterson, a retired Ashland resident who is head of the Tolman Creek Mobile Home Park association. About 94 percent of the 37 households in the park participated in the drill, Peterson said. "It's a great idea," he said. "If a person puts up a triangle for help, there would be several of us responding." Peterson recalled the 1962 Columbus Day storm in Oregon when his family was without electricity for four days. "It gives us a lot of reassurance," he said, adding that the park residents plan to continue using the system after the drill. ``It gives us unity." In the upper Park Street neighborhood, a semi-retired resident, who just calls himself "Sugeet," said it was an excellent low-tech idea for the next millennium. "It allows us to keep track of each other in times when the phone and electricity might not be available," he said. "Everybody I talked to on my street was very pleased with it. They felt it should be made available to all the neighborhoods." Governments have been a little cautious when it comes to the new emergency triangles, although the city of Glendale in southern Douglas County purchased 1,000 of them two months ago, Schumacher said. When the emergency triangle system was discussed at a recent Ashland City Council meeting, concern was expressed that residents could get a false sense of security from the triangles. "The response training itself is great," said council member Carole Wheeldon during a telephone interview Saturday evening. "I'm thrilled that individual neighborhoods are doing that. It shows they care about each other." But residents need to remember that the triangles are not mandated by the city and its emergency response system, she stressed. "My caution is soley around the fact people may think they are protected (because of the triangles) when they are not," she said. "But I really love the idea of neighbors getting together and supporting each other. And it is a great tool for them to communicate with one another." Schumacher, who plans to continue lobbying for his new system, envisions it as an enhancement to emergency services already in place. "We're talking about a neighbor helping neighbor response," he said. "The police and fire certainly have their hands full. The advantage of the triangles is that it puts neighbors in a position to help each other." During the May drill, 17 people displayed the blue triangle, indicating they could be of assistance if needed, he said. "Among those 17 were medically trained folks, two people with CB radios, one HAM radio operator," he said. "We had about four people volunteer to watch children." Schumacher, who has copyrighted the material, says that kind of response throughout an entire community could lessen problems caused by an emergency. "With Y2K approaching and nobody knowing for sure what will happen, this is one way we can be better prepared," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA