Volunteer Park is a place for play and beautiful things. Saturday, it’s also going to be the staging ground for a group preparing to be at their best when things are at their worst. Capitol Hill Preparedness People will be running a drill on Saturday to put their communications abilities to the test as part of a citywide effort to be prepared for the Big One.

“We’ll be running a ‘day-after the earthquake scenario,’ handling the communication of mock emergency communications between Capitol Hill, the City, and several other neighborhoods,” said group organizer Angela Wallis of Saturday’s drill.

The group’s auxiliary communications set-up will be in place in the park from about 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturday.

Below is more from the group on what they have planned for Saturday. By the way, they’re looking for more help on the communications committee. We thought the requirements fit you to a T:

You don’t have to have any radio experience at all. We need people who will be fairly calm under pressure and can take messages from people who need help.

You can find out more at http://chippseattle.wordpress.com/

CHiPP has a Communications Committee. In the event of a catastrophe, we will set up hubs around Capitol Hill. We mobilize if the power and phone lines are for some reason indefinitely severed. This could happen in the event of a large earthquake, or even a terrorist attack. You on the hill may have no way to dial 911 or get the message out that you need help or supplies. What we will do is take your information and relay it to the proper emergency channels, as well as try to keep the neighborhood informed about what is going on in the rest of the city. It is a great public service, but we need more volunteers.

This drill will be a test of our efficiency to intake messages and pass them through the city’s Auxiliary Communication System. The theme of this training is “the day after”— the immediate threat has ended, and now we have to get our community up and running again. Communications will probably revolve around minor emergencies and getting supplies to people in need.