Lakeside QRU holds annual open house

Genny Ward stood just a few yards away

from the bucket, but most of the beanbags she tossed ended up

scattered across the ground.

“Whoa,” said Ward, an eighth grade

Somers Middle School student, as she stumbled toward the bucket and

slowly bent down to retrieve the beanbags.

Ward was just one of several kids who

tried out a pair of Fatal Vision goggles at the fourth annual

Lakeside Quick Response Unit open house on May 21. The QRU

organizes the event each year to promote community safety and

educate the public about emergency procedures.

The goggles were part of a drug

awareness display set up by members of the Kalispell Elks Lodge.

The group also distributed informational pamphlets about the

potentially life-threatening effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

“Prevention really is the best

medicine,” said Steve Rosso, who is the president of the Lakeside

QRU.

In addition to inviting the Elks Lodge

to bring their drugs and alcohol display, Rosso and other QRU

workers set up several tables to distribute information on safety

and prevention. The group also handed out vial of life packets —

plastic baggies containing medical forms with information about

health history and prescription medications.

“That way, people can take it and put

it on their fridge for us to find if we have to respond to an

emergency situation,” Rosso said.

The group also promoted public

attention to living wills and other medical directives.

This year, the unit used the open house

as an opportunity to emphasize their latest request to the

community: providing emergency responders with clear, numbered

address signs.

“In rural areas, there are not many

road signs, so it is important that people put out house number

signs to let emergency service people know where they live in case

of an emergency,” Rosso said.

Education was the main purpose of the

open house, but Rosso said organizers tried to make it a fun event

by bringing in the Elks trailer and firing up the barbecue for free

hotdogs.

“This is our opportunity to entertain

the community a little bit,” he said.

It also gave local residents a chance

to see the new Lakeside QRU building, which is nearing

completion.

“We continue to work on fundraising,

and we hope to move in sometime next winter,” Rosso said.