SANDPOINT — Dozens of field experts will come together at the Bonner County Fairgrounds this weekend to help community members be ready for disasters. 

The Panhandle Preparedness Expo, an Oct. 5-6 event, will host vendors, demonstrations, and speakers aiming to educate and prepare attendees for blackouts, floods, wildfires, and other crises. 

“You need to be aware of your surroundings and aware of what type of disasters could be in your area,” said Pam Brockus, expo secretary. “Are we going to get a tsunami? No. But in our area, we have power outages, and we have windstorms, snow, and freezing.”

The event was first held in 2016 as a one-day gathering. Thanks to high demand, the expo expanded the next year to fill the entire weekend. Staff at Bonner County Emergency Management, including Brockus, launched the event to help spread the word about disaster preparedness. 

“One of the duties for emergency management is public outreach,” Brockus said. “So, we just kind of took it and we ran with it.” 

Demonstrations from local experts this weekend will include map reading, performing CPR, field stripping an assault rifle, and blacksmithing, among others. 

The expo will also host speakers from across the country to share expertise in a variety of skills. Jessica Arno — “The Combat Midwife” — will visit from Texas to present about responding to OB-GYN emergencies and navigating out-of-hospital birth transfer. Olivia Garrison, an herbal medicine specialist, will share tips for treating and preventing illness when hospital care isn’t available. 

“When I teach, I want to teach people what they have in their particular area,” said Garrison, who leads two-day classes across the western U.S. “I want people to open up their eyes to their surroundings.” 

According to Garrison, the Pacific Northwest is home to many critical components of herbal medicine. “This area is so blessed to have some of the most important plants,” she said. 

Both Garrison and Brockus emphasized that in a disaster scenario, knowledge and planning are more important than any tool or piece of equipment. 

“Attend as many courses and classes and learn as much as you can,” said Garrison. She then emphasized the value of having a variety of methods to solve the same problem. 

“You're going to come across a lot of people with different ideas on how to do things,” she said. “Always have at least three ways of doing the exact same thing.” 

“You can't always be totally prepared — you just have to be educated,” said Brockus. “That's what this expo is about, is just to educate people.” 

All expo activities will take place in the main exhibit building at the fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Road.  

Information: panhandleprep.org.