Team Service Areas

A Team's Service Area refers to the geographic area within which a NET administers their Operations Plan; it can be thought of as their "turf" and the area they plan to respond inside of in the event of a disaster. Most Service Areas conform with neighborhood boundaries, while others include multiple neighborhoods or a part of a neighborhood. Service Areas are proposed to PBEM by Team Leaders, and PBEM provides final approval. A team should evaluate their Service Area every time they update their Operations Plan.

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NET Team Service Areas on August 24, 2023.

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Background

Service Area policies changed several times since Portland NET started in 1994, often reflecting the reach of the program and interests of volunteers. In the first years of NET, Service Areas conformed with Portland Fire & Rescue fire management areas (FMAs). As the number of NET volunteers increased over the years, Service Area boundaries shifted to follow Portland's neighborhood system. That is how most Service Areas boundaries are drawn today, but PBEM encourages teams to reconsider their boundaries and "right size" them to match resources and team priorities. Creating more nuanced boundaries is also more plausible than in past years thanks to the use of GIS mapping systems.

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Job Aid: Creating a Team Service Area Boundary

PBEM offers the following rules and guidance to NETs when developing their Service Area Boundaries:

Service Area Rules

PBEM will only approve Service Areas if they conform with these rules:

1. Service Area boundaries shall not overlap with the Service Area boundaries of another team. "Enclaved" boundaries are acceptable.
2. Exclaves are not permitted; except in unusual circumstances, boundaries must be contiguous.

General Guidance/Suggestions

The following conditions are not required:

1. PBEM recommends that most of the Service Area be inside City of Portland city limits.
2. Optimally, a Service Area includes one BEECN and one fire station.
3. PBEM prefers and recommends square/rectangular-shaped Service Areas with four sides (they are significantly easier to process on mapping tools). PBEM will reject highly gerrymandered Service Areas.