SCARBOROUGH — There will be a free emergency preparedness workshop on March 17 in the Scarborough High School cafeteria that will focus on long-term situations, like power and heat outages.

From 6:30 to 8 p.m., Fire Chief and EMA Director Michael Thurlow, and Nancy Crowell, director of the Scarborough Public Library, will teach the community how to be self-sustaining in the event of a major weather event or area-wide emergency.

According to a post on the Scarborough Public Library’s Facebook page, “Topics include: assembling an emergency preparedness kit; creating a family emergency and communication plan; over viewing issues related to food, water, lighting, heat, health and hygiene; prevention and mitigation strategies you can do at home to protect household members, valuables and important documents; and info on community resources and shelters.”

There’s no registration necessary,

“Class is located in a designated shelter space to facilitate questions about how to prepare your family and pets for a shelter stay, should that become necessary,” according to the post.

Scarborough Schools does have a comprehensive emergency plan, which can be viewed here, or at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7hUjUVzOHrwYTRCb2FoaEg1NFE/view.

The school’s website says, “In our work, we developed a framework of policies, procedures, guidelines, and organization structures that enables each school and our community partners to effectively work together during an emergency or disaster. This collaboration with our police, fire, and other departments is crucial to ensure the safety of our community. The team has developed this parent guide to provide information of the district’s planned actions in response to potential emergencies as a way of preparing families and local officials before an emergency occurs.”

“Are you, your family, and pets prepared for a long-term power outage, the impacts of a severe snow or ice storm, major hurricane, flooding, or other extended emergency?” says the library’s post. “One or two days without electricity and heat may be manageable, but what about extended periods and/or if you need to evacuate to a shelter? Learn to become more self-sufficient in the days after an extended and/or area-wide emergency.”

The event is a joint effort from the Scarborough Fire Department, the Scarborough Public Library and the Scarborough Adult Learning Center.