LACP.org
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Community Emergency Plan
- sample summary -
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Sample Community Emergency Plan Summary
by Don Farkas

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Farkas is the current Chairman of the Public Safety Committee for the Bel Air - Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council. He's a former assistant co-chair of WLA C-PAB, former chair of the WLA C-PAB Crisis Response Committee, and a former RVA Disaster Preparedness Coordinator. A regular contributor to LACP, he welcomes your inquiries. Feel free to contact Don by email at donfarkas@belairmail.com or by phone - (310) 472-4822.

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CASIANO BEL-AIR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PLAN SUMMARY

February 12, 2003

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What the Community Emergency Plan Is:

The Casiano Bel-Air Community Emergency Plan (the Plan) is a basic framework for organizing community members to provide communications, light search and rescue capability, fire suppression, and medical care, in the event of a major emergency such as a large earthquake. Volunteers who respond are to be subject to the direction and control of governmental agencies such as the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

What the Community Emergency Plan is Not:

The Community Emergency Plan is intended to supplement, and not replace, individual household, institutional, or business emergency plans. The Plan does not provide for any community stockpiling of food, water, medicines, sanitation, or emergency shelter supplies. Individuals and households are encouraged to maintain sufficient water (one gallon per person per day), food, medicines, and supplies to last at least three days, minimum.

Five Levels of Participation:

This Plan recognizes five levels of participation by volunteers:

(1)
Untrained.
(2)
"Safety-trained" (e.g., persons who have attended a one-hour "L.A. SafetyNet" disaster preparedness program.
(3)
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trained persons (i.e., those who have completed LAFD's 17 ½ hour CERT program).
(4)
Persons who are certified members of recognized search and rescue organizations.
(5)
Licensed health care providers who agree to be "on-call" (if available) after a disaster, if emergency services of paramedics and ambulances can not be obtained.

Command Central and Command Posts:

In the event of a major disaster, a "Command Central" will be established at a pre-determined location in the community to serve as staging area for volunteers and to be a collection and distribution point for information. A yellow colored, 50 gallon-sized storage container, which is identified with a red cross and marked "Emergency First Aid", will be stored at that location containing community supplies for the Command Central. (There are currently no other locations arranged for supplemental Command Posts.) In the event of a disaster, persons who can help are asked to go to Command Central to volunteer.

The location of Command Central for the Casiano Bel-Air area will be:

Command Central Location:

The sidewalk in front of the residence at _____________________________

At Command Central, the person in charge, called the Incident Commander, will appoint a:

(1)
Scribe,
(2)
Logistics Officer,
(3)
Medical Officer,
(4)
Runner, and
(5)
Staging Officer.

Command Central will also have some basic equipment available for use by the community in a disaster including a chain saw, bolt cutters, large metal levers, support blocks and wedges, crow bars, extra leather gloves, dust masks, fire extinguishers, bulletin board, megaphone, CB radio, sign-making materials, various hand tools, vinyl tarps, first aid kits, and administrative supplies.

Communications:

In the event that telephone service has been interrupted, an effort will be made to have volunteers at Command Central transmit on, and monitor, Citizens Band (CB) radio frequency channel 22 for at least a five minute interval on an hourly basis. To facilitate communications, the specific pre-arranged time for the regular five-minute CB radio broadcast in the Casiano Bel-Air area will start at every ten minutes after the hour and end at every fifteen minutes after the hour. Command Central will also provide a community bulletin board where personal written messages can be left.

Seeking Help:

Individuals seeking help for themselves or others may go to the Command Central if assistance would otherwise be unavailable from police, fire departments, paramedics, ambulance, or other regular emergency services due to a disaster. Individuals who need assistance, but who for some reason can not leave their homes, can signal for help by tying a piece of white cloth to their mailbox or front door nob, where it may be visible from the street. It will be the goal of this Community Emergency Plan that every household or structure within the Casiano Bel-Air area will be checked for personal injuries, hazards, or major structural damage, within one-hour after a disaster such as a major earthquake.

Evacuation:

Fire is the most likely reason why residents would be asked to evacuate. Cars should be parked in driveways facing outward, to facilitate leaving. Because hillside roads may have many bottlenecks and delays, evacuees should not wait until the last minute to leave. Those who leave will likely not be allowed back by authorities until the emergency is declared over.

Emergency Equipment; The "Ten Essentials":

Emergency tools should be kept by volunteers in a safe, easily accessible location (e.g., kept in a backpack in a bedroom closet, in the trunk of the car, etc.). These should include, at minimum, the following "Ten Essentials":

(1)
Sturdy work shoes or boots
(2)
All leather work gloves
(3)
Hard hat
(4)
Protective eye goggles
(5)
Dust mask
(6)
Flashlight (with fresh batteries)
(7)
Crowbar (or fire axe) and large crescent wrench
(8)
Minimum 1.5 Liter canteen or water bottles
(9)
Large piece of chalk for marking doorways
(10)
Whistle

Standardized Whistle Signals For Volunteers:

One long, one short blast:
One short blast:
Two short blasts:
Three short blasts (X 3):
Multiple long blasts:
"Come to the sound of this whistle"
"Where are you?" or "How are you?"
"I am here" or "I am OK"
"Danger! Evacuate immediately!"
"Send help immediately!"

Actions to be Taken by Volunteers After a Disaster Such as an Earthquake; The "Ten Good Deeds":

(1)
Duck, cover, and hold! (Remember to beware of aftershocks!)
(2)
Put on shoes, eye glasses, and protective clothing, as needed
(3)
Check all persons in the household for injuries. (Remember to keep looking out for things that might fall on someone, such as books, furniture, roof tiles, bricks, electrical wires, etc.)
(4)
Retrieve the "Ten Essentials" (and any other needed tools)
(5)
Check their own house for problems such as gas leaks, electrical shorting, water leaks, structural damage, hazards, etc., and make any possible interventions.
(6)
Find a partner (i.e., use the "buddy system")
(7)
Check at least ten other homes for injuries or problems, and make any possible interventions. (NOTE: Preventing fires is the highest priority! Do the most good for the greatest number.)
(8)
Never let anyone enter any structure that has sustained more than moderate damage, unless they have the training, backup, tools, and good reason to do so.
(9)
Remove all injured persons from any structure that has sustained more than light damage, as soon as possible.
(10)
Report all injuries, hazards, problems, incident times, and your responses, to Command Central as soon as possible, and ask for any needed help.


LEAVE SPACE HERE
for diagrams about:

shutting off gas,
electrical systems,
and water utilities.
.

Actions NOT to be Taken By Volunteers; "The Ten Big NO, NO's!":

(1)
Never strike a match, light a candle, turn on an electrical switch, start an automobile, etc., if you suspect there might possibly be a gas leak nearby. (i.e., it would be better to curse the darkness, than to cause a big kaboom.)
(2)
Do not attempt any searches or rescues, or enter any damaged structure, or do anything even slightly risky without having a partner with you! (i.e., always use the "buddy system".)
(3)
Do not go near any damaged structure without wearing proper protective gear, such as a hard hat, good shoes, and leather work gloves. (i.e., do not become another casualty.)
(4)
Do not enter any structure that has received more than moderate damage, unless you have received the proper training (such as being a certified member of a recognized search and rescue organization), have the proper tools and backup, and have a very good reason to do so! (i.e., do not allow yourself to get stuck into a tight fix because of good intentions.)
(5)
Do not give first aid to injured persons inside of structures that have sustained more than light damage, before evacuating them. (First, get them out of the building, and then give them aid where it is safer.)
(6)
Never attempt to fight a fire without having a safe escape route, and making sure you will have enough time to use it in an emergency. (iI.e., the wind can always turn unexpectedly and blow the fire in your direction.)
(7)
If there is a fire nearby (or upwind, or downhill), do not open any doors without first feeling with the back of the hand from the bottom up, or use any mid-slope roads, or go into dead-ended box canyons, or go near steep hillside chutes which can act as natural chimneys, or climb up hillsides that are covered with overgrown brush. (i.e., fire will follow heat, which tends to rise.)
(8)
Do not risk your life to rescue somebody's dog. (i.e., use good judgment and keep it real.)
(9)
Do not take off somewhere without telling your buddy, or those in charge, where you are going. (i.e., if you encounter a path less traveled, make sure you tell someone which one you are going to take; it could make all the difference.)
(10)
Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature to try to hurt or kill you.

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Feel free to contact Don Farkas

Email: donfarkas@belairmail.com

Phone - (310) 472-4822


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