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Community
Emergency Plan Discussed
by Don Farkus
July
16, 2003
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Community Emergency Plan Discussed at
Meeting of Disaster Preparedness Coordinators
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The
Public Safety Committee of the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood
Council (BABC) conducted a public meeting on July 16, 2003 for representatives
of participating Santa Monica Mountain community homeowner associations
and Stakeholder Groups regarding implementing a disaster preparedness
project called, the "Community Emergency Plan." At the meeting,
held at the home of Public Safety Committee Co-Chair Linda Shokrian,
the Chairman of the Committee, Don Farkas, stated that the purpose
of the Community Emergency Plan was primarily to help communities
organize themselves to deal with foreseeable natural disasters such
as major earthquakes, large brush fires, or landslides. However,
he said the basic organization and communications preparations called
for by the Plan could also conceivably be adapted for use even in
the possible event of a man-made disaster such as a terrorist attack
or attack by weapons of mass destruction. He said the BABC Public
Safety Committee project, which is an attempt to design a feasible,
comprehensive, low cost, volunteer based Community Emergency Plan,
will then be offered to the City of Los Angeles free of charge as
an experimental model for possible use in other communities.
The design of most written components, personnel and equipment recommendations,
and operating procedures for the Community Emergency Plan have already
been completed, according to Farkas, but many implementation instruction
issues still have to be worked out with the Stakeholder Groups.
The operating principles behind the design of the plan is said to
be "economy, simplicity, and reality." Farkas said he had already
made several presentations about the proposed Community Emergency
Plan to Stakeholder Groups in the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood
Council area over the past few months, and that fourteen out of
the twenty qualifying groups had both officially announced their
decision to participate and had appointed persons to serve as the
"Disaster Preparedness Coordinator" for their area. The participating
groups, which are mostly homeowner associations but also include
a few institutional participants, include the following: (1) Bel
Air Association, (2) Bel Air Crest, (3) Benedict Canyon Association,
(4) Beverly Glen Park, (5) Casiano Bel Air, (6) Casiano Estates,
(7) Holmby Hills, (8) Laurel Canyon Association, (9) North Beverly/Franklin
Canyon, (10) Residents of Beverly Glen, (11) Roscomare valley Association,
(12) Roscomare Valley Community Business Association, (13) Bel Air
Moraga/Sepulveda Business Association, and (14) Stephen Wise Temple.
Organizers of the BABC Public Safety Committee meeting said that
the turn out by the area Disaster Preparedness Coordinators was
not as good as had been hoped, but that this might simply reflect
a decreasing sense of urgency since the threat of disasters, such
as terrorist attacks, might currently be perceived by the public
as lessening somewhat. "That is OK", said Farkas, "since a viable
disaster plan has to be able to sustain itself even during times
when perceived threats are less, such as in between disasters."
Despite the less than expected turn out, the Stakeholder Groups
which were represented by the attending Disaster Preparedness Coordinators,
together, were estimated to represent somewhere between 8,000 to
9,000 people out of the total, approximately 26,000 people who live
within the Bel Air-Beverly Crest area. Also attending the meeting
were Los Angeles Police Department Senior Lead Officer Dale R. Hickerson
and Officer Maria Gholizadeh.
Farkas noted that it has been recommended by officials of the City
of Los Angeles, as well as many other governmental authorities,
that it would be a wise precaution for every individual and household
to have an emergency plan in case of a disaster. Such personal,
household plans, it is said, should include means to allow family
members to communicate through having out-of-state phone contacts,
have agreed upon alternative meeting places, and provide for maintaining
safely stored supplies of water, food, shelter and sanitary supplies,
medicines, cash in small denominations, emergency tools, can openers,
fire extinguishers, extra eyeglasses, and other necessary items.
The BABC Public Safety Committee has strongly supported and encouraged
making such preparations.
Farkas noted that, in addition to the need to encourage individuals
to make household emergency plans, many community groups have started
to realize that it would also be a very good precaution to have
in place a community-wide plan for organizing a more effective,
coordinated neighborhood response in the event of a major disaster
in which normal emergency services were to become either severely
delayed or were unavailable. The BABC Public Safety Committee has
developed a sample Community Emergency Plan that can be used by
community groups to provide such a basic framework. A summary of
the Community Emergency Plan can be seen on the Los Angeles Community
Policing website at:
Community
Emergency Plan Summary
Briefly
described, the Community Emergency Plan calls for each participating
community to select a Disaster Preparedness Coordinator who would
be a designated liaison for the group and who would be responsible
for conducting an annual review of his or her community's disaster
preparedness using a provided checklist. Each community would also
pre-select and advertise locations to be used as "Command Posts"
in the event of a major disaster. The Command Posts would serve
as more efficient collection or distribution points for information
and would be designated meeting places for volunteers or persons
who may need to request help. Such Command Posts could also serve
as a storage location for any community-owned emergency tools (such
as large metal levers, wooden support blocks and wedges, Citizens'
Band (CB) radios or walkie-talkies, chain saws, fire extinguishers,
"Caution" tape, sign making materials, etc.), if any. At minimum,
Command Post locations would maintain an annually updated address
list of community volunteers, including contact locations of participating
local radio operators and licensed healthcare providers.
It is a goal of the Community Emergency Plan that every person,
residence, and building in the community would be checked for injuries
or other problems within one hour after the occurrence of a disaster
such as a large earthquake. Preventing fires, and turning off disrupted
utilities, such as leaking gas, shorted electrical circuits, or
leaking water, would be high priorities. Shutting off water leaks,
especially those which may be occuring over a wide area, is not
only desirable to prevent resulting damage to the effected properties,
but is also necessary to help maintain sufficient water pressure
so as to enable fire fighters to continue to fight potential fires
elsewhere.
The BABC Public Safety Committee also discussed finding an authoritative
provider, such as commercial companies or the Red Cross or the Los
Angeles Fire Department, which could offer to the various Stakeholder
Groups a one or two hour basic disaster "safety training" program.
Such a safety training program, which would be offered as a free
service to interested persons in the community, would cover such
essential, basic skills as operating a fire extinguisher and knowing
how to turn off disrupted gas, electrical, and water utilities in
an emergency. In addition, the BABC Public Safety Committee discussed
ways to help get more people to take the Los Angeles Fire Department's
(LAFD's) 17 1/2 hour Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training
course for community volunteers who would like to receive even more
disaster preparedness instruction and practice skills. Farkas highly
recommended that residents of the hillside communities obtain or
update their CERT certification training. He said that persons who
are interested in finding out more about CERT training can call
the LAFD's Disaster Preparedness Unit at (818) 756-9674.
Maintaining communications is an important part of the BABC Community
Emergency Plan. In the event that telephone services were to become
interrupted after a disaster, it might be very important for communities
to have the ability to establish alternate modes of communication.
This is because many of the serious problems which might occur after
a disaster, such as large fires, ruptured gas or water mains, and
fallen electrical lines, for example, might require mitigation measures
far beyond the capabilities of community volunteers. Battery powered,
two-way "walkie-talkie" radios, CB radios, and short wave band width
radios might be useful for maintaining local communication, especially
if the community had pre-selected and advertised the channels or
frequencies to be used and established standard times when radio
transmissions are to be monitored. Additionally, the Community Emergency
Plan emphasizes having each community attempt to locate any local
residents who are trained, licensed amateur short wave radio operators
("HAMs"). The Los Angeles Fire Department is sponsoring one such
volunteer organization of HAM radio operators called the "Auxiliary
Communications Services" (ACS). The ACS organization is made up
of licensed HAM radio operators who have agreed to work as an integral
part of the LAFD's communications infrastructure in the event of
a disaster. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about ACS
can view their website at www.lafd.org/acs.htm.
One of the published goals of the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood
Council Public Safety Committee has been to reduce the risk of fires
occurring, especially after a disaster such as an earthquake. This
is especially vital in the wooded Santa Monica Mountains area since
the LAFD has previously stated that there might be insufficient
resources immediately available to fight a large brush fire in the
area if one broke out after a large earthquake. Depending on the
circumstances, emergency resources would more likely have to be
deployed in more populated areas in the city. This is why the BABC
Community Emergency Plan asks hillside residents to insure that
their gas appliances, such as water heaters, are properly secured
and strapped and that their homes have seismic gas cutoff valves
installed.
Developing and providing easily accessible and enjoyable disaster
safety educational programs which have been geared especially for
residents of wooded hillside areas, such as the Bel Air-Beverly
Crest area, is also an integral part of the Community Emergency
Plan. For example, teaching residents to how to obtain, store, and
properly use fire extinguishers is a high priority. Many people
feel it could be lifesaving to have a portable fire extinguisher
available in each home in this rugged, wooded hillside area. According
to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), which is a part of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, the United States currently has one
of the highest death rates due to fire in the industrialized world
at approximately 13.4 deaths per million. According to USFA statistics
compiled for the year 2001, the most recent currently available,
fire killed more Americans than all other natural disasters combined
(even excluding those deaths resulting from the 9/11 attacks). A
full 84% of those fire deaths occured in residences.
Anyone who has any questions about the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood
Council Public Safety Committee or the proposed Community Emergency
Plan is invited to:
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Feel free to contact Don Farkas
Email: donfarkas@belairmail.com
Phone - (310) 472-4822
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