LACP.org
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Public Safety Committee of the
Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council

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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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