NEIGHBORHOODDISASTER

PREPAREDNESS

Presenters

Annette Ashton

Al Dorsky

Ken Dueker

January 9, 2008

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AGENDA

• Setting the Stage

• Palo Alto Neighborhoods

• Neighborhood Preparation

• City Perspective

• Q & A

Changing the role of citizens from Changing the role of citizens from victim to partner during disastersvictim to partner during disasters

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SETTING THE STAGECITY OF PALO ALTO OVERVIEW

During an emergency, City staff will respond to events in the following order of priority:

• Life & safety

• Property protection

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The Palo Alto Problem

• The daytime population in Palo Alto is well over 100,000. And add another 35,000 for normal Stanford campus population – can be up to an additional 100,000 during Stanford Football.

• 61,200 PA residents in 27,000 single and multi-family dwellings in 30 neighborhoods over 26 sq. mi.

• There are roughly 6,000 business with ~100,000 employees. Some are (should be) disaster resources.

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RESPONSE CAPABILITIES

• There are only 32 firefighters on duty on any given day. (It takes appx. 15 -20 firefighters to respond safely to one full-structure incident.)

• There are only 8-10 police officers on duty on any given day.

• There are 40 Utilities operational personnel for Electrical Operations and 30 in Water, Gas, and Wastewater.

• There are 40 Public Works operational personnel

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CORE GOALS

• The City wants residents and businesses (etc.) to be resources, not victims.

• PEOPLE, not plans in a binder, are the key to response and recovery. Must have COMMUNICATIONS to achieve.

• Community can provide information to City:

• Initial Damage Estimate• Transportation Status• Incident Reporting

• Resource Sharing

“Eyes and Ears” Function

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FULLY-IMPAIRED SCENARIO

• Absence of (reliable) infrastructure: phone & Internet out

• Emergency Public Information (Community Alerting and Notification System-CANS)

• Neighborhood Communication

• Link to government must follow span of control

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Communications Links

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Incident Command Post (ICP) at Fire Station

Neighborhood Preparedness Coordinator

Block Preparedness Coordinator

Palo Alto City Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

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PAN (Palo Alto Neighborhoods)

DISASTER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OBJECTIVES

• Prepare neighbor-to-neighbor, block-to-block,

• Community-to-community

• Develop standards (best practices) across the city

• Decide how to communicate up the line as well as receive information down the line

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PAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Survey Residents on the need for timely communications

• Pandemic Influenza briefing 2/1/07

• PAN web site on Disaster/Emergency Preparedness Information http://www.PANeighborhoods.org/ep

• Develop roles of Block & Neighborhood Preparedness Coordinator

• Emergency Preparedness Faire at July 4 Chili Cook-off

• Discussion of neighborhood issues with the City of Palo Alto

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WHY SHOULD RESIDENTS ORGANIZE/PREPARE?

• Risk is ever-present.• Natural disaster: earthquake, flood• Terrorism/Criminal Acts: bombing, shooting, etc.• Fires• Accidents, chemical spill, technological failures• Disease - pandemic influenza

Changing the role of citizens from victim to partner during emergenciesChanging the role of citizens from victim to partner during emergencies

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STEPS FOR BEING PREPARED

Make a Family Disaster Plan

Build a Kit: Water, food, shelter, medications; KZSU 90.1 FM

Get TrainedFirst Aid, CPR

Volunteer: Block Preparedness Coordinator, CERT, Red Cross, HAM etc.

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BLOCK PREPAREDNESS COORDINATOR

Social

Information Sharing Emergency/DisasterCrime

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BPCKEY ACTIVITIES

• Meet your neighbors• Create a neighborhood list for use in activity planning

and emergencies. Provide each neighbor with the list.• Distribute information from the Neighborhood & the

City; communicate needs, issues upwards to Neighborhoods to City/Council

• Coordinate with Neighborhood Preparedness Coordinator

• Communication node for emergency/disaster• Plan an event once a year• Build a kit• Use your own ideas and creativity

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NEIGHBORHOOD PREPAREDNESS COORDINATOR

KEY ACTIVITIES• Coordinate emergency/disaster preparation for

the neighborhood.

• Serve as a communication node for your Neighborhood

• Point of contact during a disaster

– Coordinate BPCs & Disaster Communications

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ROLES BPC & NPC vs. PANDA PANDA BPC & NPC

Coordinator

Number 600 trained 1000-2500 needed

Disaster Service Worker

Yes Future ?

Administered by PA Fire Department Neighborhood

In an emergency Reports to PANDA trailer first (but can assist neighbors on way in)

Stays in block/neighborhood

Training 20-hour Course BPC 3 hours (4 for NPC)

Training by Fire OES PAN with help of PAPD

Communication role

RACES Ham from PANDA Trailers to EOC; FRS channel 5 in field

FRS & runners connect BPCs to NPCs; Ham & runners connect NPCs to PANDA Trailers

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BPC & NPC TrainingCore Modules

• NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION

• COMMUNICATIONS– COMM I– COMM II (NPC only)

• Damage Assessment

• Total 3 hours for BPC training (4 hours for NPC)

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BPC & NPC TrainingOPTIONAL MODULES

• OPTIONAL – Neighborhood Watch

• FUTURE– Red Cross (CPR, First Aid)– Animal Care– Sensitivity Training– ICS (Incident Command System)– FEMA (Dealing with government agencies)

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MAPS

• A detailed map of the City of Palo Alto is available

• Each neighborhood can prepare a detailed map of its own neighborhood and each block in its neighborhood from a disc that will be provided.

• Help will be available if needed

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swimming pool

BLOCK

Fire hydrant

NEIGHBORHOOD

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PROOF OF CONCEPTWhy Have BPCs & NPCs?

• A good example of what NPCs and BPCs can accomplish was the neighborhood participation in the Golden Guardian exercise of Nov. 14, 2007

• Neighborhood participation was designed to simply test the capabilities of internal communications

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GOLDEN GUARDIAN DRILLNOVEMBER 14, 2007

• Overall neighborhood participation exceeded expectations

• Variety of communications used: FRS, phone (cell and landline) and runners

• Neighborhoods able to report # people attending concert and # people with symptoms within 40 minutes of CANS alert

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NEXT STEPS

• Commit your neighborhood to participate

– Identify, recruit, and train NPCs and BPCs

– Encourage CANS sign-up

– Appoint a representative to PAN EP Committee

– Participate with PAN in city wide drills

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NEIGHBORHOODCOMMITMENT

• Sign the attendance sheet – Information, news– Training – Events

• Contact: adorsky@yahoo.com epvolunteers@paneighborhoods.org– Key Neighborhood Contact

• DON’T BE ON YOUR OWN - JOIN USDON’T BE ON YOUR OWN - JOIN US

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City of Palo Alto Perspective

Kelly Morariu Assistant to the City Manager

Sheryl ContoisDirector, Police Technical Services

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DON’T BE ON YOUR OWNDON’T BE ON YOUR OWN

JOIN US.JOIN US.

Changing the role of citizens Changing the role of citizens

from victim to partner during disastersfrom victim to partner during disasters