Disaster Preparedness - Practice, Practice

Today was the city-wide disaster preparedness drill sponsored by the Burlingame Neighborhood Network.  22 "blocks" or neighborhoods in B'game took part and B'game police, fire and city officials toured the gathering sites to get a feel for how residents participated and learned about preparing.  This was my second year participating and I can verify that the more you do it, the more engaged and informed you become.  Step 0 is knowing where your block meets which is the most fundamental thing to know.  We had many new faces this year as people have moved into the neighborhood or just decided to come to the event.  That interaction alone makes it worthwhile.

I'll just tell you three things about being prepared.  Neighborhoods that plan and practice do far better, in the aggregate welfare, than those that don't.  That may seem obvious, but it bears repeating so that participation can get above 3-4% of everyone in the neighborhood.  Second, B'game has about 100 first responders in total but only about 25 are on duty at any given time, so figuring out what has happened, how serious it is and getting the most dire issues up the "chain of command" is essential.  The rest will be up to us.  Lastly, the city is doing a good job of assisting this grass roots efforts.  My neighborhood qualified for one of the 22 "caches" of emergency supplies that the city has funded based on our history of engagement in the process.  We also got one of the decommissioned radios to enable a communications lead to talk to ham operators at the elementary schools (who then relay the most critical info to police and fire).  We cannot count on 911 and cell phones for everything when all is chaos.

All in all it was a worthwhile morning and kudos to BNN for the planning, documentation and coaching needed to make it a success.  Here is the cache spread out for the drill.

Comments

[Joe]

NBCNews was in town yesterday to report on the drills. View it here:

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Changes-Coming-to-the-U_S_-Supreme-Court_Bay-Area-497525931.html

[Joe]

This exercise was news to me and I did not drop-and-cover:

The annual Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill was Thursday, encouraging people in the Southland and around the globe to drop, cover and hold to test their level of preparedness for a major temblor.

The 10th annual drill was at 10:18 a.m. At that time, millions of people across California were to "drop" to the ground, take "cover" under a desk, table or other sturdy surface and "hold on" for 60 seconds, as if a major earthquake were occurring.

More than 10 million people in California registered at www.shakeout.org to participate in the drill, including nearly 3.3 million in Los Angeles County and 875,000 in Orange County.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Drop-Cover-and-Hold-Millions-Expected-to-Take-Part-in-Great-ShakeOut-Drill-497899881.html

[Joe]

I was remiss in not noting that Suzanne Tateosian has passed. John Horgan's piece in yesterday's DJ reminded me:

Family, friends, neighbors and professional colleagues have been mourning the late February passing of Suzanne Tateosian, 66, a longtime Burlingame resident who dedicated much of her life to keeping her community resilient, safe and secure.

She died unexpectedly in Nevada due to a stroke late in February. She was the former proprietor of a local firm that provided earthquake survival kits to private companies, schools, government entities, foundations and individuals.

She was a selfless and key participant in the work of the Burlingame Neighborhood Network which aims to assist residents in the event of a natural disaster, among other laudable goals.

A recent statement from the network board lamented the loss of one of its most valued members, noting, “We miss her enormously.” The Tateosian family intends to have a celebration of Suzanne’s life in the near future.
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Those of us who are active in BNN know that Suzanne was a genuinely nice person and will be greatly missed. My condolences to Jeff and the family....