ESP FOCUS - February

EMERGENCY SURVIVAL PROGRAM

(Back to home page)
 

Now is the Time to Start

The beginning of the new year is a good time to begin your preparedness effort.  Start today by organizing a meeting with neighbors, co-workers and school officials to plan for possible emergencies.

Because floods, fires, earthquakes and other emergencies present us with more challenges to solve in a fast-pace world, we need to work with our neighbors, co-workers and school officials to prepare for these emergencies.  The City of La Verne, Bonita School District, neighboring cities and County already have plans to use in the event of a major problem.  However during a major emergency such as an earthquake there may be hundreds of requests for fire or medical assistance, way more than we can immediately provide.  Your first assistance may come from neighbors or co-workers, if you have an emergency plan in place.  This a good time to meet with those neighbors and co-workers to establish that mutual plans.

 

First - Identify interested People

  Find people who might be interested in helping with a Planning Committee first, which would help set goals for a following emergency preparedness and response program meeting.  Use the table below as a guide for identifying possible people for your Planning Committee.

Neighborhood

Business

School
Other Neighbors Business Owner Principal
Community Leaders Risk Manager Risk Manager
Business Owners personnel Officer Faculty Members
Fire Department Dept. Managers Staff
Police Department Facility Coordinator Parents
Healthcare Providers Fire Dept. Fire Dept.
American Red Cross Employees Police Dept.
  Police Dept. Students
  Members of the Planning Committee should meet together before the first meeting, to set goals for your emergency preparedness and response program.
 

Prepare an Agenda and Goals
  Plan your meeting after you've spoken to people who might be interested.  Organize the meeting by developing goals and setting an agenda.  Some of the goals of your first meeting may be to:

Discuss emergency threats.

Stress the need to prepare.

Inventory supplies, equipment and tools.

Assess the skills of interested persons.

Determine dates and times for future meetings.
 

Contact Others
  Then invite others who share your interest to participate in your preparedness meeting.  You can use the following script to explain the importance of emergency preparedness and response meeting, what you hope to accomplish and how they can assist in making the group's efforts successful.
 
  Hello, my name is ____________.  I recently learned that we might be on our own for 72 hours or more after a major earthquake or another major disaster.  I think we need to be better prepared.  We're holding a meeting at ___(time)___ on ___(date)___ in ___(location)____.  Are you interested?  My telephone number is: _________.  
 

Discuss Local Hazards
 

Invite someone from your local emergency agency, fire department, law enforcement agency or local chapter of the American Red Cross to talk about the hazards that threaten you area and what you can do to be prepared.
 

Identify Skills and Supplies
  Distribute a questionnaire to identify each person's skills, as well as the equipment, supplies and other resources available.  After the meeting, the Planning Committee should review the completed questionnaires and assign people to sections within their emergency response team.
q [The above was taken from the Emergency Survival Program (ESP) action sheet for February.  The ESP is an awareness campaign designed to increase emergency preparedness at home, in the community, at work and at school.  ESP was developed by the County of Los Angeles.  The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) and representatives from Southern California cities and counties assist in the development of campaign materials and coordination of the campaign.]
 

Comment from La Verne Fire Department
  We strongly encourage you to meet with your neighbors and co-workers, to decide on plans as to how your group could address problems after a major emergency in the even firefighters or police can not give immediate assistance.  I would be happy to attend your initial meetings or even host the meetings at the fire station at an available time.  Please contact Chief Ron Sillo at (909) 596-5991 if you have any further questions.