Category: Action Items

Are you in charge of Emergency Preparedness meetings?

Do you have a regularly-scheduled Emergency Preparedness meeting for neighbors or co-workers? If so, you can be thankful this topic is “on the radar.” At the same time, if you are responsible for planning and managing the meeting, then you know it takes thought, each month!

I’ve been running or attending neighborhood CERT meetings every single month for about 15 years. During that time our group has had different group leaders, and they are always on the lookout for suggestions to “make the meetings interesting.”

Recently we had a training meeting that seemed to work well. Here’s a description of how we planned for it. I think you’ll find you could put on a meeting like this with very little effort!

A.  Meeting Timing

We hold our meetings the same day and time every month – makes it easy to remember! We limit each meeting to one hour to keep speakers on their toes and attendees from checking their watches.

B.  Meeting Template

I recommend putting together a meeting template so a new volunteer has a track to run on when stepping up to be that month’s meeting planner. An abbreviated version of our template:

1. One month before the meeting – arrange for speaker or select training activity. Announce upcoming meeting at any HOA meetings, in the newsletter, online, etc.
2. One week before the meeting – Distribute invitations via email and/or flyers, arrange for room set-up and audio visual
3. Day before the meeting – Confirm speaker,  confirm arrangements for room and audio-visual, organize handouts and refreshments, send out last meeting reminder
4. At the meeting – Assign first to arrive as “hosts” and/or name tag writers, assign a couple of others as clean-up crew
5. Agenda – Welcome, introduce new members or visitors, present program, acknowledge guest speaker and that meeting’s planning crew, close on time
6. Day after the meeting — Send out thanks, follow up on action items

New to this Advisory — Be sure to add a “Housekeeping” announcement at the beginning of your meeting. Tell people where to find the restrooms, and share “In case of emergency” information: point out at least two exits from the room (doors, windows, behind the stage!) and the location of the nearest fire extinguisher and/or AED.

C.  Meeting Activities

Coming up with something interesting each month takes effort! Naturally, one good source of programs is guest speakers and guest trainers. We have also found that an occasional training video from YouTube can be a great program.

We have also discovered there are some secrets to successful meetings beyond the formal program, however. They include: having name tags and refreshments, having something for everyone to do (for example, change batteries in radios, give a report on their neighborhood), mixing up whole group and small group activities, and adding an element of competition.

Build a collection of Successful Meeting Ideas

So far, I haven’t found any single great source of meeting ideas, and have been forced to develop my own collection. So far, we have published two volumes of meeting ideas!

Have you put on or attended any particularly good CERT meetings lately? Can you share the topic and the activity with everyone? Just drop a description in the comment box!

Thanks for your input.
Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide team

Looking for regular meeting ideas?  Be sure to get our Advisories, and check out our Book of CERT Meeting Ideas.

Children Deserve Survival Training

When there’s an emergency, whether storm, earthquake, flooding, or power outage – children go though it just like you do. How prepared are your children to survive? How about your grandchildren?

How prepared are these kids to respond in an emergency?

Little ones may not understand the potential danger of a storm or other emergency, and perhaps they don’t need to. But they CAN be prepared to take action when they recognize certain warning signs.

Emergency Preparedness at School

These days all schools have access to emergency preparedness training through FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Education. (Just search for “Emergency Preparedness for Schools” on their websites.) Most schools have and practice emergency procedures.

In fact, our grandchildren (aged 10 and 13) seem to know more about how to respond in an earthquake than their parents do!

However, take these children out of the school setting, and they have no experience in taking care of themselves. These are children who have grown up in the suburbs. They’ve never spent time in the wilderness, never used tools, never hiked more than a couple of blocks! (Don’t get me wrong. They’re smart, and getting a great education. But it doesn’t include any survival skills!)

Action Step: Find out what Emergency Preparedness training your children’s teachers go through, and what drills they and the children participate in. It may reassure you!

What about survival training for younger children?

If your children are home with you all the time, then naturally you will be making decisions for them in the case of an emergency.

Still, you may not be with them all the time! What if the storm hits when your child is:

• At a day-care center
• On a play date at a friend’s house
• At a birthday party or an athletic event where other adults are in charge
• At the movies, at Sunday school, playing in the backyard – the list is endless!

You simply can’t be with your children 24 hours a day. So, what survival skills are you giving them?

A simple emergency preparedness tool for starters!

In 1993, FEMA and the American Red Cross put together a Coloring Book for Children. (Yes, it was created in 1993, so the illustrations are pretty dated . . . but I feel that overall, the coloring book has value.)

Here are five highlights from the coloring book, as I see them:

1. Work together.  The book is designed to be worked on by an adult and child team. Do you have older children who would find the coloring book silly? Let them be the “adult” in the conversation with the younger child.
2. Call 911. Use the coloring book as a tool to teach your child when and how to call 911.
3. Family emergency plan. If you haven’t done it yet, use the book as a motivation to identify your “outside meeting place” and your “out-of-area” emergency contact person.
4. Survival kits. Discuss – and build! – emergency supply kits for each family member.
5. Repeat.  The quiz on the last page is a good review.

Action Item: Here’s the link to the book. Click on it and print out the book. It’s 26 pages long, so you probably won’t be going through it all in one sitting.

Click to download Coloring Book

(Here’s the entire link again, in case you need it:  https://s3-us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/dam-production/uploads/20130726-1505-20490-1849/color.pdf)

I think this coloring book could be improved by being brought up to date. In fact, I’m ready to do a new version myself, because it seems as though young children still like to color. What suggestions do you have for improving it? Please let me know by using the comment box below.

Thank you!

Virginia – Your Emergency Response Guide Team

Today as I write this, the news is amazingly full of bad weather reports!

• Wet weather for parts of the Eastern U.S.
• Showers, along with chances of thunderstorms from the Carolinas through areas of the Southeast
• Heavy rain and thunderstorms from areas of Nebraska through Oklahoma and into the Mid-Mississippi Valley
• Risk for severe thunderstorm development in the South-Central Plains through the evening with chances of damaging wind gusts and severe hail
• A cold front ejecting form the Northern Rockies kicked up showers and thunderstorms in North Dakota
• Out West, monsoonal moisture will maintain chances of showers and thunderstorms across the Four Corners, including the Southern and Central Rockies

And Hawaii is shaking off the arrival and passing through of Tropical Storm Flossie!

Do you know what to expect in your town tomorrow?

In your community, what’s the likelihood of damaging winds? Overflowing creeks and rivers? Flooded streets and intersections? Traffic lights out? Widespread power outages including your home or business?

Action Item: Check the weather report now, and every day! Download a severe weather app onto your phone. Simple, sensible, free!

 What emergency plans have you made for tomorrow?

Do you start off each day as always, trusting that you, your family, your neighbors and your car will get through OK? Or, do you consider alternatives, based on the weather report?

Action Item: Alert family members to the weather report. As appropriate, remind them of your family communications plan, change travel plans, check to be sure family members have their Survival Kits with them or nearby before they set off.

What’s the worst that can happen?

In most weather-related emergencies, a 72-hour period is all you’ll have to deal with. After three days, ground water will have dried up, streams will be back within their banks, the utility company will have restored power, and stores will reopen with full shelves.

If the worst happens, though, take a leaf from the book of Hurricane Sandy survivors. Even those whose homes were undamaged waited days and weeks for normal services to be restored!

A Survival Kit will keep you going for 3 days. Planning for a long-term emergency requires a lot more thought and the stockpiling of a few more items.

Sorry to nag, but . . . Do that emergency planning now. Better to have prepared or even over-prepared BEFORE the emergency hits than to not have prepared at all!

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

You may want to take another look at the Shelter-in-Place section of

Our Best Long-Term Emergency Supplies Checklist

The US Department of Labor has a division called Occupational Safety and Health Administration, otherwise known as OSHA. I’m sure you’ve heard of it!

OSHA deals with a wide variety of employment issues, including protecting privacy, procedures for non-discrimination and retaliation, etc. OSHA also sets standards for safety, including requirements for Emergency Action Plans.  Does your workplace have a Plan?  Is it working for you?  Here’s an overview to start the conversation . . .

Who needs an Emergency Action Plan?

Just about every business. Take a look around your workplace. Do you see any fire extinguishers? If there were a fire, would you and co-workers need to evacuate the premises? These are the two key questions, so if you answer “Yes” to either one, you need to have an Emergency Action Plan!

What are the requirements for a Plan?

• It must be in writing.
• It must be kept in the workplace.
• It must be available to employees for review. (An employer with 10 or fewer employees may simply announce the plan contents in a staff meeting or otherwise orally.)

What does the plan contain?

• Information about how to report a fire or other emergency (Public address system? Call 911? Pull fire alarm?)
• Evacuation procedures and identification of escape routes (Nearest exit? Maps or diagrams?)
• Location of fire extinguishers and who is authorized to use them (Not everyone?)
• Critical steps to be taken before the workplace is emptied (Shut down equipment? Close doors? Do nothing, just get out?)
• Procedures for keeping track of all employees after an evacuation (Where are records?)
• Rescue and medical duties for those employees who are to perform them
• Who to contact for more information

How often does the plan have to be updated, or shared with employees?

Clearly, a number of plan items need to be regularly updated, such as the list of employees and the list of employees with special emergency skills or who require special training. There doesn’t seem to be a requirement to revise the plan on any regular basis, or to actually practice it. The plan must be shared with all employees covered by it, however, including new employees.

What if we should have a plan, but don’t?

OSHA provides an on-line eTool that you can use to create a basic plan. Just fill in the blanks and print it out. (Note that the material is NOT SAVED if you stop in the middle, so you need to complete all sections in one sitting.) You will discover that the questions, while simple, will force you to make some important distinctions about employee behavior in an emergency. You can find the eTool at:

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/expertsystem/emergencyplan.html

What’s the bottom line?
An Emergency Action Plan is really only a FIRE EVACUATION PLAN.

It is not an emergency preparedness plan or a disaster response plan. It has no provisions for assembling emergency supplies to protect employees or plans to protect the business itself in the event of a disaster. Still, it is a first step to survival awareness.

Action Item: Be sure your workplace has an Emergency Action Plan as a bare minimum

Stay tuned to Emergency Plan Guide Advisories, because we’ll be dealing in more detail on Business Continuity planning.

Virginia and Joe
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

You’ve seen this again and again.  “The more prepared your neighbors are, the safer you will be!” If this makes sense to you, and you want to do something about it, consider putting on a Community Preparedness Fair.

The Home Depot – the place to start

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a Google Alert set for the words “Emergency Preparedness” and “Disaster Preparedness.” Every day I get notices of community programs – typically sponsored by city governments – aimed at raising awareness about emergency planning.

But every once in a while, I see something else tucked in the list. That is, an announcement of a “Community Fair” being supported by The Home Depot.

Sponsor or participant, or both

Sometimes the store takes the lead in putting on a sort of expo. Sometimes the store is one of several related organizations participating. For example, from today’s Google Alert:

“San Bernardino County (California) residents wanting to be better prepared for disasters may attend a community safety fair Saturday in Fontana. The fair, organized by Home Depot, San Bernardino County Disaster Corps and San Bernardino County Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Home Depot store. “

“The East 1488 Community Association and East 1488 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) (Houston, Texas) will hold its fourth annual Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Home Depot Parking lot. Booths will have information and displays by first responders and emergency related organizations.”

Earlier, I saw this reference to the Lake Arrowhead (Cherokee County, Georgia) Preparedness Fair: “Come see a huge collection of Emergency Responders, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Amateur Radio Communications, and community emergency response personnel and equipment (subject to availability) along with dozens of vendors specializing in emergency preparedness, disaster response, and household safety. Home Depot is sponsoring the Safe Kids Fun Zone.”

Could your neighborhood team plan and execute a community fair?

From a neighborhood safety standpoint, this is one of the most effective things you could do to raise awareness and stimulate preparedness in your community. If I were tasked with putting on another such fair, The Home Depot is where I’d start.

We put on such a fair about a year ago. And yes, The Home Depot was our major sponsor. They brought their own tables, set up samples of preparedness items, took orders for them, and a couple of weeks later actually made one big delivery to our clubhouse!  Our local CERT then sorted and distributed everything.

If you are part of a group, consider putting a preparedness expo on your calendar. It may take several months to plan, but the results will be far-reaching. Start by talking to the manager of your local Home Depot store. I can bet you’ll find good support there.

(If you are truly interested, I’d be happy to share some of the planning steps that we went through. Just drop me a line in the comment box below.)

Other resources for community organizing:

CERT training

Organize your Neighborhood

Building a CERT Group — Identifying Leaders

CERT activates for a Missing Child

CERT Volunteers get their assignment. Photo thanks to OC Register and Lt. Bill Whalen of Irvine PD

Two weeks ago, at 9:30 at night, our phone began to ring. At the same time, my cell phone buzzed and a message came up on my computer screen: “This is not a test.”

Irvine police were calling on their volunteer support teams, including CERT, to respond to an emergency – a missing child. He had left home around 7 p.m., and disappeared into the night. The police department had already been searching on foot, with dogs and a helicopter, to no avail.

The police decided to activate their volunteers. According to the newspaper account, the Lieutenant in charge expected about 10 people to show up. They did, within 10 minutes. Within the next two hours, 130 people showed up!

The volunteers included members of both CERT, which is over 600 strong in Irvine, and IDEC, the Irvine Disaster Emergency Communications (amateur radio volunteers). Groups combed the area until 2:15 a.m. Police also used footage from local buses to try to capture information about the boy.

Ultimately, he emerged from a movie theatre in an adjoining town, and prevailed on a helpful citizen to take him home.

Take-aways from the event, according to the police:

• The iAlert system for this community works. (I can attest to that! Read more about the iAlert program here: Severe Weather Alerts)
• Regular trainings for CERT volunteers have kept the group engaged and willing to participate. (Irvine CERT holds regular, nearly monthly, trainings and community service activities.)
• Organizers were hard-pressed to manage the number of volunteers that showed up. It was unprecedented.

A CERT simulation for this exact scenario had been scheduled for later this month, but it was cancelled. The real thing was better than any simulation would have been.

As an aside, here in our local neighborhood, another six people have signed up to take the no-cost city-sponsored CERT training that starts in July. It consists of 8 evening sessions, in which people review basic first aid, search and rescue and disaster psychology. Graduates get the chance to handle tools, practice with a fire extinguisher, and come out with a kit bag full of emergency equipment including flashlight, hard hat, dust mask and gloves.

Action item: Interested in CERT training in YOUR community? Head to the FEMA website’s State Directory at: www.FEMA.gov/community-emergency-response-teams .

Trying to escape!

How many stories have you heard in just the past few hours about people trapped in their cars due to severe weather? I’ve heard about hundreds, even thousands, of people — racing to avoid an oncoming hurricane, carried off roads by flood water, or just stuck for hours in massive traffic jams!

If you find yourself in one of those traffic jams . . .

and you are unable to escape before the storm hits, or unable to get home after the storm hits, what condition will you be in?

• Do you know what action you and your family members in the car should take, and when?
• What about being in touch with other family members that are outside the car?
• What supplies will you have in the car to help you make it through the hours until you can get back home or to another safe place?

What can you do now, before the next storm hits?

Here are some very basic preparedness actions that the recent storms have reminded us about. You can take these steps NOW before the next storm hits!

1. Keep the car at least half full of gas at all times.

2. Have a map of the area in case you need to find alternate routes to get around traffic jams, road blockages, etc.

3. Know which radio channels broadcast weather information. On CNN we heard weather broadcasters telling people exactly what to expect by the minute.

4. If you get in your car, take your Survival Kit with you. Knowing you have some food, some water, some sanitary supplies, and some cash will be reassuring, at the very least. If you have to manage in the car for many hours, having this Kit will be a huge comfort.

5. If you take your pet in the car, take the Pet Survival Kit, too. I saw one man in flip-flops and a t-shirt whose passenger was his dog. Did the dog have food and water? An adult can understand that doing without is necessary for a while; an animal – or a small child – cannot.

Flooding facts, for review – thanks to FEMA.

More people drown in their cars than anywhere else.

Know the difference between a WATCH and a WARNING. A flood watch means a flood is possible in your area. A flood warning means flooding is already occurring or will occur soon in your area.

Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars causing loss of control and possible stalling. A foot of water will float many vehicles. What looks like six inches may not be; the road may be washed out below the water surface.

Two feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles including sport utility vehicles (SUV’s) and pick-ups.

Stay in the car or get out?

Do not drive into flooded areas. But if floodwaters rise around your car, abandon the car and move to higher ground if you can do so safely. Do not stay in the car: it may stall or get stuck in the water, and then get pushed off the road. Once off the road, cars often start to roll, making escape impossible.

What’s your story?

What experiences have you had being trapped in a car? Share your stories with us and our readers. It may help save lives.

Thanks, Virginia

P.S.  If this article strikes a chord, please pass it along to friends and family.  Just copy this link and send it in an email:

https://emergencyplanguide.org/trapped-in-the-car/

Consider these three types of fires:

1. Structure fires
2. Vehicle fires
3. Outside fires

Quiz: What’s the most frequent type of fire? Which type is increasing the fastest? Which kills the most civilians?

Answer: From a report cited on the National Fire Protection Association, outside and wildfires are increasing five times faster than other fires! But the most people die in structure fires – some 2,640 in 2011. One structure fire is reported every 65 seconds.

You probably have fire extinguishers at work.  What about at home?

Unobtrusive and handy

Fire in the kitchen!

Last year, at our daughter’s house, we had the occasion to use an extinguisher just like the white one shown here. (This one is in our kitchen; our daughter’s extinguisher was in her pantry.) For some unknown reason, food in the toaster oven caught fire and started smoking. In the excitement, she opened the door – and flames burst out and up, licking against the bottom of the cupboards.

Joe shoved her aside, grabbed the fire extinguisher, pulled the safety pin (had to try twice), and doused everything. What a cloud of white! But while the toaster oven ended up a pathetic shriveled piece of blackened metal, the counter, cupboards and the rest of us were fine with just a little dusting.

The right extinguisher?

Did we check in advance to be sure we were using the right extinguisher? No! But she had the designer model, and it turns out that the typical kitchen model is a BC extinguisher. That is, it is designed to put out fires that may be caused by

• Burning liquids, oil or grease
• Electrical equipment, wiring, appliances

On the other hand, the all-purpose model for the garage is an ABC extinguisher. It is designed to handle:

• Ordinary combustibles like paper, wood and plastics
• Burning liquids, oil or grease
• Electrical equipment, wiring, appliances

In the green zone

Properly charged?

Check the pressure gauge on a regular basis! The arrow needs to be pointing to the green area. In our experience, some extinguishers hold their charge for years, and others lose it more rapidly. It’s like batteries . . .

Conveniently mounted?

It only takes a moment for a fire to catch hold. It’s that moment when you have the chance to act. Mount your extinguisher where it is visible and so you’ll know it is there when you need it. Tucking a loose extinguisher behind the door or in a cupboard will delay your response in an emergency.

The right size?

Small extinguishers may be appropriate for an automobile, but we recommend the larger 3 lb. size for household use. The cost for a good extinguisher starts at about $30 and can go up from there.

Tell us YOUR story about how you have used an extinguisher! The more stories we get and share about how extinguishers have saved property and lives, the more people get out there and get one! Just leave a comment in the reply box!

Prevent a disaster!

Some serious driver training represented in this photo!

You may not know that I drive a 1985 Porsche 944. I’m the original owner; the car is a “daily driver” and and I’ve had such fun with it, on race tracks, autocross courses, and hill climbs. The first week I had it, though, I almost killed myself. Fortunately, I didn’t, and after 28 years of excitement I can truly say it has been repeated drivers’ training that has kept me safe.

This message is for “above average drivers like me.”

You may be like 80% of all drivers, who think they are “above average.” (There have been many studies, both in the U.S. and in Europe, that have resulted in similar findings. Check out Wikipedia: “Illusory Superiority.”) All that confidence disappears, however, when you find yourself hydroplaning in the rain, or sliding sideways downhill on an icy shoulder.

And what about your “above average” children? Are they truly prepared for emergency driving? Would you trust them to drive in severe weather conditions? Do they know what to do when they’re suddenly in a skid?

Of course, we avoid driving when conditions are dangerous.

Sure, that makes sense. But in a real emergency, you may be required to drive – and that’s when training will be invaluable.

But when it’s necessary . . . ?

Nearly every Drivers’ School has a special course as a refresher for teens or for experienced drivers who want to sharpen their driving skills. It may take you a while to find the right one in your local area. Start by going online to your favorite browser and typing in combinations of the following words, followed by the name of your city:

• Bad weather or wet weather driving course
• Hazardous weather driving training
• Slick road survival
• Skid school
• Emergency driving course

First, you’ll just find advice.  But what you’re looking for is the opportunity to get actual experience – a class that gives you extended time behind the wheel on a skid pad or directly on wet pavement, ice or snow. Taking such a course is intense, exciting, and FUN! I’ve done ‘em all, with the exception of snow; most recently, I took a course right here in Southern California that featured emergency stops plus throwing the car into a 360 degree spin. I loved every minute!

Just like any other emergency preparedness skill, once you have practiced, you have a much better chance of reacting rightly instead of wrongly when necessary.

Consider giving an emergency driving skills course as a gift — to yourself and other family drivers. You’ll never regret it!

Here in earthquake country the chances of “the Big One” hitting are greater every day. My particular concern is that it will happen at night, making things far more scary and dangerous. One thing I’ve done to set my mind at ease is to create a little emergency stash right next to the bed.

What’s missing?

My bedside chest has the space on top for a lamp, a couple of books, and an alarm clock. (These days, that’s my phone.) It also has a water bottle and my glasses. And whatever else gets piled there temporarily. Sound familiar?

In a real temblor, that table is likely to tip over and crash. The lamp will break, my glasses could break, and the phone will slip down and likely be lost, at least for a while, in whatever pile of stuff it lands in.

And all this will be in the pitch black!

As a simple precaution I have taken the time to pack, inside that same chest, just a few important items to carry me through the first minutes after the earthquake.

Here’s what I have so far:

* A pair of heavy shoes, and inside the shoes

* Socks

* Flashlight

* An extra pair of glasses in a hard case

At least I won’t be trapped, barefoot and blind, in the immediate aftermath!

I expect you could put together the same simple package beside your bed, too. I’m sure you’ll feel better once it’s done.

P.S. As I took this picture, I realized that I‘ve forgotten one simple thing in my bedside stash.  Gloves!  I’m putting them in right now!