Earthquake Preparedness - Organizing Your Neighborhood
Earthquake Preparedness - Organizing Your Neighborhood
Organize Your Neighborhood Training
- Learn simple firefighting techniques.
- Learn basic search-and-rescue skills.
- Learn to assess yourself, your family and coworkers for injuries.
- Learn to assess you home and workplace for hazards or damage.
- Learn to assess your community for hazards, needs and available resources.
Contact your local police and fire departments, city/county Office of Emergency Services, American Red Cross chapter or community college to arrange for speakers and training workshops. Response teams should arrange to participate in annual earthquake exercises sponsored by local government and businesses.
Inventory Your Neighbor’s Skills
As a part of the community response team planning process, teams should conduct an inventory of the skills and resources available at home, work and community. You should have this information on hand.
After an earthquake or other disaster, emergency response agencies could be overburdened and might not be able to get to you neighborhood immediately. You and your neighbors or coworkers may need to take the initial emergency response actions and take care of others for at least 72 hours. Past earthquakes have thrust many untrained people into positions of providing first aid and rescuing people. You need to be prepared!
If a response team has not been organized in your neighborhood or workplace, form one now. Joining and forming a community response team can greatly improve your chances of surviving and earthquake and can improve and self-sufficiency of neighborhood.
Before an earthquake for efficient, effective responses. Identify people who:
- Have medical, electrical, child-care, leadership, firefighting, and survival skills.
- Own chains saws, citizen band radios, four wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles and water purifiers.
- Are willing and able to be a runner/bicycler to deliver messages if telephone lines are down.
Organizing Your Neighborhood
Every home or office has people with special needs. Your neighborhood response team should work with these individuals in advance to determine what extra assistance or supplies they may require after an earthquake or other emergency. Some of he people who may require special assistance included:
- Physically Challenged
- Deaf or hearing impaired
- Blind
- Limited mobility–wheelchair-bound
- Persons who require special oxygen supply
- Persons with significant medical conditions
Other:
- Children who spend time alone
- Non-English speaking
Store Supplies
In addition to the water, food and other supplies that everyone needs to stock, members of the community response team should store tools. Items such as the following should be stored in a central and easily accessible location.
- Gloves and goggles
- Adjustable wenches
- Hard hats and vest
- Flashlights with extra batteries
- Axes and crowbars
- Ropes
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