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Preparing
For the Inevitable
County, city
team to educate area churches, nonprofits in responding to emergency
situations
By
Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff Writer
COMPTON – A
6.6-magnitute earthquake with an epicenter near Santa Monica has rocked
the Southland.
The 1, 10 and 405 freeways have at points collapsed and are impassable.
All telephone, cell phone and Internet service is down. Millions are
without electricity. At least 200,000 homes are without running water.
Dams have been breached. Firefighters are battling scores of structure
fires with dwindling water resources. Rescue crews are having trouble
reaching potential victims.
And to make matters worse, an outbreak of norovirus, which causes stomach
flu-like symptoms, is sweeping through emergency shelters throughout
Los Angeles County.
At least, this is the scenario presented to those gathered at the Crystal
Casino and Hotel last Tuesday for a disaster preparedness training
session.
Your typical disaster drill targets those who have been dubbed “first
responders” – a city’s police and fire personnel
as well as other government workers charged with responding immediately
in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
But with the federal government’s warning that individuals should
be prepared to survive anywhere from three to seven days before being
reached by these so-called first-responders, other organizations and
outlets will assuredly be relied upon heavily to fill in the gaps.
To this end, the city and county last week teamed up to educate local
community and faith-based groups and organizations that will likely
end up being the first ones to make contact with residents in the event
of an emergency or disaster.
Adrian Tatum, who works in the public relations department of the Compton
Fire Department, said the goal is to get organizations and individuals
in Compton to start planning ahead for the inevitable.
That means things like having a written and/or illustrated plan, establishing
a clear-cut chain of command, keeping up-to-date contact lists and
phone trees and volunteer training.
“Our aim is to have our community-based organizations and churches
learn about emergency preparations to make sure the community is prepared,” said
Tatum. “They have the ability to do amazing things in the event
of a disaster.”
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated how devastating and deadly a lack of
communication between organizations and governmental agencies can be
during a disaster. Nearly 2,000 people lost their lives in the 2005
Category 5 tropical storm, making it one of the five deadliest hurricanes
in United States history.
But out of the misery and anguish of that event also came tiny rays
of light demonstrating the beauty of the human spirit and the struggle
to survive.
One such story of hope is found in the efforts of a Baton Rouge, La.,
church. Serving as a keynote speaker last week, the Rev. Tommy Ray
of The Chapel shared how his congregation united together in Katrina’s
aftermath and, four days after the hurricane had ravaged their city,
set up a triage hospital in an abandoned Kmart in just 24 hours.
This, said Tatum, is a gleaming example of what faith-based and community
organizations are capable of.
Phyllis Tan, an emergency preparedness liaison for the Los Angeles
County Public Health Department, agrees.
“At the end of the day, people are going to go to them (churches
and community organizations) for assistance,” Tan said.
“We live in earthquake land,” continued Tan. “We’re
trying to get people to be more self-sufficient in their community.”
Those involved in the putting on the drill all agreed that their message
is simple: start preparing now.
“If you have a child and you don’t know what the disaster
plan at their school is, that’s not the time (during a disaster)
to learn,” Tan said.
Gordon Meriwether of The Uriah Group, a consultant hired by the county
to facilitate drills like last week’s, hammered the idea home.
“We’re taking organizations like this that don’t
talk to one another normally, and we’re putting them together
in a war game-type scenario” in order to facilitate the establishment
of lines of communication prior to a major event.
“The time to be exchanging business cards is not over the bodies
of victims,” Meriwether said.
The drill, which was created by Uriah to simulate the pressure felt
by volunteers in an emergency situation, came complete with fake news
clips of the earthquake’s destruction and the extent of known
damage.
Attendees were broken down into roundtable groups, and each table simulated
a different organization. Those at each table had to brainstorm ideas
and were each periodically given updates on certain activities and
services each organization was supposed to provide in addition to various
setbacks, like the norovirus outbreak.
And what would a disaster be without the pesky press sniffing around
for information? The drill even featured a mock reporter who buzzed
from table to table, pestering the “emergency workers” with
questions and even demonstrating certain biases.
This, Meriwether said, was to train volunteers to be careful with the
information they release during a disaster.
Last week’s daylong event involved representatives from churches
and organizations in Service Planning Areas 5 and 6, two of eight such
areas the county has been divided up into relative to emergency and
disaster planning practices. Compton is in Service Planning Area 6.
According to Tan, approximately 2 million people live in areas 5 and
6.
It was the fourth such session the county has assisted in hosting,
and according to Tan, the event was the largest held to date. More
than 250 people participated in the event, roughly a third of whom
are from Compton.
A number of active residents were in attendance, including Paulette
Conley and Kathleen Hollis.
“This has been very informative,” said Conley. “It’s
making me note things that I need to do.”
“It makes you want to go out and get yourself together today,” said
Hollis.
The Salvation Army Compton Corps Capt. Martin Ross also participated
in the event. He said he was glad it was held in Compton because it
brought numerous outside – but still local – entities into
the city.
“It’s (Compton) an urban community with unique needs, and
I’m
glad we’re showcasing and preparing for a disaster here,” he
said.
“Going through the scenarios and the materials we’re receiving
is making us that much more prepared. It makes us more aware that we
do need to be organized ahead of time.”
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