October 26, 2006

Are you prepared?

District 10’s Annual Emergency Preparedness Forum
offers valuable tips for getting through a disaster

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Everyone has watched the horrific scenes played out on television as tsunamis, hurricanes and terrorism attacks caused massive damage and loss of life.

City of San Jose Emergency Preparedness Director Kimberly Shunk answers questions from audience members after the forum Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

Recently, District 10 Councilmember Nancy Pyle presented the Annual Emergency Preparedness Form to inform residents about how local government plans to respond in the event of an emergency.

“Emergency preparedness is so important,” said Pyle, who serves on San Jose’s Emergency Pre-paredness [EP] Council and presented the forum along with Emergency Manager Kimberly Shunk at the Almaden Library and Community Center Oct.18. “Residents need to know what they can do to prepare now before there is an emergency.”

Shunk became the emergency manager for the city of San Jose in April. In this capacity, she plans, advises and directs city staff in emergency procedures and develops training and public education programs. She is the person who will manage command and control functions in the city’s Emergency Operations Center during locally declared disasters and oversees San Jose’s Homeland Security Program.

Before coming to San Jose, Shunk worked for the city of Oakland from December 1990 through March 2006, holding a variety of positions, including systems analyst, auditor, contract supervisor and assistant emergency manager. Prior to joining the city of Oakland, she worked for the Department of Defense as a supervisory systems analyst. She began her career in 1979 as an active duty Navy Supply Officer and later retired from the Navy Reserve as a commander with 20 years of service, having served two tours of duty as a commanding officer.

Get a plan
“Why prepare?” asked Shunk. “There is a 70 percent chance of a 7.0 magnitude or greater earthquake by 2030. The Loma Prieta quake was a 6.5 magnitude. We’ve seen floods in this city and there are hazardous materials, transportation accidents, dam failures and terrorism—though I don’t believe we’ve had any credible threats.”

Shunk recently returned from a city-to-city trip to New Orleans and said that in a major disaster there is a 10- to 15-year recovery process. And in a catastrophe event “first responder” [police, firefighters] resources are limited.

First responders
In the city of San Jose, one fire engine serves 20,000 residents with four firefighters on an engine and five on a fire truck with a total of 199 at any given time. There are 197 police officers on patrol each shift. Compound this with limited access to or use of normal resources in a disaster to stores, gas stations, hospitals, power, sewage and drinking water for approximately 1 million Santa Clara County residents and it is obvious that everyone needs a family plan until local, state and national services are in place.

Shunk outlined the four phases of disaster planning:

Mitigation includes acts that will reduce damage to property and injury to life such as attaching water heaters, repairing items that could cause problems and having flashlights and extra batteries.

Preparation includes taking steps in advance that will help in survival.

Response includes implementing those preparation steps into action.

Recovery is doing what is necessary to return to a normal way of life.

A disaster plan includes securing and proper storage of items in your home, knowing where to meet family members and whom to call, knowledge of how to shut off utilities, having disaster supplies in home, car and at work and learning basic CPR and fire suppression skills.

Shunk said everyone should have someone they could call at least 200 miles away as an emergency contact out of the area. And also to consider any life-sustaining medications or photocopies of prescriptions that may be needed in an emergency.

Shunk also recommended Community Emergency Response Team [CERT], which is a national education, training and support program available through San Jose Office of Emergency Services. The goal of the course is to have individuals, their families and neighborhood residents trained to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours—the time estimated before help could arrive. CERT training includes home preparedness and neighborhood organization, fire suppression and hazardous materials, disaster medicine and psychology, light search, rescue and terrorism awareness.

Almaden resident John Dunning poses with District 10 Councilmember Nancy Pyle after the Emergency Preparedness Forum at the Almaden Library. Dunning’s company, PowerFlare, distributes emergency flashers to first responders, which he passed out to audience members. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

The Office of Emergency Services coordinates training exercises for disaster response and recovery, which involves all “first responders” such as police, fire, emergency medical and volunteer organizations and response with other agencies, both national and community.

“This information is critically important,” said Santa Clara County Water District Director Rosemarie Kamai who attended the meeting. “We don’t want to wait until there’s an emergency. We must be prepared.”

In a disaster, information will be critical. Power outages will mean no TV or radio. District 10 policy aid Eric Crane brought several crank-powered radios, which are available locally. Also the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service has 75 members locally and would broadcast information. Shunk also suggested having at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle at all times. And at least a three-day supply of food and water for each family member, which is replaced every six months, should be stored.

Pioneer High School Assistant Principal Debi Richardson said that school administrators are working on turning their location into a resource center should a disaster occur.

“One of my concerns is the people over 75 years and older,” said Councilmember Pyle. “We need special plans for them in our neighborhoods. I will be talking to the city manager regarding this. It is of vitally important to know your neighbors and to reach out to them.”

For more information or CERT training, call San Jose Prepared at (408) 277-4598 or visit www.sanjoseca.gov/emergencyservices/sanjoseprepared/.

Contact the Red Cross at (408) 577-1000 or visit www.santaclaravalley.redcross.org/.