LA Disaster Preparedness Done Well and … Not So Well

GELFAND’S WORLD--This coming Saturday, the city of Los Angeles will begin a process of disaster preparedness that is long overdue. It involves the recruitment and training of citizen volunteers to provide immediate aid in the event of a major earthquake or flood. It is structured in the form of a neighborhood council alliance, that is to say, a gathering of neighborhood council participants from all over the region. There are good points to this approach, but there are two major weaknesses that are the fault of city government. 

First, the good part. 

We know from recent reports (mostly from earthquake expert Lucy Jones, who has been assisting city government) that a major earthquake would leave us without running water, electricity, or gas for an extended period of time. We would also suffer the loss of workable sewage facilities. What is particularly scary about the scenario is that fire trucks and ambulances won't likely be available if you or your neighbor should suffer a serious injury in the quake. They will be too busy covering major centers of damage such as schools and factories -- that is, places where the most people are concentrated. 

In a situation where power lines are down on the ground, it becomes even more difficult for emergency vehicles to pass. If ambulances can't get through, it's not likely that your private car is going to do much better. 

So the old line will hold true: You're On Your Own. It's been abbreviated as YOYO, and it will be the case if that scenario should come to pass. 

But you won't be entirely on your own if your immediate neighborhood has done some minimal preparation. That's what this new alliance is about. 

For example, having an inventory of resources that will be available to you and your neighborhood will be critical. Let's list just a few critical elements that would come in handy: 

• Water
• Resident doctors and nurses, or a plan to get them to individual neighborhoods
• Stored food supplies
• The location of a neighborhood center to deal with casualties and provide water
• People with communications skills and equipment to report injuries
• A location where a field kitchen will be set up
• Stored supplies to build a field kitchen and an emergency medical center 

Notice that some of these items already exist in some areas. There may be a hospital in your neighborhood. The police will take control of supermarkets in the immediate aftermath of a large quake. 

But for most of our neighborhoods, there won't be a hospital within walking distance, and as of now, we haven't put together water and food supplies that would be adequate to cover a large population for even 2 weeks. 

It would be prudent to have a comprehensive plan to deal with a major earthquake, or even widespread flooding should this season's El Nino be as bad as some experts predict. 

One thing that neighborhood council volunteers can contribute is communications. In conjunction with amateur radio operators ("hams"), members of the new alliance can learn enough to earn their radio licenses in as little as one day, and can outfit themselves with portable radios for little more than thirty dollars. What's important is that newly licensed radio operators need to be trained in how to do emergency communications. This means, among other things, that you need to learn to make your messages as short and meaningful as possible, and you need to know when to shut up. You also need to learn how to operate as part of a network of skilled communicators. 

If the city manages to create a coherent system of emergency communications operators who exist in every part of the city, we will at least have a chance to husband our resources in the most effective way. We would know at the time where broken bones are concentrated, and where water supplies are inadequate. 

That is the upside, But there are at least a couple of things that are missing in the plan. One is administrative, and the other is, infuriatingly enough, political. 

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First, the administrative problem. 

The idea of ten thousand volunteers who are ready and able to take over the demands of a major emergency is appealing. A reasonable approach would be to have the officials in charge -- the police and the fire department -- training with the volunteers, starting well in advance. There needs to be a chain of command, and it is better to create it now, rather than on the spot after the disaster has happened. 

This is something that we need to discuss, since the authorities haven't been very good at preparing the population for any sort of disaster. One example I've repeated several times is the need for a plan to evacuate people out of the harbor area should there be a major problem such as the release of toxic gases either from a ship or a refinery. The police tell me that they have an evacuation plan, but they won't reveal what it is. I always ask them how we will perform in an evacuation if we haven't had some initial practice and education about how it would run. I might add that the answers I get to that question are inadequate. And this is just one example of our lack of effective preparedness. 

The other problem is, sadly enough, political. 

More than a decade of experience with our neighborhood councils shows us that they are, at the very least, a place where lots of strangers come together and get to know each other. The city hasn't given us much in the way of authority or power, but we have persevered in taking political and social action in spite of the limitations placed upon us. 

It's a fact that neighborhood councils provide a place for people to congregate, and to sign up for programs such as the disaster preparedness alliance. 

Unfortunately, the city's leadership has refused to advertise the existence of neighborhood councils in any meaningful way. This not-so-benign neglect has seriously impeded the growth of the neighborhood council system. It could be otherwise. In the face of inadequate disaster preparedness, it should be otherwise. The city should publicize the existence of neighborhood councils, and do it in a way that connects the councils with local disaster preparedness. The city should instruct the police and fire departments that they should be responsible for local preparedness in every nook and corner of the city. 

You can learn more about the new  Emergency Preparedness Alliance at the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment website. 

 

(Bob Gelfand writes on culture and politics for City Watch. He can be reached at [email protected])  

-cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 93

Pub: Nov 17, 2015