Disaster Preparedness & Response Worksheet

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE WORKSHEET

We hope these questions will be helpful to get you thinking as you and your neighbors work together to develop a park preparedness plan and team.

A. The Basics to Consider 1. What are the most likely disasters your park could experience? [x] Earthquake (we’ve pre-checked this because ALL of us are vulnerable) [] Wildfire [] Flood [] Tsunami [] Toxic Accident on Freeway or at nearby facility [] Other? 2. Is your park [] a 55-and-over park, or [] a family park? (the priorities in your Disaster Plan will probably be different depending upon this) 3. Has your on-site manager developed a disaster plan for the park? (If so, the residents’ Disaster Team should work with the manager so that you are all on the same page. Either way, the manager needs to know what your plan is.) 4. How will your Disaster Team be organized? e.g. “Commander in Chief”, First Aid Leader, Communications Leader, Point People, etc.

B. Sectioning the Park 1. How many spaces are in your park? _____ 2. If you were to divide the spaces up into sections of ten homes each, how many sections would there be?______3. Are there more than ten sections? If so, you may wish to have a two-tier setup with sections grouped into Areas. 4. How will you organize the sections? i.e. (a) Linear: based upon space numbers, e.g. 1 – 10, 11 – 20, etc.; (b) Clusters: 5 homes on one side of the street and the 5 homes opposite them on the other side of the street; (c) Some other way? 5. Of course, you can choose some other number of homes for a section. Fewer homes means you need more Point People, and fewer Point People means each person is responsible for more homes… what will work best for your park?

C. Point People and Area Leaders 1. For each of the sections in your park, how will you find people able and willing to be a Point Person for their section? 2. If your park is big enough to have Areas, how will you find people able and willing to be Area Leader for their area? 3. What will the responsibilities of a Point Person be? (This could be anything from just being aware of the needs of people in their section to being trained so that they could assist the people in their section during an emergency.) 4. If you have Area Leaders, how will the Area Leaders and Point People work together?

D. Surveying the Park (Point People should do this, once they have been appointed) 1. Are there residents in your section who would require special attention in a disaster? a. Physically disabled or frail b. Mentally impaired c. Don’t speak English well d. Have children or pet(s) e. Don’t have a car f. Other? 2. Are there residents in your section who have professions or skills that would be helpful in a disaster? a. Doctor, nurse, EMT, etc. (the most experienced person could be First Aid Leader) b. Firefighter, search & rescue team member c. Construction worker d. People with large vehicles e. Other?

E. Evacuation Plan 1. Is there a map of the park which can be marked with the most logical evacuation routes from each section, and can this map be (a) posted in public areas and (b) distributed to the residents? 2. Will the Point People assist with the evacuation? What will their duties be? 3. Will there be a way to pass information to the residents such as where they can go after leaving the park (i.e., the nearest evacuation shelter)? 4. How can the Disaster Team help residents prepare their households for evacuation? For example, would you want to have someone from the Red Cross or some other agency give a presentation on household preparedness?

F. Staging Area, Supplies and Storage 1. Does your park have an area which can be used as a staging area, where injured people can be brought for first aid? 2. Are there closets or cupboards that can be used for storage of emergency supplies? 3. What emergency supplies would you want to keep in these storage areas?

G. Equipment 1. What equipment should Point People (and Area Leaders, if any) have to assist with the disaster plan? For example: walkie-talkie radios, Day-glo vests, hard hats, first aid kits 2. Should the Point People have practice sessions (i.e. a weekly radio check)? 3. Would you want to give a marker to the residents that they can use to signify that they are OK after a disaster (e.g. a big OK sign to put in the window)? Can a Vial of Life be provided to residents? 4. Other?

H. Are any of these ideas feasible for your park? 1. Disaster Drills. It is good to have two kinds of drills – one to practice evacuating the park, and one to practice dealing with the aftermath of a disaster that could result in people being injured or trapped in their homes. Some Fire Departments will work with resident Disaster Teams to set up drills. 2. CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training. It is a good idea to have as many of your team members as possible take a CERT class. Fire Departments offer these classes, and although it does cost money, it is well worth the expense.

I. Funding – how will your Disaster Team raise funds to purchase equipment and supplies, send team members to CERT training, etc.?

This worksheet was prepared by Anne Anderson for a workshop, and is based upon past and present practices of the Rancho Santa Barbara Disaster Team, Bev Swann, Chair. We wanted to suggest methods that have been used in a large park, knowing that you can scale it down as needed. We also acknowledge that getting residents to participate is not as easy as it may sound on this worksheet!