Emergency preparedness seems to be on everyone’s mind these days and for good cause. To begin with Katrina had her first birthday recently and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake just celebrated its centennial. These two devastating natural disasters have had some good come out of them if for no other reason than they have imbued us with a genuine concern of what happens when we’re unprepared. But then this raises the big question. Just what is emergency preparedness?
As a species, humans are resilient. The plus on our side is we are survivors. San Franciscans rebuilt the city better than it was before the quake and I know we will witness New Orleans performing the same feat. Why not be prepared for disaster so when it strikes our city we can address what confronts us while caring for ourselves and our fellow community members? I wonder what difference it would make if we could pool our collective knowledge, skills and experience. What if we could use this collective knowledge to augment city services? I believe the answer lies with success and survival versus something less we dare not even consider.
Our City staff plans emergency preparedness in a number of ways. One example is by conducting “tabletop” (what if) exercises. The last one of these was held on April 20th at the City’s Emergency Operations Center. Council Member Wykoff and I were in attendance along with all City Department Heads and staff as Fire Chief Reaves led us through such a tabletop exercise. This exercise was based on the premise of an Avian Flu pandemic scenario.
Here is the premise; the avian flu broke out a year ago, there have been 181 cases in Foster City, the infection rate is rising. Some people have expired as a result of the flu and as infection rates climb more deaths are expected. Crime rates are climbing at the pharmacies and grocery stores, the media is reporting statistics and the public is beginning to panic. Our First Responders are concerned about the virus and their exposure, while the City and most commerce are experiencing 25% absenteeism because employees are too sick to come to work or must stay with family members as care providers. The operations of business and government are becoming compromised. The County wants anti-viral inoculations set up in two weeks and is requesting City’s assistance.
Chief Reaves led the City Department Heads, their employees, and his department through the exercise. All participants were tasked with developing viable concepts to deal with the issues at hand. What impressed me was the manner in which our City Staff worked feverishly to come up with answers. I witnessed many creative ideas and solutions come out of this exercise that reflected some impressive “out of the box” thinking.
What is important to know is that many of these solutions involved the participation of business and community members. It is only through working together as a team of City staff, business, and community members that we will fully realize our potential to contain and deal with the panic while performing at our very best. That is why it is so vital that we train to be prepared. Emergency preparedness is the primary goal of our first responders; the Fire Department, the Police Department, and Public Works. Your City government works diligently at maintaining public support and assistance, however, each family unit in the community needs to work at setting up a plan for disaster.
Not all cities train for emergency preparedness because it is time consuming and expensive. But, when there is an emergency, somehow I do not think cost is going to be the primary issue on our agenda. Our City conducts “what if” exercises on a regular basis, and the Fire Department holds emergency preparedness classes for our community members as an on-going community outreach program. It is vital that you attend the classes to learn how to prepare for a disaster so you can become part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Emergency preparedness, like anything else in life, is a perishable skill. As an example our Fire Department constantly trains and maintains their equipment to be ever at the ready for an emergency. And when they are called upon to perform, they do not fail us. This is something each of us as community members need to do so when we are struck with a disaster, we will be prepared and able to play our part in having our family prepared. Once this is accomplished we can work as a community with our first responders and City government to maintain order and avoid panic.
Foster City has always been unique with our sense of community spirit and cooperation. I have always been proud of this fact. With a little diligence and effort on all of our parts I know that from what I have seen as a police officer and now a City official that we as a community will be as best prepared as possible for whatever might come. We will survive and when we do, we will be in a position to help those who were not prepared.
As an aside, I would like to thank all of you who have taken time from your Sunday afternoons to share your thoughts with me at the Council Chambers. For those of you who have not had a chance, I am available every Sunday between the hours of three and five in the Council Chambers. I look forward to meeting with you to hear whatever is on your mind.
To reach me by phone my number is 286-3504, or you can email me at jkiramis@fostercity.org.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you.
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