Organizing
Your Neighborhood
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After
an earthquake or other disaster, emergency response agencies
could be overburdened and might not be able to get to your
neighborhood immediately. You and your neighbors or coworkers
may need to take the initial emergency response actions and
take care of others for at least 72 hours.
Past
earthquakes have thrust many untrained people into positions
of providing first aid and rescuing people. You need
to be prepared! If a response team has not been organized
in your neighborhood or workplace, form one now. Joining
and forming a community response team can greatly improve
your chances of surviving an earthquake and can improve
the self-sufficiency of your neighborhood.
Training
Learn
simple firefighting techniques.
Learn
basic search-and-rescue skills.
Learn
to assess yourself, your family and coworker for injuries.
Learn
to assess your home and workplace for hazards or damage.
Learn
to assess your community for hazards, needs and available
resources.
Contact
your local police and fire departments, city/ county
Office of Emergency Services, American Red Cross chapter
or community college to arrange for speakers and training
workshops. Response teams should arrange to participate
in annual earthquake exercises sponsored by local government
and businesses.
Inventory
Your Neighbors' Skills
As
part of the community response team planning process, teams
should conduct an inventory of the skills and resources
available at home, work and community. You should have
this information on hand before an earthquake for efficient,
effective responses. Identify people who:
Have
medical, electrical, child care, leadership, fire fighting
and survival skills.
Own
chain saws, citizens band radios, four-wheel drive vehicles,
motorcycles and water purifiers.
Are
willing and able to be a runner/bicycler to deliver messages
if telephone lines are down.
Every
home or office has people with special needs. Your neighborhood
response team should work with these individuals in advance
to determine what extra assistance or supplies they may
require after an earthquake or other emergency. Some
of the people who may require special assistance include:
Physically
Challenged Deaf or hearing impaired
Blind
Limited
mobility-wheelchair-bound
Persons
who require a special oxygen supply
Persons
with significant medical conditions
Other
Children who spend time alone at home
Non-English
speaking
Store Supplies
In
addition to the water, food and other supplies that everyone
needs to stock, members of the community response team
should store tools. Items such as the following should
be stored in a central and easily accessible location.
Gloves
and goggles
Adjustable
wrenches
Hard
hats and vests
Flashlights
with extra batteries
Axes
and crowbars
Ropes
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