Failing To Plan is Planning To Fail

Los Angeles is prone to 13 of the 16 Federally-identified natural disasters and man-made threats. Just to name a few, Los Angeles is vulnerable to wildfires, flooding, mudslides, tsunamis and earthquakes.

In response to this, I took a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training in Hollywood in 2008. The class was taught by a charismatic Los Angeles Firefighter who was passionate about getting Los Angeles residents prepared in the event of a major incident. The one thing that he stated over and over was not “if” a major event will occur, but “when.” And when a major incident happens, Emergency Services in the City of Los Angeles will be overrun. Responders will encounter major emergencies right outside their front doors and they will not be able to respond to the overwhelming numbers of calls that will be coming in to 911. Basically, he said, “We’re not coming!” At first this news shocked me, but then I recalled Katrina, Sandy, and other major events and saw the writing on the wall. In a major catastrophe, the majority of Los Angeles residents will be on their own because no one is coming, at least not for the first 24 to 48 hours.

The upcoming climate forecasts for this winter are predicting an “El Niño” of Godzilla proportions. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? This story has been in the local news for several months.

To help educate and prepare Angelinos for the coming El Niño, several educational tools have been developed. There are websites (elninola.com), an El Niño Guide and scheduled Town Hall Meetings. We’ve had five Town Hall’s in and around the City of Los Angeles since November, all sponsored by Los Angeles City Emergency Management Department (EMD). The panel for the Town Hall’s consisted of LA City and County Public Works, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), LA Sanitation, National Weather Service, LA Animal Services, LA Parks & Recreation, and Street Services, just to name a few.

I’ve been to two Town Hall’s in the last month, all well attended for LA standards. The in-depth presentations by the panel felt overwhelming. All presenters used Powerpoint slides to accentuate the need for awareness and preparedness. In one presentation, the well-respected weather professional, Eric Boldt from the National Weather Service (NWS), highlighted that El Niño has been here since March, that there is a 95% forecast of El Niño this winter, and unanimous consensus for a “strong” category. This El Niño is predicted to be one of the strongest on record, which would mean record rainfall for Southern California beginning in January 2016. In one very eye opening slide, Deputy Chief Joe Castro from the LAFD, summed it up when he said, “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.”

Everyone has good intentions to be prepared in life. We prepare ourselves for future good health with personal trainers and nutritionists; eating right and exercising is required. To prepare a healthy central nervous system in a world that is coming at us at warp speed, we set aside time to meditate and learn yoga. Why would emergency preparedness be any different? When a magnitude 7.2 strikes in the Greater Los Angeles area, wouldn’t it be a good idea to prepare to have plenty food, water and emergency supplies on hand for you and your family including your pets. Some other appropriate questions you need to be asking yourself are:

• What are the risks in and around my home that I can mitigate today?

• Do I know the proper way to shut off my gas/electric and when should I do it?

• What are the basics of a good emergency kit?

• Are my kids at school prepared? What about my special needs family members?

• What if I’m in my car?

• How will my family communicate during a disaster?

A Firefighter shared a quote with me, "Under stress, we don't rise to the occasion, we sink to our lowest level of training and preparedness." So if that’s the case, how are you going to prepare yourself, your family, your community? I suggest taking a CERT class. They’re free and taught by a handful of devoted Los Angeles Firefighters (cert-la.org). The classes are taught over a seven-week period (17 1/2 hours) and they are taught year round. They consist of insightful lectures and some hands-on training in emergency preparedness.

I understand if you don’t have 17 ½ hours to put aside to take a CERT class, or if all of this seems too daunting of a task. I understand, because I felt the same way after graduating from CERT. There is a lot of information that is presented and it’s challenging to know where to start.

I started P.R.E.P. – Personal Readiness in Emergency Preparedness first and foremost because I have a passion for emergency preparedness and for being of service to my community. P.R.E.P. is about educating communities on the importance of preparation so we don’t feel powerless when the electricity goes out and we can’t find our way to the bathroom without knocking our noggin against something hard or we need to buy water for our baby’s formula and the grocery store is closed because they don’t have electricity to swipe our credit cards.

P.R.E.P. is about knowledge and know-how. It empowers us and our families, because when the Big One hits (we live in earthquake country), we know how to turn off our gas or help our neighbors turn off their gas to prevent a fire. P.R.E.P is about being pro-active rather than re-active, because having a first-aid kit on hand to be able to control bleeding or split a fracture until First Responders can get there is better than trying desperately to get through to 911.

P.R.E.P. will audit your home, auto, and office for emergency preparedness, help develop a personal/family plan, and purchase supplies based on your budget. P.R.E.P. is here to prep you and your family.