Title
Disaster Council Meeting Highlights of October 14, 2011
Body
CITY OF SAN LEANDRO
SAN LEANDRO DISASTER COUNCIL
Friday, October 14, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
San Leandro Senior Community Center
13090 East 14th Street
San Leandro, California
HIGHLIGHTS
Committee Members: Mayor Stephen Cassidy, Vice Mayor Michael Gregory, Councilmember Pauline Cutter; SLUSD Board Member Carmen Sullivan; SLzUSD Board Member Isabel Polvorosa; Fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert; Marla Blagg, ALCO Fire; Ali Cannon, SLUSD; Dan Bates, SLzUSD; Ken Hinck, San Leandro Hospital; Ana-Marie Jones, CARD; Charles Telehala, American Red Cross; Andrea Williams, Kaiser Permanente; Zerlyn Ladua, Alameda County Public Health.
City staff present: Lianne Marshall, Interim City Manager; Jacqui Diaz, Interim Assistant City Manager; Community Development Director Luke Sims; Police Captain Peter Ballew; Kathy Ornelas, Community Relations Representative;
Public present: Patricia Minnis, Citizens for Safer San Leandro and San Leandro CERT Volunteer; Mitch Huitema; Dawn Fehr, San Leandro CERT Volunteer; Tom Wagner
The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m.
1. Self Introductions
Members of the Disaster Council introduced themselves and the agencies they represent.
2. Report from Alameda County Fire Department on Emergency Preparedness Services for San Leandro and Presentation on the CERT Program
Chief Gilbert and Marla Blagg gave an overview of the emergency preparedness services that the Alameda County Fire Department will be bringing to the community during this fiscal year.
Up to six Personal Emergency Preparedness classes will be offered each year. A Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training course will be held in San Leandro annually, and San Leandro residents will be welcome to attend all other CERT courses ACFD offers in their service areas. ACFD will coordinate an EOC exercise for City staff annually, including a full EOC activation exercise every third year. In addition, ACFD staff will support the City Manager's Office (CMO) with emergency preparedness matters as needed, will participate in Citizens for Safer San Leandro and Map Your Neighborhood Program activities as requested, and will assist the CMO with completion of the City's Emergency Operations Plan. ACFD staff will also assist the CMO with training of newly elected officials and new employees for ICS and NIMS/SEMS compliance.
Marla Blagg also gave a PowerPoint presentation (attached) on the CERT program.
Mayor Cassidy stated that it is his goal to get as many San Leandrans CERT trained as possible.
SLUSD Board Member Sullivan discussed the importance of identifying the skills residents can offer in a disaster, citing her experience as a registered nurse as an example. Marla Blagg commented that this is exactly the purpose of the Map Your Neighborhood Program - to identify the talents and abilities in neighborhoods so that neighborhoods can be self-sufficient following a disaster. Zerlyn Ladua from ALCO Public Health also commended on the California Medical Reserve Corps, which registers medically-trained individuals as volunteers.
Ali Cannon from SLUSD suggested that PTAs and school site councils could help to get parents and families involved in CERT. CERT volunteers Patricia Minnis and Dawn Fehr volunteered to work with the schools in this area.
3. Report on Disaster Exercises Coming in October and November
· October 20 - Great California ShakeOut
Kathy Ornelas reported that City staff will be holding a building evacuation exercise that morning, followed by a Personal Emergency Preparedness workshop at noon, and then training for home use of fire extinguishers. San Lorenzo schools will be having a drill, to include bringing buses to school sites to test evacuation of students. San Leandro schools will be having activities on a school-by-school basis, and the District's Safety Committee will be meeting to discuss other district-wide needs.
· November 17 - Countywide Medical Health Exercise
Zerlyn Ladua reported that ALCO Public Health will be the lead agency in this annual statewide drill. Most hospitals in the county will be participating, and the County Office of Emergency Services/ Homeland Security will open its EOC to help coordinate emergency medical services participation. San Leandro Hospital will be testing its emergency operations functions with the scenario that all water service has been interrupted at the hospital. Kaiser Hospitals will be having table top exercises with this same scenario and testing their communication links with ALCO EOC.
4. Sub-committee Report on Discussion Regarding Establishing Emergency Shelters at School Sites
Kathy Ornelas reported that the sub-committee of City staff, representatives of both School Districts and the Red Cross continue to meet to discuss the process of opening an emergency shelter at a school site. The group will meet again to discuss what facilities have been surveyed by the Red Cross.
5. Committee Member Comments (Roundtable)
Comments and recommendations from the group included the need to share information about coordination between the schools and the City following a disaster, training interfaith groups and non-profit organizations, and the City's plan to hold a table top exercise at the City's EOC on March 16, 2012 in which all EOC partners should be invited to participate.
6. Public Comments
None
7. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 a.m., with consensus that the next meeting will be scheduled for Friday, January 27, 2012.