DAY 1 SCENARIO: You just tuned into your favorite media to learn that there have been 7 simultaneous bombs detonated within the United States. The target locations include schools, churches, shopping malls and fitness centers. One of the attacks has occurred within 10 miles of your home at a nearby elementary school. The locations of the attacks appears random and includes both large and small cities.
Two simple questions:
- What are the initial actions you would take upon hearing this news?
- How do you think the community should prepare for this type of event?
- Leaving your comment here on the blog
- Commenting on the Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/cresa.911
- Commenting on Twitter using the #12DaysPrepared hashtag or @CRESA in your reply
- Email your answers to cheryl.bledsoe@clark.wa.gov
4 comments:
I would report to work in the EOC and follow procedures for initial response.
The community can prepare by (1) having an Family Preparedness Plan including out-of-area contacts pre-designated, (2) Refer to my Emergency Response Guide (www.emd.wa.gov/publications/documents/2008Emergency_Resource_Guide.pdf) Page 17 Terrorism and Page 21 Shelter-In-Place, (3) Register with CRESA Alerts to receive email, text and phone calls about emergencies that affect my geographical area, (4) Follow CRESA on Twitter, Facebook or Blog (5) stay off the phone if not having an emergency, (6) know which news stations (TV, Radio) to monitor.
Part 1.) I would enact my family plan and make contact with my out-of-state contact person.
Part 2.) If I were a Portland City official, I would be wishing that we had joined the Joint Terrorism Task Force five years ago.
I'd probably do nothing at all. Maybe tune into Clark County's trunked scanner feed, stay at home, and keep up with local/regional news online. The closest elementary school is less than a mile away, so I'd imagine my and the adjacent neighborhoods would be run amuck by panicking parents. I have few skills that would help in such a situation. The best action is no action.
The community should be more prepared for such an event. Vancouver has a CERT (community emergency response training) program, but it is hardly advertised to the right groups (neighborhood, church, and nonprofit associations) who could use its knowledge in an emergency situation like this scenario. You have to really dig around on the City of Vancouver's website to find anything about CERT. Unless you knew what you were looking for or were told about it at a public event, you wouldn't know the city even had such a program. The current program depends on the resources available to teach it, so, the first thing would be to request more funding for CERT; then invite various community groups to participate in a more active training schedule.
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