In a city like San Francisco, it’s not a matter of IF an earthquake will strike, it’s simply a matter of when it will happen and how well prepared city agencies, non governmental organizations and individual citizens are to survive the initial incident and recover as quickly as possible afterwards.

San Francisco Department of Emergency Management: Emergency Operations Center in full swing.

As reported in the Emergency Management article by Sarah Rich on May 16, 2013, the City of San Francisco participated in the annual statewide Golden Guardian exercise on May 15.  This year the exercise focused on effectively implementing response and recovery policy and procedures assuming a magnitude 7.8 earthquake incident on the San Andreas fault had just occurred near San Francisco.

There are many different challenges to consider in any major metropolitan environment following a major disaster, whether naturally occurring or not.  Effective communication, targeting the correct resources to the appropriate areas, transporting emergency supplies to affected areas, housing and medical care of displaced residents, stabilization of critical infrastructure and so on.  Exercises such as Golden Guardian help cities and response agencies plan and prepare for the inevitable.

Read the full EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT article here.

 

One truth is self-evident in all planning, and in all disasters which have occurred throughout the U.S. and throughout the world.  Individual preparedness, awareness and responses can mean the difference between life or death – quite literally.  At CCOP, we constantly encourage our Patrol volunteers and members of the public to take as many courses, get as much training as possible.  You can NEVER have too MUCH preparedness and training, but you can for sure have too LITTLE when the disaster strikes.

Check out the following groups which offer free or fee based training to help you, your loved ones, and your friends prepare for whatever may happen: