Author Archives: Nancy Nickerson

07 Oct

Map Your Neighborhood Disaster Drill 10/16/21 10am

The scenario is a major earthquake that hits at 10am Saturday morning.

  • Practice “Drop! Cover! Hold On!
  • Practice Map Your Neighborhood Program Steps
  • Practice helping other members of our block
  • Practice helping other blocks in the neighborhood
  • Practice using FRS radios to communicate with others in our blocks and with other blocks
  • Practice problem solving to address incidents caused by a major earthquake
  • Attend a Debrief at the end of the drill to compare notes, discover correct answers, meet neighbors and eat pizza

We will also be practicing using our FRS radios (walkie-talkies). Our initial check-ins from our homes will be similar to what we’ve been practicing in our Sunday evening radio practices. As we walk our blocks we will use one channel to communicate between the walking team and the team at the Gathering Site. A separate channel will be reserved to communicate with the staging manager for the whole neighborhood.

Our response is to Drop Cover and Hold on and to practice what we’ve learned in our Map Your Neighborhood program. We will not be coordinating with CERT this time. We will follow our 9 Steps and go to our gathering sites to form teams. The teams will assess the blocks by looking for special yellow Drill Incident Cards. We will not be seeing bloodied bodies or hauling people in stretchers. This will be more of a “Thought Exercise” focusing on decision making utilizing the resources we know we have in our blocks (found in our Contact Lists and Skills and Equipment Inventories)

CERT-MYN DRILL 2019
CERT- MYN DRILL 2019

This is a covid compliant event and masks are requested even if you’re fully vaccinated.

14 Oct

MWJN Zoom Radio Workshop 10/20/20 7pm – 8:30

MWJN Radio Plan Overview

Need a little help using your FRS radio? Pierre Landry will once again conduct Zoom Radio Workshops for those who would like to learn more about using their radios using real examples. We will also discuss how we have incorporated walkie talkies into our neighborhood disaster plan. Tuesday evening October October 20 starting at 7pm (running about an hour and a half)

Pierre will be covering:

How radios fit into our MYN Response Plan
Review of the the block-level radio plan
Basic 2-Way radio tips
Practice radio transmissions
Next Steps

For more info, email: info@mtwashingtonjessica.org

23 Aug

13th Annual Valley Disaster Fair 10/10/20

This year the event started by the late great Bill Hopkins will be a Live Virtual Event! Held on valleydisasterfair.com. Registration is required and a limited number of advance registrants will be eligible to win a disaster kit. Hear special guest speakers and see safety demonstrations. Featuring all kinds of Emergency and First Aid Info including Pet Preparedness. And, it’s all free!

Starter Disaster Kits – photo by Bernard Falkin

The free annual Valley Disaster Preparedness Fair, largest of its kind in Los Angeles, is managed and produced by the Foundation as a whole community event to help bring information, knowledge, and awareness to being better prepared for large-scale emergencies and disasters. The 13th annual Fair will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2020 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Northridge Fashion Center’s Pacific Theaters parking lot (9400 Shirley Ave.). Each year, 1,950 substantial Family Emergency Preparedness (EP) Starter Kits are distributed free to attending registered families. For more information about the Fair, including a 15-minute video, visit www.ValleyDisasterFair.com.

Bill Hopkins was the President, Director, and Founder of the Southern California Preparedness Foundation, which hosts this event and was a strong supporter of disaster and emergency preparedness. He served as a community-elected member of the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council (GHNNC), founded and chaired the GHNNC Emergency Preparedness Committee, and was Vice-Chair of its Public Safety Committee. Bill was the principal key to the success of previous annual Valley Disaster Preparedness Fairs.

Download the flyer

23 Aug

Save the Date: The Great California Shakeout 10/15/20

Great California Shakeout Logo

This year we are actively participating in the Great California Shakeout. In the era of Coronavirus, practicing at home is the most practical.

On October 15, 2020 at 10:15am we will all Drop Cover and Hold on. After 60 seconds, we will all practice our Map Your Neighborhood 9 Steps (the first 6 steps that we do at home). In lieu of step 7 which would have us all go to our Neighborhood Gathering Sites, we will instead get on our walkie -talkies and tune in to channel 5 for a neighborhood roll call. We will conclude with a discussion of the Shakeout Drill and what we learned.

FROM THE GREAT SHAKEOUT WEBSITE

Drop, Cover, and Hold On: Have your members  Drop to the ground, take Cover under a table or desk, and Hold On to it as if a major earthquake were happening (stay down for at least 60 seconds). Practice now so you will immediately protect yourself during earthquakes! (See this page for what to do if in bed, outside, driving, in a tall building, or other situations.) For people with disabilities or access and functional needs, download our preparedness guide (661 KB) PDF.

While still under the table, or wherever you are, look around and imagine what would happen in a major earthquake. What would fall on you or others? What would be damaged? What would life be like after? What will you do before the actual earthquake happens to reduce losses and quickly recover?

Practice what you will do after the shaking stops.

After your drill is complete, have discussions about what was learned and incorporate these lessons into your disaster plan.

Remember: this is a good opportunity to think about securing items in your home that could fall and injure someone in an earthquake. Also a good time to check your disaster kits and restock as necessary.