2020 MWJN Great Shakeout Radio Drill

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GREAT SHAKEOUT  – 10:15am on 10/15

On Thursday, October 15 at 10:15 am the Mt Washington Jessica Neighborhood organization participated in the annual Great ShakeOut event, which was observed all over California and in other parts of the country and the world.

At 10:15 in the morning on 10/15 EVERYBODY DROPS, COVERS, and HOLDS ON for 60 seconds. Then we practiced what we have planned to do in the event of a real disaster. What would you  do if this was The Big One?

Alarms were set for 10:15am.

MY SHAKE APP – Earthquake Warning California is coordinating a statewide test to coincide, for the first time. NOTE: the app didn’t seem to work.

We began by turning on our FRS radios (walkie-talkies) to channel 5 to check in and listen for instructions. We also began our Map Your Neighborhood steps activities IN OUR HOMES, These are steps 1-6 which are listed in your MYN booklets. These are the steps:

Step 1 – Take care of your loved ones

Step 2 – Dress for Safety – Protect your head, hands and feet [This means locating and putting on your hard hat, leather gloves and sturdy shoes]

Step 3 – Check the Natural Gas and Propane and shut-off if you smell, hear, or see evidence of leak [Check the gas meter but don’t actually turn it off – you would need to wait for the gas company to turn it back on]

Step 4 – Shut off Water to prevent contamination from possible broken pipes elsewhere.

Step 5 – Post OK / HELP sign [For purposes of this drill, we will only use “OK” Signs]

Step 6 – Place a Fire extinguisher on the curb visible to neighbors

We didn’t go to our Gathering Sites or form teams–This was a COVID-19-safe earthquake reminder.

After the drill, at 11:30am, We’ll held a debrief on Zoom. We concluded that over 60 neighbors participated in the drill–good work!!

we still have a few radios left to offer anyone who makes a $15 donation to our nonprofit. It’s never too late to learn and get prepared to communicate when all other systems are down.

In the future, we’ll also be offering radio workshops on zoom for practice before and after the next radio drill. We also encourage everyone to participate in our Sunday evening radio call-ins.