For Immediate Release

Innovative San Mateo County Pilot Innovation

Closes Gabs in Emergency Response

The Great Quake SIMULATION of August 30, 2009:

First Neighborhood Disaster Drill leads to the delineation of “Crews” uniting adjacent home and of “Neighborhood Response Centers,” combining to establish personal link connecting individuals in the moments after a disaster.

The residents of three streets in Redwood City CA shared in the only neighborhood disaster drill since hurricane Katrina and the realization that individual needed to be prepared to “be on their own”.  With the assistance of these residents, this drill tested the viability of “personal preparedness” in the moments after a disaster. 

Analysis of the data from the drill has identified key new components for a system to link individuals in the first moment of the disaster. The project brought together lead emergency services professionals from the San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services, the Red Cross of the Bay Area, and the Police and Fire Departments in Redwood City.

The newly designed “crews” strategy is the result of the city pilot of the San Mateo County based project to explore the possibly of a system to augment personal preparedness.  The plan provides an infrastructure among designated groups of homes. This system will be implemented in the county pilot which is the next phase in the San Mateo County Project.

Key to the formation of the project was the inclusion of congregations within the County emergency response structure.  This breakthrough was the result of the design of Regional Clergy Engagement in 2002, resulting from the Peninsula Community Foundation initiated project.  This provided the first structure which engaged all clergy in a region.  This includes the full regional database and mapping off all clergy and the 250 congregations in San Mateo County.  Regional, state and national emergency agencies have long sought a mechanism to augment the acknowledged limitations of personal preparedness.  The incorporation of congregations within the design of disaster response as the “neighborhood” based institutions has reversed the limits on individuals facing personally debilitating impact in the moments of the first socks of a disaster such as an earthquake. 

Project Director – Rabbi Jay Miller

Religion Sector 3.0

rabbijaymiller.com      jaymiller@blueconnect.org      650.740.4411