WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Discussion Planned on Disaster Response

Continuing efforts to form a disaster response team will be discussed at a meeting Monday of the city’s Emergency Preparedness/Disaster Response Committee.

Items on the agenda include a disaster handbook being prepared by the Westlake Village committee, said Assistant City Manager Mike Mathews. The 20-page document will be distributed free to the city’s estimated 3,000 homes.

To date, about 60 Westlake Village residents have completed an emergency preparedness training course, city officials said. The training was conducted by the Agoura Hills Disaster Response Team.

Scott Brewer, director of the Agoura Hills team, said the training covers earthquake preparedness; first aid and basic life-saving techniques; hazardous materials safety; urban search and rescue techniques; and fire safety and suppression.

Meanwhile, according to Westlake Village officials, the city’s first emergency operations plan is complete and scheduled to go before the City Council soon for approval, Mathews said. The plan is being drafted by city staff, he said.

City Council members will review the plan and possibly suggest changes, said Mathews. The document, which is several hundred pages long, is part of a three-pronged city plan to prepare for disasters. The plan follows state guidelines on what cities are required to do to prepare for disaster, Mathews said.