Good Sign for Disaster Readiness

One heartening aspect of an emergency preparedness training exercise in Huntington Beach this month was the turnout: more than 100 people. Contrast that with earthquake readiness drills several months ago in Orange County. Turnout then ranged from minimal to none.

Huntington Beach is one of several Orange County cities that have developed Community Emergency Response Teams, which teach residents how to search for and rescue victims of disasters. These are valuable programs, especially in a region prone to earthquakes, fires and floods.

The coordinator of emergency services in Huntington Beach, Glorria Morrison, said that when she started offering disaster response training a decade ago, few people were interested. She said the teachers, building managers and administrators she approached assumed firefighters or other public safety personnel would ride to the rescue when needed. But as she noted, in a disaster there are not enough firefighters and police to respond to all calls for help. As pictures and written accounts of disaster aftermaths continually show, people try to help victims. Bystanders don’t run away; they attempt to become rescuers.

But learning how to operate under tough disaster conditions is a necessary prerequisite. So in Huntington Beach potential rescuers were shown how to search rooms with flashlights, looking for bodies. They were taught how to carry seriously injured victims. They were instructed in how to use blocks and bars as levers to raise concrete and remove people trapped underneath.

Earlier this year, a simulated disaster in Newport Harbor tested the response of the Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol, fire, police and numerous other agencies. That drill honed the abilities of professionals in public safety but contained good lessons for the more than 100 people who volunteered to portray casualties.

One lesson for those participating in drills was that it is necessary to get injured people to several nearby hospitals, ensuring that no single medical center was overwhelmed. It sounds obvious, but as anyone who has experienced an earthquake should remember, disasters can make clear thinking difficult. For public agencies and householders, having a plan in case of disaster is important.

The Northridge disaster of January 1994 provided graphic evidence of the damage earthquakes can do. It also prompted a run on stores selling survival equipment ranging from flashlights to canned food.

But as the years have gone by without more major quakes, complacency may have set in. Thus the American Red Cross in Orange County canceled several earthquake preparation classes this year because of a lack of interest. It’s wrong to think Southern California’s brushes with disaster are over. Preparation will pay dividends.