Residents need to plan and prepare for when disaster strikes

ON YOUR OWN

by Eloy Gomez

GRF safety manager

The Emergency Information Council (EIC) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) recently joined forces to bring attention to the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies.

To that end, disaster readiness articles, titled You’re On Your Own (YOYO), will be printed in the LW Weekly to help residents get ready.

People who keep track of the articles by cutting them out or noting their print dates and titles will receive a small gift at the Fall Festival/Emergency Expo as well as a strong start on their YOYO survival kit.

Several years ago the Golden Rain Foundation had an emergency preparedness plan for the entire community.

It was canceled on attorney recommendations that called for every shareholder to be responsible for his or her own emergency preparedness. That decision means each shareholder must plan and prepare for his or her own safety in the face of an earthquake, wildfire, flood or tsunami.

Utilities may be out, phone lines down, water systems and transportation out of commission, while emergency personnel is short-handed.

What will you do now that You’re On Your Own? Several concerned residents set out to create a new emergency preparedness guide that included steps to prepare, checklists and even the location of all automated external defibrillators (AED) in all community facilities.

Last March, the EIC invited Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) specialist Roxann Crawford to spell out preparedness details.

She pressed the theme of YOYO and described a series of checklists, calling for individuals to prepare supplies, a disaster kit, and a plan for their own safety.

But emergency preparedness can be complicated and seem overwhelming with too much information to digest at once.

And, because no major disasters have been experienced in Southern California in the last several years, many residents may tend to ignore government calls to prepare.

National YOYO Day is today, June 6, and in recognition of that, Leisure World has set a YOYO goal, which is to provide residents with bi-monthly articles that will make it easier to assemble their personal disaster plans and survival kits, one piece at a time.

Residents should be prepared for a disaster by having emergency supplies ready and a plan in place.