November 1, 2007

Prepare, Respond, Recover

Fire, earthquake, flood, mass exposure to hazardous or communicable disease. This may seem like the list for a Hollywood action blockbuster, but it is actually a list of disasterous situations that have either taken place recently or are being prepared for in our community. After having toured New Orleans and surrounding areas at the one-year post Katrina mark, I was dismayed by the lack of preparation for a disaster and lack of recovery planning that was at the crux of the continued devistation a full 12 months later. I left New Orleans knowing we needed to address systems to recover and rebuild that would include the County as a partner to business, a public safety provider, health provider, and provider of social service supports to many families.

My first action was to establish an internal, executive level group led by the County Executive to assure each department at the County would be able to maintain or recover immediately in the face of a disaster so that we can be there for the residents. This group is charged with questions such as how will we manage the jail population?, how will we deploy building inspectors in a timely way?, how will we continue to operate as a government entity and coordinate with cities?

My second action was to initiate a County Disaster Council to review and coordinate our emergency plans and training, and to give direction to our Sheriff, Fire, Office of Emergency Services, Medical disaster efforts, ability to maintain social support services in a disaster, and so forth. Through the Disaster Council, we assess our current status and approve plans for moving forward. All County Depratments have demonstrated their committment to constantly strive for excellence and increase service to the community. A recent review of Santa Clara County's role in local fires (Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, and South County), the Southern California fires, as well as the 5.4 Alum Rock earthquake has shown our strengths, along with opportunities for improvement. A clear strength identified in these scenarios is our radio infrastructure which once again proved critical and validated the importance of appropriate maintenance, training and investment in these systems. One area of improvement I support is enacting a reverse 911 system to communicate a disaster to the public and provide real time information.

Public safety is a core service of the County. My leadership, with the support of my colleagues, in the area of preparedness, response, and recovery has been on-going over the past 7 years. We have approved multiple plans for action to ensure a sound infrastructure from which the County can continue to operate and provide service to the public during and after a disaster. We have a state-of-theart emergency operations center and the ability to remain connected when traditional communications may fail. We have built a robust Public Health Department that is deemed an advanced practice center by the Centers for Disease Control, one of only nine in the country.

The expertise of Public Health and other County services was put to the test recently during a state sponsored "Golden Gaurdian" exercise. The Golden Guardian 2007 Exercise was held on November 14, 2007, and it was the first of its kind within the region to be based on a medical/health scenario. The scenario included a bio-terrorism hazard impact to thousands of spectators in a large stadium, with secondary impacts on public transportation. This exercise was designed to practice and test the new Public Health Department Mass Prophylaxis Plan, and other associated emergency management plans within County and City jurisdictions. Although much artificiality was set to allow for this exercise to be concluded within one day of play, it was still a good learning experience to identify what planning assumptions are valid, and what assumptions mustbe re-addressed.

While we continue to address the infrstructure and human needs in a time of disaster, I encourage all of you to become familiar with, and to prepare for, the eventuality of a disaster in our community. This means gathering supplies, formulating a communications plan with your family or neighbors, and taking action to be able to care of yourselves for at least 72 hours.