On Thursday, dozens of volunteers will patrol neighborhoods in Half Moon Bay and the Midcoast as part of the countywide “Silver Dragon” emergency simulation. Organizers say such efforts could one day help prevent a natural disaster from turning into a human catastrophe.
“The main emphasis is to educate the public,” said Dr. Michael Klass, director of the Coastside Medical Reserve Corps. “Every time there’s a tsunami or earthquake, it wakes people up and tells them they better be prepared.”
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The Chilean earthquake gave the Coastside its own minor emergency, when local rescue workers scrambled to prepare for a possible tsunami hitting the West Coast.
Local rescue organizers hope to one day have a Community Emergency Response Team volunteer in every neighborhood of the Coastside, so that every community has a designated person who can check on residents, perform basic first aid and alert authorities for assistance.
That goal remains a work in progress with large swaths of the Coastside still not participating. But the program is growing. CERT volunteers plan to patrol more neighborhoods in Half Moon Bay and El Granada than previous years, and they hope to recruit more helpers for the future.
On Thursday, volunteers plan to perform an emergency drill by going door to door to more than 1,500 homes to distribute pamphlets on emergency safety and CERT training. In the event of a real disaster, the volunteer teams would be canvassing neighborhoods to deliver medicine or check on the safety of residents.
The volunteers will be coordinating their operation with the Half Moon Bay Police Department, Coastside Fire Protection District and local radio enthusiasts. Emergency-response officials plan to test out the alert and communication systems for the Coastside and specific neighborhoods.
The exercise is ostensibly to test emergency response for a biological attack, but organizers say the training is valuable for any emergency.
“If people aren’t prepared, they’ll be (confused) when a disaster strikes,” said Mark Chidester, Coastside CERT coordinator. “These exercises clarify my priorities. They let you know what you need to do.”
The Silver Dragon drill will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday.
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