LOS ANGELES—For Californians, life along the San Andreas Fault means the next big earthquake could be right around the corner. Those in the Golden State know it’s no longer a question of if, but when.
Learning from past experience that proper preparedness saves lives, the state conducted The Great California Shakeout Oct. 20, an annual event encompassing safety activities and drills that help prepare residents for earthquakes.
The activities consisted of advance preparation and response exercises, with those involved ranging from structural engineers reviewing new building technologies, to doctors, government leaders, businesses, and the general public.
Registered participants included K-12 schools, colleges/universities, local, state and federal government agencies, medical facilities, private sector businesses, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), among others. Counting the general public, the initiative estimates a total of 8.6 million participated.
Participants learned and practiced the first reaction during an earthquake: “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” The response is considered critical to reducing personal injury and death during an earthquake.
The action is: DROP down onto your hands and knees; COVER your head and neck; and HOLD ON to your shelter, according to emergency management experts.
In a major earthquake, municipal and utility services respond according to their specific specialties; however, first responders are generally police and fire departments.
Local fire stations have been trained in many disciplines, including first-aid, tanker rollovers, collapsed buildings, fire control, hazardous materials, and search and rescue operations.
The LA County and California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) ensures that regular training and exercises occur so that first responders are properly equipped and trained to deal with hazardous public safety incidents.
A shakeout mobilization exercise was conducted at the Del Valle Regional Training Center in Castaic, Calif. The facility has been constructed with buildings and cityscape elements simulating street intersections, a refinery structure, caved-in buildings, basements, etc., to provide a variety of training opportunities.
Each of the county’s battalions was conducting multi-company training exercises related to large earthquake scenarios. This included drills consisting of relay pumping operations simulating urban conflagration conditions, and damaged water mains.
Drafting operations simulated retrieving water from alternate sources into field equipment, for use in fire control. These sources could be ponds, lakes, fire hydrants located on the downhill side of hillsides, streams, municipal storage tanks, and so on.
Heavy Lift Rescue operations simulating a post-quake structure collapse and search and rescue were also conducted.
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