Hermosa Beach First Responders Conducting Emergency Preparedness Drill

The following is from the Hermosa Beach Police Department:

On Thursday October 17, 2013 at 10:17am the Hermosa Beach Police and Fire Departments in coordination with the Hermosa Beach City School District, Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Citizen’s Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Disaster Service Workers, and the American Red Cross will put on an Emergency Preparedness Drills.

The drills are designed to test the abilities of the many organizations that respond in case of emergencies. During the drill the schools will practice their response to an earthquake, protection and treatment of injured students and facility, reporting needs to the command post, and the orderly release of students to parents. 

The CERT Team, Disaster Service Workers, and the American Red Cross will be setting up a shelter in the Gymnasium at Hermosa Valley School, which is a designated emergency shelter. The groups will also practice taking in clients to the shelter and practice filling out the forms and asking necessary questions. 

Anyone driving by these schools should expect to see emergency vehicles and other activity, which under regular conditions may cause concern. The Schools involvement should take about an hour and the shelter exercise should take about two hours. 

On October 24, 2013 at 10:24am, the City of Hermosa Beach, Neighborhood Watch, CERT, and the Disaster Service Workers will conduct emergency preparedness exercise to test our ability to respond in the event of a major earthquake. 

The City’s Emergency Operations Center will open and members from each department will respond. The fire department will conduct a “windshield” evaluation of the city to assess the amount of damage and injuries they see and report this information back to the command post and EOC. The 1100 and 1200 block of 2nd an exercise can be conducted, which will simulate injury and damage to these blocks.
 
CERT and Disaster Service Workers will respond to help assess the neighborhoods along with Neighborhood Watch members. This information will be relayed to the command post and EOC to determine what additional resources are needed. 

Any questions on these events should be made to Acting Captain Tom Thompson by calling (310) 318-0336 or emailing to tthompson@hermosapolice.org. Street will be blocked off to traffic so