Emergency Preparation – The Barron Park Association

Quakeville 2012

Quakeville 2012 event is this weekend at Cubberley starting on Saturday September 22.

Quakeville is an annual event that provides for the opportunity to involve all community members in Palo Alto, Stanford University and guests to become aware of what is involved in preparing for evacuation and finding alternative shelter. In the past, shelters were set up in parks as tent cities, however, this year, we are partnering with Red Cross to open an indoor shelter. Other activities –

Palo Alto Animal Shelter will also be participating to exercise their part, and asks sleepover participants to bring a stuffed animal of any size to shelter at our simulated disaster shelter.
The Emergency Services Volunteers will be also exercising, performing and conducting injury and damage assessments, search and rescue, medical triage and simulated emergency communications.
Our newly formed Emergency Medical Unit will be conducting simulated medical treatment.
Informational booths will further Emergency Preparedness education.
Red Cross is featuring their Mobile Kitchen and their Emergency Response Vehicle.

Sponsored by the City of Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services.

This note is a call for a few more volunteers. We need some general help with greeting and check-in with shifts starting at 10:30 AM until 4:30PM.
We also would like to encourage you to come and be make-up as a victim. We have some wonderful artists from Theatreworks to help with this effort!

This will be lots of fun. The main part of the event is from 2-5PM with comments from dignitaries at 5:30 PM and a free Red Cross dinner for volunteers at 6PM.

Details including links to the flyer and how to sign up on Eventbrite are on www.paneighborhoods.org/ep.

If you do not want to volunteer, just come and join us -watch drills, first aid, search and rescue, learn about emergency preparedness for yourself and your family, and see our new EMU (Emergency Medical Unit) in action. .

See you there!

Curtis Williams (Director of Planning) has released the Request for Proposals (RFP) the City prepared to secure the services of a consultant to implement the City Council motion of June 4. The motion had two parts: 1) conduct an independent evaluation of CPI Hazardous Materials, and 2) provide input on Zoning and Fire Code issues. The RFP was issued on July 13th

Summary of key features –

…..schedule – work would start at the end of August, and be completed by next February. Adherence to the schedule requires the full cooperation of CPI ; their legal representative at the June 4th meeting promised this; we shall see if they follow through and agree with the terms required for full disclosure of their materials to the consultant within the confidentiality clauses of the contract.

…..work involved – two tasks: one to assess the risks associated with the hazardous materials at CPI (to be completed within 90 days of start of work), and the second to advise the City on Zoning and Fire Code issues.

…..meetings with residents – first task involves at least 2 meetings with residents.

…..independence from industry and a track record working with public groups : The qualifications state: “….The City of Palo Alto is seeking an experienced hazardous materials consultant who can demonstrate his/her technical competence to complete the required analyses and his/her impartiality and independence from local industries (and industry in general) that use such materials.” The proposal response is to ” Include a list of clients and/or related projects completed during the past five years….AND…List experience working with public agencies and in public communications, such as neighborhood or community meetings, and advising Planning Commissions, City Councils, and or other local government policy-makers.”

Here is a reference for some background on the 2006 toxic fume release and risks to residents from the extremely hazardous materials at CPI.

https://patch.com/california/paloalto/the-failure-of-sunshine-laws-in-the-use-of-extremely-e77affe5da