Prepare Your Family and Home
Your first priority is to take care of yourself and your family. This should include:
- Developing a Family Emergency Plan (use this one provided by FEMA as a starting point – PDF)
- Attending a Personal Emergency Preparedness Course (PEP)
- Maintaining a supply of food and water to sustain you and your family for at least 72 hours.
- Gathering and organizing other supplies (clothing, shelter) which you may need to survive without electricity or water
- Preparing your home to minimize damage from an earthquake
- Learning when and how to turn off the gas and water connections to your home
- Have your information and templates set up ahead of time so you are ready
Help your Neighbors
Join with other members of your BAT to develop a plan to help each other before and after a major disaster.
“Before” activities include identifying neighbors who might be “at risk” during or just after an emergency. Elderly couples are one example.
Also, identify other resources in your neighborhood (such as portable generators).
After a disaster, once you and your family are secure, activities should include checking on each household in your BAT, as soon as possible after the event. If there is a loss of electricity and/or water for a sustained period of time, additional checks on the households of elderly or more fragile neighbors should also be done.
Radio Emergency Communications
Los Altos is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Federal Communications Commission Emergency Alert System Plan which serves all of the Bay Area Counties, including Santa Clara.
If needed, our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will work with the Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services and the County EOC to communicate to the residents via all available media outlets, including radio.
KCBS is the AM and KQED is the FM station for emergency broadcast information in our area.
Personal Emergency Preparedness Course (PEP)
When a disaster strikes, it may be days before emergency medical, police and fire are able to respond in your neighborhood. It is important to be prepared to be self-sufficient for the first 72 hours following a disaster.
The PEP course is a 3-hour class designed to prepare you in the event of a disaster. PEP is offered through the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
We encourage you to attend the class offered in your community and encourage your neighbors and friends to take this important step to ensure that your families will survive the aftermath
Emergency Preparedness topics include:
- The impact of an area-wide disaster for individuals and community
- Workplace and home safety
- Earthquake emergency supplies to have available
- What to do when your phones don’t work-how to contact your family members
- When and how to turn gas, electrical and water off
- Fire safety and how to use a fire extinguisher
- Household hazardous materials
Residents are encouraged to take advantage of this no-cost opportunity. For more information or to register for upcoming training, contact Santa Clara County Fire Department at (408) 378-4010 or email communityoutreach@sccfd.org.