A great big THANK YOU to all the volunteers that helped support our agencies with fire response. Is your Go-Kit ready should you need to evacuate, or to rush to help a family member or friend?
Attached is the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council’s (GHNNC) Emergency Preparedness agenda for the Tuesday, November 20, EP meeting at 7:00 pm at the Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council office, 11139Woodley Ave., Granada Hills, 91344. Everyone is invited to attend. Plenty of free parking.
Remember our Can of the Month project to collect food for donation to MEND (mendpoverty.org), a local and regional food bank (and so much more). On your way out the door for the meeting, and if you are able, please grab one can (or box or package–no glass, please) of food (human or pet) and bring to the Tuesday meeting.
In this Announcement:
GHNNC EP meeting Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 7:00 pm–Wildland Search & Rescue
Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness Alliance (NCEPA) Saturday, November 24
Training Classes at SOS Survival Products
Upcoming Neighborhood Preparedness Events
CERT Community Meetings
Resources For Getting Prepared
Emergency Contacts on Nextdoor
What? You Didn’t Know?
Radio Nets Emphasizing Emergency/Disaster Preparedness
Past agendas and meeting notes
GHNNC EP meeting Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 7:00 pm–Wildland Search & Rescue
I’m injured and lost in the forest. I can’t get a cell signal. Can you find me?
A wildland search and rescue plan includes lost hiker and distressed hiker searches, hiking assessment exercises, land navigation, and full functional drills. With so many opportunities for the casual (and typically unprepared) hiker to get disoriented in our local mountains, these are good skills and knowledge to have.
Tom Wirth has been a Battalion CERT Coordinator with the City of Los Angeles for the last 18 years and is the Planning Section Officer for the LAFD ACS (Auxiliary Communications Service). Over the last six years Tom has developed a wildland search and rescue plan for the city’s ten largest parks. He’ll discuss how this plan adds a new dimension to CERT training and gives non-CERT trained residents an opportunity to come out to our parks and train in wildland search and rescue techniques.
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Neighborhood Council Emergency Preparedness Alliance (NCEPA) Meeting Saturday, November 24
Each neighborhood council should be sending one or two representatives to these meetings. If you are on a neighborhood council and/or attend their meetings as a stakeholder or board member, ask if your neighborhood council has a rep, and if not, ask why not.
Len says, “Checking the calendar, you’ll note that this meeting is on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. I know some of you will be out of town for the holiday and others may have out of town guests. Considering the disastrous events of the last week or so I think it’s important that we meet. I would like to see us build on last month’s discussion regarding communication networks. We should also consider getting started on the NC EP/Resiliency Plan outline.”
For more information, contact Len Shaffer, Chair, at Leonard.Shaffer@lacity.org.
Location:
Mid Valley Regional Library
16244 Nordhoff Street
North Hills, CA 91343
Date & Time:
Saturday, November 24
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Training Classes at SOS Survival Products
Check out all the great free and fee classes offered in the C. Denise Edwards Training Center at SOS Survival Products, Inc. Many are free to attend.Details at sosproducts.com and click on Training Classes.
First Aid/CPR/AED class.
Includes certification. Fee $65. Erin Huey is the instructor.
Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED is a video-based, instructor-led course that teaches students critical skills needed to respond to and manage a first aid emergency until emergency medical services arrive. Skills covered in this course include first aid; choking relief in adults, children, and infants; and what to do for sudden cardiac arrest in adults, children, and infants. Class is 6 hours and includes practical skills. Includes book.
Date & Time:
Saturday, December 8
8:30 am to 4:00 pm
Location:
SOS Survival Products, Inc.
15705 Strathern St., Unit 11
Van Nuys, CA 91406
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Upcoming Neighborhood Preparedness Events
Let me know when you hear of a community event centered around disaster and/or emergency preparedness open to the public, and I’ll include in these announcements. Please provide the information as soon as you can.
Lost Hiker Training Exercise. Generally conducted the second Saturday of the month at different locations. The exercise is designed to train CERT and other personnel in the techniques of search and rescue in mountainous areas of Los Angeles. They also train with LAFD-ACS which serves as communicators.
Contact Tom Wirth at paratom@dslextreme.com.
The next Hiking Assessment Exercise will be:
Location:
Griffith Park Carousel
4730 Crystal Springs Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Date & Time:
Saturday, December 8
Morning
CERT Community Meetings
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Community meetings are free and open to all. You do not have to be a trained CERT responder to attend these meetings. Meetings are held throughout Los Angeles. Information on these meetings and much more is available at cert-la.com.
To sign up for a class, go to eventbrite.com and search for CERT LA. You’ll see a listing of all the Los Angeles CERT training and other classes listed, and can click on the REGISTER button to sign up.
All Valley Big Mini Drill
Join LAFD CERT for an “all Valley” drill and exercise, hosted by Battalion 10. This drill is open to anyone and all Valley CERT Battalions (10, 12, 14, 15, 17) are encouraged to attend, as responder or victim.
Training and review to include:
- Search & Rescue
- Triage
- Bandaging
- Cribbing
- Radio communication (GMRS/FRS/Ham)
Something for everyone! Victims are especially needed. Register oneventbrite. Contact Batn. 10 coordinators SallyThompson or Jody Arensbergat lafdcertbatt10@gmail.com, for further information and especially if you’d like to experience CERT response from the perspective of the rescued.
The location is the regular meeting date and place for Batn. 10 CERT Community Meetings, but note the earlier start time.
Location:
Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center
5056 Van Nuys Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Date/Time:
Sunday, November 18, 2018
11:30 am to 2:30 pm
All Valley Battalions Pot Luck Brunch
A more relaxed, holiday format where we will bring our favorite dishes to share, discuss the mini-drill and also plan for 2019. This will be the final meeting of the year. Please bring a dish, and some ideas for next year. Feel free to leave that backpack at home for this one! Sign up on eventbrite.
Location:
Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center
5056 Van Nuys Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Date/Time:
Sunday, December 16, 2018
11:30 am to 2:30 pm
What’s in Your Cert Kit?
Bring your CERT backpack as we get better prepared and jump-start the new year with a talk from Jeff Edelstein of SOS Survival Products in Van Nuys. This is the meeting that you want to encourage everyone you know to come to so that family, loved ones, and neighbors can prepare themselves ahead of a disaster. This is where we learn what is needed in our home/car/work to keep us safer after a disaster. You don’t want your neighbors knocking on your door for your supplies, so encourage everyone you know to come to this fun lecture on Go Bags. Jeff always brings some of his favorite new toys from the emergency preparedness world.
Registration on eventbrite will be posted soon.
Location:
Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center
5056 Van Nuys Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Date/Time:
Sunday, January 27, 2019
11:30 am to 2:30 pm
Emergency Contacts on Nextdoor
If you are a member of a nextdoor.com neighborhood, there is a new feature recently added that can accommodate up to three persons to be your emergency contacts. In case of an emergency, they say, your neighbors can reach someone you know. If your emergency contacts are not on Nextdoor, they’ll be invited to join. Your neighbors won’t see your contacts but will be able to message them. You will be included on any messages sent.
When adding your emergency contacts, Nextdoor will then send a message to the email provided giving them a little more information. It seems the idea is to allow up to 3 of your neighbors to reach the emergency contacts via nextdoor (normally restricted to your nextdoor neighborhood) or messaging.
If you try it out, let us know your opinion.
Resources For Getting Prepared
PDF files for personal, car, pet, work, home, kid’s go bag suggested contents, pet preparedness, home security, nuclear safety, where supplies can be purchased, and much more, are on the Southern California Preparedness Foundation website: SoCalPrep.us. Amazon is also a great place to shop.
What? You Didn’t Know?
There is still time to get your 15% discount! Through Saturday, December 1, bring 15 canned or boxed food items (no glass containers) to SOS Products, Inc., and receive a 15% discount off a single purchase made at time of donation. Food will be donated to MEND. You may also purchase one or more $5 MEND donations either in person or online.
Here is a list of greatest food needs. For all canned items, pull-top containers are preferred:
- power/granola bars
- peanut butter
- fruit cups
- oatmeal (and similar products)
- pasta
- dry milk
- ground coffee
- pull-top canned meats and soups
- canned chili, stews, tomatoes, fruit
- 2 lb bags of rice and pinto beans
- canned juices
A good time to rotate and/or refresh your food stocks. Just ensure the expiration date has not passed as expired food cannot be accepted.
Radio Nets Emphasizing Emergency/Disaster Preparedness
If you have a ham radio license and your call sign doesn’t appear here: ________, please let me know what it is. Licensed amateurs are encouraged to check in on the ham radio nets listed below.
FRS/GMRS nets. (Family Radio Service/General Mobile Radio Service.) Radio operators are encouraged to check into any (or all!) of the following nets:
- Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council net meets every Sunday, 10:00 am (or at the conclusion of the ham radio EP net), on channel 15.
- Neighborhood Council Valley Village net meets the last Sunday of the month, 10:00 am, on channel 5.
- Los Feliz Neighborhood Council net meets the first Monday of the month, 7:00 pm, on channel 15.
- CERT South Bureau (Westside Village) net meets the first Tuesday of the month, about 7:30 pm (follows a ham radio net), on channel 15 via GMRS repeater. Net control may also be able to hear you simplex, so if you are not GMRS licensed, give it a try.
Amateur Radio (ham) nets. Licensed amateur radio operators are encouraged to check into any (or all!) of the following nets:
- Lake Balboa Emergency Preparedness net meets every Sunday morning, 9:00 am, on 145.570 mHz simplex
- Hillside Communities Emergency Communications (HCEC) net meets every Saturday morning, 8:30 am, on 144.505 mHz, +600 kHz, PL tone: 162.2.
- CERT South Bureau (Westside Village) net meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm on the Hughes repeater, 445.620 mHz, -5 mHz, PL tone: 127.3.
- Southern California Mutual Aid net meets every Tuesday at 7:00 pm on 447.820 mHz, -5 mHz, PL tone: 67.0.
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Past agendas and meeting notes
To view past agendas of the GHNNC EP meetings, visit the GHNNC website, www.ghnnc.org, click on About, then Committees, and scroll down to Emergency Preparedness.
Or, use this direct link: http://ghnnc.org/committees/public-safety/emergency-preparedness-sub-committee/, or scan the QR code below with your smartphone.