City, businesses and non-profits get ready for Big One City, businesses and non-profits get ready for Big One (September 09, 2005)

New program creates a disaster "network"

Few deny a destructive earthquake or some other disaster could come at any time and, as the Boy Scouts say, it's best to be prepared. One response is LEAP - Pleasanton's Local Emergency Action Program. It's free and partners the city, local businesses and non-profits such as the Red Cross.

The purpose is to help all involved coordinate efforts so that businesses and service providers can recover quickly after a disaster, explains Tessa Burns, Disaster Preparedness Coordinator with the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department. "It allows businesses and non-profits in the city to create a network of resources - a partnership where we can recover more quickly following a disaster."

Burns will be one of several presenters at a first-ever free informational meeting that begins at 8:30 a.m. October 6. The meeting will take place at Oracle (4500 PeopleSoft Parkway, Building G).

Potential LEAP members will be offered a continental breakfast, membership packet and Red Cross disaster recovery plan template. Members receive customized disaster preparedness training.

Burns, who is currently on the Gulf coast with the Red Cross helping hurricane victims, explains, "You're kind of self-dependent for awhile, so we want to look at what resources do we have, locally, to help each other recover." If an area is declared a federal disaster area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will look to see if businesses have an agreement with the city. If so, Burns reports that such businesses stand a better chance of having losses reimbursed. They will also be listed as "preferred emergency vendors," meaning that, "Following a disaster, we could use them as a resource. Say they have products, such as a hardware store, we could use them as the 'go to' place for resources."

In addition to Burns, presenters will be Amy Gaver, Director of Preparedness for the American Red Cross, Bay Area Chapter; Nelson Fialho, Pleasanton City Manager; Pamela Ott, Pleasanton Economic Development Director and Kiefer Mayenkar, Senior Manager of Business Continuity Planning at Oracle.

The program includes free planning over time. Burns, whose background includes disaster preparedness for the Red Cross, reports widespread enthusiasm for what she calls a "cutting edge" effort she has not seen duplicated elsewhere. "In a lot of cities, you have the businesses planning in one box, and governments will plan in their own box. What we're trying to do is kinda break out of that and actually plan together and train together."
Information and resources

For more information or to register, call 931-LEAP(5327) or visit http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/leapprogram.html.

To learn about disaster resources for businesses and non-profits, visit http://www.lpfire.org/firedpresources.html and http://www.prepare.org/basic/basicwork.htm. For lifesaving tips, go to http://www.lpfire.org/fire-lifesaving.html. -by Carol Bogart

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