Memo - Community Wide Emergency Preparedness, wks Discussion
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council
cc: Rick Getschow, City Manager
From: Chief Craig A. Reid
Chief Dale Specken
Date: 12/8/2005
Re: Community wide emergency preparedness, Wark Session Discussion
One ofthe lessons that city staffleamed from the trip to Long Beach Mississippi was the need for
expanded emergency preparedness training with city staff and the community. The Police and Fire
Departments are proposing to work together on this issue in 2006.
The fIrst phase of the training is insure that critical public safety personnel in Hopkins have worked
out with their families a plan to deal with emergency situations if the public safety personnel are tied
up at their jobs and unable to help with the family situation. Many of the public safety personnel in
Long Beach told stories of the breakdown offamily plans after the third or fourth day of the
emergency. Many also faced pressure from family members to leave their duties and help with the
family situation.
Following work with public safety staff the program will be expanded to all City of Hopkins staff. A
number of maj or events could require retention of all or parts of the city staffto insure government
operations. City staff will be provided with material to share with their families and help developing
an emergency plan.
In a terrorist attack or natural disaster the ability of the police and fIre department to help every single
resident may be limited. The second phase ofthe awareness training will be to work with residential
neighborhoods and multi-family complexes to insure they understand how to help each other during
times of emergencies. Meetings will held with neighborhood groups and suggested lists of supplies
to stored in each household will be provided along with discussion of how residents can be helpful in
times of emergencies.
A critical function of the second phase will be to identify elderly and handicapped residents who may
face mobility issues in emergency events such as floods or snowstorms.
Chief Specken and Chief Reid will provide a brief overview of the project and answer any questions.