Ensuring that Culver City community members are ready for the next big earthquake or other type of major emergency requires much more than individuals having emergency kits.
Ongoing, layered, community-based programs are required to reach, educate and motivate the nearly 10 million people in LA County about the potentially life-saving importance of being prepared for the next emergency.
“The LACCDR Project is a collaborative, grass-roots effort to engage community-based organizations to provide leadership that will improve the ability of communities to prepare for, respond to and recover in the event of emergencies and natural disasters,” said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
With this in mind, The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is rolling out its Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project in specific communities throughout the region.
Key to the program’s implementation, LAC DPH is partnering with 16 diverse communities, including Culver City, throughout the county to determine together which emergency preparedness approaches, strategies, materials and other resources will work best.
“This is the implementation phase of a three-year community engagement pilot program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched this year in response to a March 2011 directive from President Obama to embrace a community resilience approach,” said Plough.
During the implementation, LACCDR partners –which include the LAC DPH, UCLA Center for Health Services and Society, Emergency Network Los Angeles and RAND Corporation– are exploring activities, tools and resources intended to bring LA County community members together to collectively strengthen their preparedness.
They also are considering how these activities, tools and resources can make a difference in the behaviors, knowledge and attitudes about emergency preparedness within LA County.
The 16 partner communities represent the diversity of LA County. The initial partners include previously existing community coalitions with an interest in improving their communities’ preparedness.
“We welcome and encourage community members in these areas to get involved,” said Plough.
“Community members who wish to participate in the project should contact the LAC DPH Emergency Preparedness and Response Program at (213) 637-3600.”
Roll out of the project also is being supported by a countywide public education campaign, including a dedicated website – bereadyla.org, billboards, radio public service announcements (PSAs), a two-minute video, bus and bus shelter signage, direct mail to community-based organizations and distribution of informative brochures.
In addition, community events are taking place across LA County at shopping malls and other popular, accessible community gathering places (visit bereadyla.org for calendar updates).
For more information, visit bereadyla.org.
