Think Locally When Disasters Strike

Japan: 8.9-magnitude on March 10. China: 5.8-magnitude on March 10. New Zealand: 6.5-magnitude on Feb. 22 and 7.1-magnitude on Sept. 4.

More than 5,000 miles separate Cupertino and Honshu, Japan, the epicenter of Thursday’s massive earthquake, tsunami, and ongoing aftershocks. But this disaster, and the other recent events, serves as a reminder that earthquakes don’t come with appointment cards.

“Even though our residents prepare normally for disasters such as this, it’s a good reminder to get trained (for emergency services) as part of the preparation,” said Daniel Nguyen, public safety commissioner for the .

And that includes preparing personal emergency kits that will last for at least 72 hours, he said.

To help residents prepare, Cupertino offers emergency preparedness training classes. A three-hour personal emergency-preparedness class trains people on the basics such as what to do when there is no phone service, and how to use a fire extinguisher.

Another, more comprehensive class—Community Emergency Response Team training—is part of a nationwide program for disaster preparedness and is sponsored by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and California Service Corps.

It’s free to Cupertino residents and begins Thursday. Taking the CERT class doesn’t necessarily mean a graduate has to be part of the city’s emergency team, Ngyuen said. But being able to care for yourself and your own home will ease the burden on the professional emergency responders.

“Ideally, our residents would know normally that an earthquake can strike at any point, and when it does happen, everyone should know our professional services—firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians—there’s only so many of them,” he said.

Catastrophic events place a demand on professional emergency responders that “leaves ordinary residents to handle situations on their own,” Nguyen said.

“The take-home message is the professionals will be overwhelmed; we need to be able take care of ourselves,” he said.

A list of some items to keep on hand for an emergency situation include:

• Water (at least 1 gallon per person, per day)
• Canned, or prepared food
• Batteries
• Flashlight
• Radio
• Blankets
• Important documents such as birth certificate, drivers license, photos of loved ones

Register for classes here or contact Parks & Recreation at 408-777-3120.