UCSF to Develop Campus Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams

If an earthquake of the same magnitude as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake were to originate on the San Andreas or Hayward fault within five to 10 miles of San Francisco, the level of destruction has been estimated to be 100 times greater than the 1989 temblor, which was centered 60 miles south of San Francisco. If such an earthquake were to occur on a weekday, the capacity of San Francisco fire, emergency management services, police and emergency response teams would be rapidly overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the destruction. Their ability to get to areas in need of help will be impeded by damage or destruction of roads, bridges, overpasses, emergency response facilities and other critical infrastructure. Unlike the East Coast and Gulf Coast states that are frequent victims of hurricanes, San Francisco will not have one to seven days’ advance notice to evacuate and prepare home and work areas for the oncoming threat. Nor will California have the advantage of local, state and federal emergency response agencies prepositioning hundreds to thousands of disaster response personnel, equipment and supplies near the area for a rapid entry immediately following the disaster. San Francisco will have no warning, no notice and no opportunity to make last-minute preparations. We will be hit hard and fast. This is not fiction. This is fact. UCSF must be prepared to provide emergency aid and assistance for up to 30,000 staff, faculty, students and visitors who are on UCSF campuses every weekday. To prepare for the worst-case scenario, UCSF needs volunteer teams of employees, faculty and students prepared to assist in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, as well as in the following 24 to 72 hours, pending the arrival of sufficient city, state and federal disaster response teams, supplies and equipment. It can be anticipated that those individuals who are unable to walk or bicycle home may be unable to leave the area for 24 to 72 hours due to public transportation, road, bridge and ferry terminal damage, blockage from debris, or lack of fuel due to power failures. To begin the process of building UCSF’s capacity and capability to support the campus community until disaster assistance can arrive, the UCSF Police Department Emergency Management Unit is partnering with the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) to train teams of people to be part of UC’s Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams (UC NERTs). The goal is to develop a UC NERT at each major campus location, including Parnassus, Mission Bay, China Basin, Laurel Heights, Mount Zion and Mission Center Building. The first two-day training is being held at the Parnassus campus on Thursday, July 31, and Thursday, Aug. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A second training will be held at Mission Bay in September and October. The exact date will be announced once the training room has been reserved. To register for the NERT training, go to the SF NERT website and register online for the UCSF Two-Day Intensive to be held on two consecutive Thursdays, July 31 and August 7. The SFFD opens the class to any interested individuals in the city; therefore, registration is first come, first served. UCSF will not have priority seating, so those interested in receiving NERT training are advised to register early. Those who register for the above NERT training, or NERT training at any other location posted on the SF NERT website with the intent of becoming part of a UC NERT, are asked to please let the UCSF Police Department Emergency Management Unit know by sending an email. Please identify your campus location. The Emergency Management Unit will be scheduling quarterly UC NERT training and team development meetings over the next year to form teams composed of volunteers from each campus location. Christopher Jones is associate director of Homeland Security & Emergency Management at the UCSF Police Department.