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Table of Contents
Note 1: Suggested Emergency Supplies
Note 3: Organizing Your Street
Note 5: The Job of Street Steward
This emergency plan was prepared by the Strategic Assessment Committee, of the Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders Emergency Committee, Macke Raymond, chair. With help from Linda Baker, Margaret Ann Fidler, Jill Knuth, Elise McMath, Paul Michelow, Mary Sullivan, Chuck Whitcher and Les Zatz.
Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders (“SCRL”) is an independent, non-profit community organization. Our members include the homeowners of over 850 homes on the Stanford campus, on land leased from Stanford University.
The SCRL office is located in Mariposa House, at 585 Capistrano Way on the Stanford Campus (across from Bechtel International Center.)
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 18146, Stanford, CA 94309
Phone: 650-725-8963, Fax: 650-725-6075; email scrl@stanford.edu
Lowell Price, Executive Director. Email: lowell.price@stanford.edu
The residents of the SCRL neighborhoods enjoy many benefits ---- our beautiful environment, a convenient location, fascinating neighbors and a vibrant and active community. Every one of us plays an important role in making our neighborhoods clean, safe and friendly. When we all make the effort to “Be the Neighbor You’d Like to Have” we create a physical and social environment that enriches us all. After all, the heart of the community is U.
An important part of living in the SCRL campus community is the duty to be prepared for physical disasters and emergencies such as earthquakes, wildfires, toxic discharges and pandemics. There’s not just a passing chance we will experience a major emergency ---- it’s an inexact certainty. Scientists are 99 percent sure there will be a severe earthquake in the next 30 years. Tomorrow? Next year? It’s anybody’s guess, but it WILL happen.
It’s up to us individually to create the collective capacity to cope with disasters and other emergencies. We all share this responsibility. Nobody will do your part for you. That responsibility starts with you and your household. Getting your household and family prepared is THE most important thing you can do to enhance their safety during an emergency.
The SCRL Emergency Committee has revised the SCRL Emergency Plan to better support homeowner’s efforts to face emergencies when they occur. This new Emergency Plan addresses the three phases of activity:
PREPAREDNESS --- IMMEDIATE RESPONSE --- ON-GOING RECOVERY
The plan provides step-by-step guidance for each phase of activity.
Please familiarize yourself with the new Emergency Plan and the necessary tasks and activities that will provide you, your family and your neighborhood with the best resilience against disasters and emergencies.
It’s up to you to: 1. devise an evacuation plan for your family; designate a meeting place. 2. identify a person outside the area who can serve as a message center. 3. complete a Household Emergency Data form and update it annually. 4. register your contact information with:
5. maintain at least a 3 day supply of water, food, medicines and other necessities for all humans and pets in your household. 6. make paper and digital copies of all important documents. Place copies in a secure, remote location.
7. know how and when to turn off gas, water, and electricity. 8. keep the Disaster Response Table and important phone numbers in a dedicated place where you can find them. 9. program important phone numbers into your phones. 10. know the location of your area’s Emergency Assembly Point. 11. understand the campus-wide communication network that will be used during an emergency. (See Note 2.) |
SCRL can help by: 1. providing this emergency plan and other emergency preparedness information. 2. managing the Household Emergency Database. 3. providing liaison with the AlertSU system. 4. providing step-by-step guidelines for immediate responses to specific kinds of emergencies. 5. compiling a list of emergency supplies. 6. providing the opportunity to purchase emergency kits from reputable vendors. 7. alerting you with periodic reminders to update emergency information and renew emergency supplies. |
It’s up to neighbors on each street to: 1. meet at least once a year to select a Street Steward for the coming year, to get acquainted with and educate new neighbors about emergency preparedness, and to review emergency procedures and update Household Emergency Data Forms. |
SCRL can help by: 1. facilitating the organization of each street. 2. providing resources for neighborhood presentations. 3. supplying the neighborhood emergency cache. 4 organizing occasional emergency drills. 5 sponsoring occasional “Let’s Get Ready” events such as document scanning parties. |
3. Immediate Response
The first priority is to save lives; the second priority is to minimize property damage. The following response is for an earthquake. Responses to other kinds of disasters --- wildfire, toxic discharge, pandemics --- can be found in the Disaster Response Table on the back cover of this leaflet. Since it is impossible to define the most effective response to every possible situation, use common sense and do the best you can.
It’s up to you to: 1. check your household: make sure all people are safe. If there is a life threatening situation, attempt to call 911. Other ways to signal for help: shout, blow a whistle, or tie something to your doorknob or mailbox. Secure pets. Send someone to ask a neighbor for help and/or to report to the EAP (Emergency Assembly Point). 2. check your house for leaking gas, crackling or sparking electrical wires, and broken water pipes. Turn off these utilities ONLY if there is evidence of damage. Check your house for structural damage --- collapsed or obviously distorted walls or ceilings --- and get out if the building seems dangerous. DO NOT USE OPEN FLAMES! 3. go to your Emergency Assembly Point. If you are the first to arrive, open the Emergency Cache and follow the instructions inside the cache. You and other early arrivals select an Incident Coordinator until someone with more training arrives and offers to take over. 4. lend support to the response effort by following the instructions of the Incident Coordinator. They may direct you to help a household in need, or you may be asked to go door-to-door with Safety Check Forms, accounting for residents and identifying critical needs. Use the Contact Information to get in touch with residents who are away from home. Use the Skills and Resources lists to find appropriate help. 5. after urgent needs of neighbors have been identified, report the names of residents who are unaccounted for to the Incident Coordinator. 6. if your help is not needed, stay home if it is safe, stay off the phone except for one call to your out-of-area contact person, and stay tuned to KZSU 90.1 FM. |
SCRL can help by: 1. operating the SCRL Satellite Operations Center (SOC), maintaining communication between your Emergency Assembly Point and the SOC. 2. maintaining communication between the SCRL SOC and the Emergency Operations Center (EOP). 3. coordinating responses to needs that cannot be met at the Emergency Assembly Point. 4. coordinating available volunteers to help with neighborhood safety checks, and to serve as messengers to facilitate communication among individuals in need, the Emergency Assembly Point, the Sattelite Operations Center and other responders. |
On-Going Recovery
The recovery period after an emergency or disaster could be anything from a few hours to months, depending on the nature of the disaster. It’s impossible to define recovery steps to fit all situations. Physical recovery may be slow (for example if electrical power is out for an extended time), and demand creative and adaptive responses from each of us.
It’s up to you to: 1. help the SCRL response activity: • relieve the Street Steward, Incident Coordinator and other responders. • oversee the return of all equipment to your Area Emergency Cache. 2. help the Street Steward and other volunteers account for all residents on your street by using the contact phone numbers in the Area Emergency Cache. This may take, hours, days, or even weeks if some residents are away from campus or even out of the country at the time of the disaster. Relay up-dates to the Incident Coordinator, if still on duty, or to the Satellite Operations Center (SOC). 3. document your experiences. Write down what has happened, what actions have been effective, what could have been done differently. 4. be flexible, be patient, be alert to ways you can help in the on-going recovery. Be prepared for extensive periods of disruption. |
SCRL can help by: 1. maintaining communication by whatever media are available: HAM radio, FRS walkie-talkie, KZSU, land line, cell phone, text messaging, email, messengers. 2. serving as a clearing house until all residents are accounted for. 3. identifying support and resources for further recovery. |
NOTE 1: Suggested Emergency Supplies for Two Adults
First priority - water and food for at least 3 days; a 2 week supply is even better.
Include flats of bottled water and staple foods that don’t need preparation, packaged in one or two portion sizes. Foods in cans or in sealed foil packets keep better than those sealed in plastic. Renew food and water at least once a year. Include a can opener.
Second priority - backpack in case of evacuation:
• flashlight, radio, cell phone, sturdy shoes.
• emergency information, phone numbers, copies of ID and important papers, paper, pencil, cash in small bills.
• prescription medications, prescription glasses.
• basic first-aid and hygiene supplies.
Third priority - in a weatherproof container:
• heavy leather work gloves.
• change of clothing for each person including sun hats and foul-weather gear.
• basic camping equipment for shelter and eating.
• sanitary supplies including a small bucket with handle and tight lid for carrying water or collecting waste.
• basic tools including a wrench for the gas valve.
NOTE 2: The Communication Network
In an emergency, the University will set up an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Faculty Club, and activate the automatic Emergency Notification System, AlertSU, to send out phone, text and email messages. Periodic updates will be available by phone though the University Hot Line.
The SCRL Emergency Committee will set up a Satellite Operations Center (SOC) at the Stanford Campus Recreational Association and activate an SCRL hotline. (As of fall, 2008, the Satellite Operations Center (SOC) is temporarily located at 644 Salvatierra until the new SCRA building is competed.) The Satellite Operations Center (SOC) will be in touch with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
There are HAM radio operators throughout the residential neighborhoods, at least one in most Areas, who are trained to function in an emergency. They can communicate with the SCRL Satellite Operations Center
If your personal land-line and/or cell phone is working, use it only to report life-threatening situations, to make contact with other members of your household, and to phone your ONE out-of-area contact person; otherwise, stay off the phone.
If no electronic communication systems are working, each Emergency Assembly Point (EAP) should first make a rough assessment of conditions in their area: injuries, property damage, other problems that require external help. Then send a messenger on foot or bike to the Satellite Operations Center (SOC) to report.
NOTE 3: Organizing Your Street
Here are some suggestions for an initial street meeting to organize for disaster preparation and response. Maintain the organization with an annual street meeting.
1. Recruit a Street Steward and helpers. Most streets have residents who have prior experience as an emergency Area Captain or Street Captain. Start with them. Otherwise, find one person who is willing to serve as a Street Steward for a year. The Street Steward may recruit additional helpers from the street. This means less work for each person and more people who know what to do in an emergency.
2. Find a location for your Area Emergency Cache. Ideally this will be in the yard or garden shed of the house nearest the Emergency Assembly Point (EAP). It should be an unobtrusive place that is still accessable to anyone who knows where it is. Decide what style of cache container will be best, then notify the Emergency Committee who will order and stock the cache for you.
3. Set up a street meeting. Get in touch with the Red Cross presenter to find out what dates he or she is available to give a presentation, then set a date and place for the street meeting. Create “Save the Date” cards. Have blank household data forms on hand for each house or send them out by email.
Each helper visits five or six houses --- whatever number will cover all the houses on the street --- and distributes “Save the Date” cards and blank household data forms. It works best if there is face-to-face contact.
4. Polish final plans for the street meeting.The Street Steward and helpers meet for a second time to collect completed household data forms and create a final invitation for the street party. Agree on who will bring what to the party: invitations, name tags, food, drink. (Food and drink need not be elaborate.) Notify the house where your Area Emergency Cache is located that you’ll be bringing a group of people to see the cache on the day of the meeting.
5. Create information packets. Street Stewards and helpers create a packet for each household with this emergency plan plus any useful information. Check the SCRL website for additional information. We suggest putting all this information in a large, clear plastic, one-gallon zip-lock bag, one set for each household.
6. The street meeting. Have fun, socialize, eat, hear the presentation, ask questions, receive information for both disaster preparation and disaster response. Suggest that the information in the plastic zip-lock bag be taped to the inside of a cupboard door near the phone or any other dedicated place where it can be found quickly.
Trek to the Emergency Assembly Point and the area emergency cache. Let people learn how to open the cache and see what’s inside. Emphasize that in the case of a disaster, we can’t rely on outside help --- it’s neighbors helping neighbors. Don’t be intimidated by the “correct” procedures during a disaster response. Use common sense and do the best you can with whatever situation arises.
7. After the street meeting, track down missing Household Data Forms as soon as possible, and if the neighbors have agreed, extract contact information to create a street contact list. Return all completed forms to the SCRL office.
NOTE 4: Annual Street Meetings
After the initial Street Steward has functioned in the position for a year, set up another street meeting, preferably in October. By then new residents are most likely to have settled in and can be integrated into the neighborhood.
First of all, select a new Street Steward for the coming year. The new Street Steward will likely be one of the helpers from the previous year. Select new or replacement helpers. Email the name of the new Street Steward to the SCRL office at scrl@stanford.edu. Be sure to include the new Street Steward’s contact information: street address, phone, email.
Insure that Household Emergency Data forms are up-to-date, pass on new information about disaster preparedness, continue to encourage household disaster preparedness.
Make sure all residents, especially newcomers, have a copy of this plan and the Household Emergency Data form, and know where the Emergency Assembly Point and the Emergency Cache are located. Demonstrate the FRS walkie-talkies. Share the channel number and privacy code with every resident.
Carry on with other opportunities for neighbors to stay in touch with neighbors: potlucks, block parties, game nights, drop-in for coffee and desert, or wine and cheese, swim parties, progressive dinners and the like. A street that is socially active has deeper connections that enrich our community and provide vital support when an emergency occurs.
NOTE 5: The Job of the Street Steward
The Street Steward serves a one year term and focuses on preparing the neighborhood for an emergency. Emergency response is a responsibility shared among all neighbors.
1. know the extent of your neighborhood, your area and the location of the Emergency Assembly Point and the Area Emergency Cache, the combination of the Cache lock, and how to operate the FRS walkie-talkies.
2. connect with new neighbors, ask them to fill out a Household Data Form and return the form to the SCRL office.
It would be helpful to create a neighborhood email list to welcome new neighbors, to update a neighborhood contact list, and to otherwise keep in touch.
3. connect with other Street Stewards in your emergency area: phone/email/meet with Street Stewards frequently, especially when:
• you will be out of town for more than a few days
• you make a quarterly maintenance check on your area cache
4. keep in touch with the SCRL Emergency Committee when:
• new people move into your area; forward their completed Household Data form to the SCRL office.
• you have information, questions, concerns.
5. participate in SCRL emergency drills. Attend SCRL emergency workshops.
At the end of your one-year term, arrange the annual street meeting at which your replacement will be selected for the coming year.
NOTE 6: When You are First to Open the Area Emergency Cache
These instructions are also inside the cache.
1. select an Incident Coordinator from among the first few people to arrive.
The Incident Coordinator stays at the Emergency Assemby Point and coordinates the disaster response among neighbors unless someone else takes over.
2. put on the orange vest and hard hat.
3. turn on all of the FRS walkie-talkies and tune them to the specific channel and privacy code for your area. Then turn off the FRS walkie-talkers until they’re needed to conserve battery power. The directions for using the FRS walkie-talkies, your channel and your area privacy code are packaged with the radios themselves. The FRS walkie-talkies will be used by the house-to-house checkers to communicate with the Emergency Assembly Point (EAP.)
4. check in with the Satellite Operations Center (SOC) as soon as your Emergency Assembly Point (EAP) is operating. Use:
- HAM radio
- cell phone to 813-1572. This is a hot line for use by Incident Coordinators or their designee ONLY.
- messenger (only after a rough assessment of the area) to Satellite Operations Center (SOC) at SCRA, Stanford Avenue and Bowdoin. (As of fall, 2008, the SOC is temporarily located at 644 Salvatierra.)
Report any urgent situations: serious injuries, property damage, fires, and the like.
5. begin a systematic house-to-house check. The Incident Coordinator may direct Street Stewards or anyone familiar with the street to check each house on the street, using the Neighborhood Safety Check Forms. Work in pairs if possible. Each checker is equipped with a hard hat, orange vest, clipboard and pen with Neighborhood Safety Check Forms, fanny pack with flashlight, FRS walkie-talkie, and other equipment.
6. report urgent problems to the Incident Coordinator, using the FRS walkie-talkies or cell phones. DO NOT BREAK INTO A HOUSE. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF INTO A DANGEROUS SITUATION --- CALL FOR HELP IF THERE IS AN URGENT SITUATION. The Incident Coordinator will, in turn, communicate as needed with the Satellite Operations Center (SOC) by HAM radio, cell phone or messenger.
7. report the names of all residents who are accounted for. After the survey of residents, check on each house and make a second report on the status of each house.
8. using the Skills and Resources outlined on the summary sheets in the cache, the Incident Coordinator directs other volunteers to help as needed.
9. have someone monitor radio station KZSU (90.1 FM), and if cell phones are operable, call the university’s hotline (725-5555) for emergency updates.
10. assign someone to keep a written record of what is happening and to keep track of what equipment has been taken from the Emergency Cache. There is a place in the notebook from the cache for this record. Restore the equipment to the cache once it is no longer needed.
| 911 | General Emergency number for help |
| 650-321-4433 | Stanford/Palo Alto Emergency Dispatcher for help |
| 650-725-5555 | Stanford University Information Hotline; activated in an emergency |
| 650-725-8963 | Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders (SCRL) Information Hotline; activated in an emergency or threatening situation |
| 650-498-8888 | Stanford University Hospital Information Hotline; activated in an emergency |
| 650-329-2420 | Palo Alto Public Information Hotline |
| 1-800-743-5002 | Pacific Gas and Electric Information Hotline |
| 90.1 FM | Radio Station KZSU, Stanford; tune in during an emergency |
| 740 AM | Radio Station KCBS off-campus; all news |
The Stanford Campus Residential Leaseholders’ Satellite Operations Center (SCRL’s SOC) will be set up at the Stanford Campus Recreation Association (SCRA) at the corner of Stanford Avenue and Bowdoin. If the building is unusable, the SOC will be set up in the parking lot. (As of fall, 2008, SCRL’s SOC is temporarily located at 644 Salvatierra.)
The University Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will be set up at the Faculty Club, 439 Lagunita, or at the Police Compound at 879 Pampas Lane, or at the Stanford University Public Safety Building (the Police Station) at 711 Serra Street, in that order, depending on the condition of the buildings.
The location of my Emergency Assembly Point (EAP) is:
The location of my area Emergency Cache is:
The combination to unlock the Emergency Cache is:
The FRS walkie-talkie channel and privacy code for my area is:
