Emergency Preparedness

For all the natural beauty that surrounds us, we pay a price -- with the steep terrain, dry weather half of the year, heavily wooded hillsides, fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and proximity to San Francisco -- living here requires a different attitude toward emergency preparedness than most suburban communities.

www.72hours.org is San Francisco's emergency preparedness site. The whole site can be downloaded as a .pdf file for a complete home manual. And remember, in an emergency you may not have power or access to the internet, so having a printed copy onhand is a good idea.

Marin County Preparedness website is also a good resource.

CERT Training

CERT Team Training

The Southern Marin Emergency Response Planning Group is offering a program of civilian emergency response training (CERT). The intention of this training is to give volunteers a higher level of basic skills in fire-fighting, search and rescue, disaster, medicine, and preparedness.

The South Marin Fire Department's website describes the CERT training as follows:

In the aftermath of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the importance of civilian volunteers during a disaster was clearly demonstrated.

In a large disaster, the use of volunteers may be even more widespread and more necessary. With this in mind, the Southern Marin Emergency Response Planning Group (or CERT, Community Emergency Response Team) has undertaken a program of civilian emergency response training. The intention of this training is to give volunteers a higher level of basic skills in firefighting, search and
rescue, disaster medicine, and preparedness.

This training will be utilized in three specific ways:

1.Emergency Response Team Members will be:
1.Better prepared in self-suffciency following a disaster.
2.Able to provide emergency assistance to their family and neighbors.
3.Able to work as a team in their neighborhood in the event of a disaster.

2.It is the groups' goal to provide this training to the civilian population as identified and coordinated by the neighborhood, work place, church, or other grouping.

The manual describes the course and includes reference material. It is the groups reference for Emergency Response Team capabilities
and their overall contribution to the disaster preparedness of our area.

For information regarding the CERT training in your area, please contact the person(s) listed below

City of Mill Valley:
Mike St. John
Mill Valley Fire Dept.
Phone 389-4130, Fax 389-4186

Strawberry, Alto,Reedlands, Bel Aire:
Denis Walsh
Southern Marin Fire District
Phone 388-8182, Fax 388-8181

Tamalpais, Homestead Valley, Almonte:
Denis Walsh
Southern Marin Fire District
Phone 388-8182, Fax 388-8181

City of Sausalito:
Denis Walsh
Southern Marin Fire District
Phone 388-8182, Fax 388-8181

Tiburon/Belvedere:
Tiburon Fire District
Phone 435-7200, Fax 435-7205

Marin City:
Greg Jennings
Marin County Fire Dept.
Phone 322-9120, Fax 499-7517

Corte Madera:
Corte Madera Fire Dept.
Phone 927-5077