Issue | Background | Findings | Conclusions | Recommendations | Responses | Attachments Summary of Disaster

The Town of Atherton agrees with the findings of the Grand Jury related to disaster and emergency preparedness of San Mateo County residents. The Town of Atherton is actively engaged in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Personal Emergency Preparedness (PEP) programs and is continuing with efforts to train residents, employees and elected officials of the Town. Training dates have been set for October 2006 for all employees and elected officials of the Town who will participate in eight (8) hours of instruction in the implementation of the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Future CERT training will be schedule for each employee and elected official to participate. In cooperation with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District we have held and will continue to hold ongoing CERT and PEP classes for our residents. We concur with the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury’s recommended of an initial goal of training and preparing 5% of a city’s households. It is our goal that all of the households in Atherton have at least one trained person residing in the home. Sincerely, Eric Grimm, Sergeant Atherton Police Department Town of Hillsborough Response to Grand Jury Report Re: Disaster Preparedness Training for the Residents of Cities in San Mateo County Issue The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury questioned whether the cities of San Mateo County have adequately prepared their residents to deal with major disasters. The Grand Jury suggests that Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are a critical means of training individuals for an immediate response in a disaster. The Grand Jury also points out that the implementation of CERT training by cities and towns in San Mateo County is mixed, at best. Grand Jury Recommendation The San Mateo County Grand Jury recommends that every city in San Mateo County establish an active and ongoing CERT training program, with the initial goal of training 5% of its households. To meet this goal the Town of Hillsborough would have to train approximately 210 households.