Senior living community uses ShakeOut to highlight disaster preparations
A valley senior living community is going above and beyond with their preparations for a disaster, and they’re using the Great California ShakeOut to ensure their residents have a plan for the worst.
Sun City-Palm Desert hosted a ShakeOut presentation in their main clubhouse ballroom, educating the community’s residents with exhibits on first aid, search and rescue and emergency supplies, as well as what to do before, during and after an earthquake.
“The chance of having a big one are pretty great in my life time and I’m pretty old already,” said Sun City Palm Desert resident Susie Keenan. “I think its likely to happen.”
Robyn Mack, a resident at Sun City Palm Desert and chair of the community’s emergency preparedness committee said they are so well prepared because it’s the largest living community in the valley with 5,000 homes and nearly 10,000 residents.
“Particualrly with seniors, many of them are on their own and they live alone,” Mack said. “And so it’s important that we have a good network in our communities to check on our neighbors.”
Inside the one-of-a-kind emergency operations center, there are supplies like walkie-talkies, batteries, medical treatments and a radio room for communicating both within the community and externally, allowing residents to dispatch volunteer search and rescue teams to those who may need first-aid or be trapped.
Organizers said it’s important to be independently prepared in case first responders are tied up during an emergency.
“We are trying to empower the communities and try to guide them and give them as much training as possible bc we as professionals cannot do it alone,” said Jose Contreras, an emergency services coordinator at the Riverside County Emergency Management Department.
The community has 500 volunteers trained and prepared to canvas the neighborhood.
“Once I’m secured and set up in my home, I go to these 12 houses make sure they’re okay, take my crowbar take my backpack with all my supplies,” said resident Larry Bye. “There’s a lot that we’re not gonna be able to depend on other than ourselves and so we need to do our part. … It feels good to be prepared.”
Reporter Jake Ingrassia toured the community’s one-of-a-kind emergency operations center and will have a full report on KESQ at 5 p.m. and CBS Local 2 at 6:30 p.m.
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