Disaster-response training planned for Woodside, Portola Valley Disaster-response training planned for Woodside, Portola Valley (September 21, 2005)

A series of disaster-response workshops by the Citizen's Emergency Response and Preparedness Program of the Woodside Fire Protection District will be held in October.

The district includes Portola Valley, Woodside, Ladera and Los Trancos Woods.

The workshops were planned before Hurricane Katrina, but the hurricane's destructive and isolating effect in Gulf Coast communities has given them an extra urgency.

"Learn from Katrina, become more self-sufficient, be better prepared," said Marianne Plunder, who chairs Portola Valley's Emergency Preparedness Committee and who gave a presentation to the Portola Valley Town Council at its September 14 meeting. A similar presentation is planned for the Woodside Town Council.

The workshops -- scheduled for Thursday, October 13, through Saturday, October 15 at a location yet to be chosen -- will focus on specific roles within an emergency operations center, including management, operations, planning, logistics and administration.

On Saturday morning, a simulation exercise based on reports radioed in from the field will test levels of confusion and effectiveness in handling paperwork and following the chain of command. CERPP has conducted such exercises before but never with professional support, said Ms. Plunder.

The program is intended for Woodside and Portola Valley town staff, Town Council members, town volunteers, school officials, and residents from communities within the fire protection district who are seriously interested in learning the necessary procedures.

The California Specialized Training Institute, part of the state's Office of Emergency Services, will run the program. For more information, call Gaylynne Mann at the Woodside Fire Protection District at 851-1594.

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