To: All Palo Del Amo Woods Residents and HOA members
Fr: PDAW CERT Committee
Re: CERT Triage Site Closures
The Palo Del Amo Woods CERT Team was established in 2009 with the purpose of coordinating our collective efforts in the face of any neighborhood- or city-wide disaster (e.g., fire, earthquake, etc.). Throughout the years, we have attended and held many emergency training seminars and drills to prepare for such events. Thankfully, Brea Oil Canon Oil Company, a locally owned company, partnered with us and provided three oil sites within The Woods and three shipping containers to store our CERT supplies and conduct basic triage in the event of any emergencies. However, as of September 29, 2024, Brea Canon Oil Company will be closing all three sites in our community and all supplies will have to be removed.
The CERT Committee has explored various ways to continue to offer emergency response support to our community. One suggestion was to increase the size of our storage room at the Public Storage facility located on Vermont Blvd., but one drawback is that the supplies we might need wouldn’t be available outside of the facility’s business hours. Notably, just a small number of communities in Southern California offer triage sites for their constituents, as most of them only provide information for CERT training. Also, our local Sheriff’s Department has already informed us that, in case of a catastrophic event, they will NOT be able to immediately assist us, and we could be on our own for several hours or several days. In other words, we should prepare in advance and know what to do to assist ourselves and our neighbors when, not IF, the time comes.
To this end, some questions need to be asked and answered so decisions can be made:
1) What is the viability and cost of renting a larger offsite storage space?
2) If no increase in offsite storage, what currently held supplies should we sell, donate, or dispose of?
3) Can two HOA members from each of our three neighborhood sections volunteer to store CERT supplies at their residence? This could include smaller items such as:
a. A search & rescue backpack with supplies; such as Gas Shutoff wrench, First Aid, flashlight
b. A 2-way radio
4) Can any HOA member(s) volunteer to store larger items such as listed
a. A gas generator;
b. A 10×10 EZ-Up tent;
c. A 6-foot folding table;
d. 4 to 6 folding chairs?
e. Assorted Cribbing Tools (pry bar, Axe, Sledgehammer, Shovel etc…
Note 1; We have 3 sets of the larger items. One set from each CERT Sites.
If you, or someone you know, have any insights to share or can help the PDAW CERT Committee through the site closures, and this transitionary period, please contact: Jimmie Mitchell at 310-901-9403
