2. LAH Activation Procedure

2.1. How to get up and running after an earthquake

This document describes the activation procedure LAH CERT. It focuses on the tasks we need to do at the beginning of an activation.

There are two activation scenarios we have:

  • after an earthquake (activation by a rule in the town’s Emergency Operation Plan [EOP])
  • anything else (only when notified by the town)

This document focuses on the earthquake scenario, and assumes the internet is either not working or not universally available (for example: due to power being out).

2.2. History

We (LAH CERT) used to have the rule of “check your zone, then go to the ARK” after a significant earthquake. It was decided to change that policy because the DSW program requires everyone to be tracked and under positive control.

The new policy is to either check in via ham radio or text, or if neither of those work to go to the ARK and check in there. (ECC members may go to the EOC instead).

If the internet is out it is very hard to handle those check-ins remotely, so we’ll need a core staff at the ARK to handle the check-ins.

We did a tabletop drill of this check-in policy; it was hard to follow the original document. This process is meant to simplify and streamline our check-in process while still not requiring everyone to travel to the ARK first.

2.3. Activation

There are four situations where a town volunteer (ECC or CERT) might be activated:

  1. When town or county personnel request it
  2. After an earthquake strong enough to make ‘things fall over or off shelves’
  3. When there is an imminent threat of extreme peril or the need to mitigate a potential imminent threat to life, property or the environment, when time is of the essence and within the scope of your training.
  4. When first responders (law, fire, public works, utility workers) directly request assistance for emergencies satisfying #3.

This document will consider only the first two, which are the two scenarios we train for.

2.4. Check-in from a ham radio operator’s perspective

In general, our ham operators can coordinate the easiest after being activated: they don’t need power or telecom infrastructure to be working.

There are two groups of ham operators in town: ECC operators and CERT field operators (aka Recon). The ECC’s roles are primarily to help staff the EOC and other fixed locations in town. Recon primarily serves as mobile teams around town.

In the case of an earthquake we have a pre-scripted set of tasks.

2.5. Roles in this document

The rest of this document describes several abstract roles in setting up a response. Much like the ICS process, multiple roles might be filled by a single person in a small response. Also, roles might be handed off from one person to another over time.

These position descriptions are intended to outline only the initial steps of the response, before the EOC and ARK are opened and fully operational.

  • Net Control Operator (NCO)

    The NCO is in charge of running the radio net, collecting damage reports, and coordinating the selection of the initial Incident Commander. This role is described in the NCO chapter.

  • Incident Commander (IC)

    This should be a CERT Supervisor or ECC NCO who is familiar with the activation process. The initial tasks of the IC are described in the IC chapter of this document.

  • County Liaison

    The County Liaison monitors both the local LAH net and the County Resource net, passing relevant messages back and forth between the two nets. This role is described in the Liaison chapter.

  • SMS Monitor

    Most of our CERTs aren’t ham licensed (although we encourage everyone to monitor the net). We plan to communicate with the rest of our CERTs via SMS. This role is described in the SMS Monitor chapter.

  • Individuals

    The procedures for everyone else is described in the Individuals chapter.

2.6. Glossary

ARK
A storage shed with CERT emergency supplies. The LAH ARK is at Foothill college parking lot 7.
CERT
Community Emergency Response Team
DSW
Disaster Service Worker
ECC
Emergency Communications Committee
EOC
Emergency Operations Center
EOP
The Los Altos Hills Emergency Operations Plan (dated 2018-10-18)
ICS
Incident Command System
LAH
Los Altos Hills
Recon
The name of the CERT folks who have amateur radio licenses and are trained in our field reporting procedures
SMS
Simple Message Service: text messaging, aka mobile messages