Silver Dragon Exercise tests San Mateo County readiness for emergencies.
In the event of a major disaster, such as an earthquake, pandemic flu, catastrophic flood or prolonged power outage, it will be important to ensure the safety of San Mateo County residents, especially those who are vulnerable due to a medical condition. In today’s Silver Dragon exercise, San Mateo County partnered with other local agencies to practice and gauge their ability to reach those in need. Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) walked door to door through several neighborhoods in East Palo Alto with the goal of distributing information and resources in reusable shopping bags to 16,000 homes. In three hours the CERTS delivered approximately 2,500 bags.
The exercise featured the use of a refurbished trailer that was donated to the Menlo Park Fire Department. The trailer previously belonged to FEMA, was parked in a lot in Redwood City and wasn’t being utilized. It was then donated to the Menlo Park Fire Department, who stripped the trailer out and installed new flooring and cabinetry. The Menlo Park Fire CERTS then worked their magic and turned the trailer into a mobile communications center, which is capable of tracking (via GPS) the CERTS in the field. When the power goes out and everything else fails, this trailer works because it’s equipped with a ham radio. Essentially, The Menlo Park Fire CERTS took an item that would have eventually been thrown away, and turned it into a community resource.