Emergency Preparedness
Be Ready Video
View this 8-minute Video Titled, "Be Ready"
The focus of this video is on the importance of disaster readiness and what can be done to prepare.
Visit emscimprovement.center for more details.
Learn about ELARC's Emergency Operations Plan
To better serve our community, Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC) will manage agency operations and minimize disruption of services to the individuals we serve in the event of an emergency.
While ELARC maintains an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), we encourage personal preparedness for the individuals we serve, their loved ones, those who provide services to them, as well as for our staff.
ELARC will incorporate and coordinate all the facilities and personnel of ELARC, available resources of the State of California Department of Developmental Services and other partners into an efficient organization capable of responding effectively to any emergency. View the ELARC Emergency Operations Plan(PDF, 121KB).
All Service Providers: Begin thinking about an emergency preparedness plan for your organization that will compliment the DDS and Regional Center plans
Transportation Service Providers: Please view the Department of Transportation Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities information and consider how to integrate this into your agency emergency preparedness plan.
Emergency Responders: View the Los Angeles County Regional Centers Points of Contact(PDF, 334KB) for Emergency Responders brochure.
Meet ELARC's Emergency Management Officer
Gina Esparza is the Emergency Management Officer at the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC).
Her role is to assist persons served, their families and/or caretakers with emergency planning and resources. Additionally, during large-scale disasters, her role is to provide assistance in response and recovery efforts. She also works with community organizations to establish partnerships within the ELARC community.
Gina Esparza
Emergency Management Officer
(626)299-4633
gesparza@elarc.org
Families and individuals served by ELARC who are interested in a consultation with Gina should contact their service coordinator.
Service Providers
For further information about any of the declared state of emergencies, please contact your assigned Community Services Specialist. View the Community Services Specialist Assignments(PDF, 454KB) for more details.
Water Safety
Water Safety Resource Center
Visit the American Red Cross Water Safety page and view their resources:
Water Safety for Kids
Meet Longfellow! His Whale Tales are short, engaging and age-appropriate videos that teach important water safety topics. Each episode centers on a memorable rhyming phrase to help children retain what they've learned. Visit the Water Safety for Kids Resources page for more.
Community Safety
Community Safety Partnership
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has developed a program to allow caregivers or family members (requestors) to voluntarily provide information about a person(s) living in their home who are suspected of having or have been diagnosed with an intellectual, mental, or physical disability (participant).
Sign up to participate in the "Special Alert" program where deputies will receive certain information when responding. By providing this information in advance, you are alerting deputies to the needs of the people in your home, which may help them decide how to best approach and what resources to bring with them. Complete a Special Alert Request Form.
Active Shooter Awareness
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services’ (Cal OES) Office of Access and Functional Needs (OAFN) led the effort to update California’s Active Shooter Awareness Guidance(PDF, 312KB) to include access and functional needs (AFN) considerations through collaborative efforts with law enforcement, the California Specialized Training Institute, the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, independent living centers, emergency managers, and other disability stakeholders.
Severe Weather
The National Weather Service
The National Weather Services' mission is to provide weather information, water and climate data, forecasts, warnings, and impact-based decision support services for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy.
Visit the National weather Service to stay informed.
The Winter Shelter Program
The Winter Shelter Program is held annually to protect people experiencing homelessness during Los Angeles's colder months. Winter Shelters are located all across the County, and will be operating 24 hours a day. People in need of transportation to an Augmented Winter Shelter site should go to 211la.org and use the chat feature to request a ride.
For any inquiries, please email wintershelter@lahsa.org.
Visit the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority website for this and other resources.
Earthquakes
Earthquakes can happen at any time and having specific needs may require additional support and planning. Below is a list of resources to guide this process:
Fires
Visit Cal Fire for resources on how to plan ahead, receive alerts, and to learn about what to do during an emergency.
Resources
American Red Cross
American Red Cross responds to an emergency every 8 minutes.
No one else does this: not the government, not other charities. From small house fires to multi-state natural disasters, the American Red Cross goes wherever we're needed, so people can have clean water, safe shelter and hot meals when they need them most.
Cal OES, Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Cal OES serves as the state’s leadership hub during all major emergencies and disasters. This includes responding, directing, and coordinating state and federal resources and mutual aid assets across all regions to support the diverse communities across the state.
Cal OES also supports local jurisdictions and communities through planning and preparedness activities, training, and facilitating the immediate response to an emergency through the longer-term recovery phase. During this process, Cal OES serves as the state’s overall coordinator and agent to secure federal government resources through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Access & Functional Needs
In 2008 California established the Office of Access and Functional Needs (OAFN) within the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The purpose of OAFN is to identify the needs of individuals with disabilities and others with access or functional needs before, during, and after disasters and to integrate them into the State’s emergency management systems. Visit their page for more details,
Active Shooter Awareness
OAFN led the effort to update California’s Active Shooter Awareness Guidance(PDF, 312KB) to include AFN considerations through collaborative efforts with law enforcement, the California Specialized Training Institute, the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, independent living centers, emergency managers, and other disability stakeholders.
Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
The Department of Developmental Services plays an active role in responding and takes a proactive approach to ensuring the health and safety of the DDS’ service system by facilitating emergency response activities and improving emergency response readiness.
DDS has identified the need to develop emergency preparedness material, providing necessary training and education, securing emergency go kits and portable batteries for consumers living independently or with limited supports dependent on power for life-sustaining equipment and who live within high fire threat district areas.
Visit the following pages for additional resources:
Visit the DDS Wellness Toolkit for Wellness & Safety Bulletins on different topics:
Earthquake County Alliance
Earthquake Country Alliance (ECA) is a public-private-grassroots partnership of people and organizations that work together to improve earthquake and tsunami preparedness, mitigation and resiliency.
Emergency Network Los Angeles, Inc. (ENLA)
Service Providers/Vendors,
Consider Joining the Emergency Network of Los Angeles (ENLA).
ENLA is a coalition of nonprofit organizations, along with government and private-sector partners. ENLA serves as the forum where organizations share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle—preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation — to help disaster survivors and their communities.
Housing and Community Development
Community development includes more than just new development. Housing and Community Development (HCD) works to help communities recover after disasters (such as droughts, fires, and floods) by administering special federal funds for both recovery and mitigation purposes. When appropriated funds from HUD, HCD works with local governments and organizations to support programs that provide long-term recovery assistance for housing, infrastructure, economic revitalization and mitigate disaster risks and reduce future losses.
Housing and Community Development
DisasterRecovery@hcd.ca.gov
ReCoverCA@hcd.ca.gov
ReCoverCA Hotline: (916) 202-1764
Listos California
Listos California engages a statewide network of community-based organizations, Tribal Governments, and Community Emergency Response Teams across the state to boost resiliency, provide accessible in-language information and advance a new culture of disaster preparedness.
Every Californian, regardless of age, ability, income or language, deserves culturally competent education to prepare for wildfire, flood, earthquake, drought, heatwave and other disasters.
Ready.gov
Launched in February 2003, Ready is a National public service campaign designed to educate and empower the American people to prepare for, respond to and mitigate emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters.
Sirens of Silence
Sirens of Silence is an autism and special needs awareness, acceptance and inclusion program launched by the Los Angeles Conty Fire Department.
The Sirens of Silence program consists of three components:
- Education and awareness for the Department’s first responders through a mandatory training module as well as access to visual aids and informational materials with advice and practical tips on how to approach, respond, and communicate.
- Special needs-friendly events for residents to meet and interact with first responders in a welcoming and sensory-sensitive space.
- Safety-related items (i.e., seatbelt covers, sensory toys, etc.) for special needs patients.
Southern California Edison
When major disasters strike, SCE has a dedicated Customer Support Team to help impacted customers. If you have been impacted by a disaster, SCE is here to help.
Please call 1-800-250-7339 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, or Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Edison Outage Center webpage is where you can learn about outages and how you can be prepared and stay safe. You can sign up for outage alerts too. View the Edison Outage Center page.
If you or someone in your household requires the regular use of electrically powered medical equipment or other qualifying medical devices, you may be eligible for our Medical Baseline Allowance Program. This program provides an additional 16.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day. Provided at the lowest baseline rate, this helps offset the cost of operating the medical equipment.
For more details, visit the Southern California Edison website.
The California Childcare Disaster Plan
The California Child Care Disaster Plan is an Annex to theState of California Emergency Plan. It provides guidance for communication and coordination of key state agencies in the event of a disaster that affects the childcare infrastructure.How to Plan for Emergencies and Disasters is a step-by-step guide with resources and information to support childcare providers, children in their care, and their families before, during, and after a disaster or emergency. The Emergency Plan Library is a collection of forms, checklists, handouts, and other disaster planning tools. These materials can be downloaded for free and are available in English and Spanish.
NIXLE everbridge
Sign up for NIXLE for messages regarding alerts in your LA County neighborhood, just text your zip code to888777. You can enter more than one zip code if you like. Visit the NIXLE website for more information.
County of Los Angeles
Visit the LA County Emergency page to find out more about Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and COVID-19.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being.
National Autism Association
Visit the National Autism Association website and explore their resources under "What We Do" menu.
Wandering Safety Toolkit for Caregivers: The Big Red Safety Box(PDF, 15MB) is a resource, not affiliated with Regional Center, that is intended to guide and assist caregivers in establishing a Wandering Emergency Plan for their loved ones who may be at higher safety risk.
FEMA
Visit the FEMA website for the following information and more:
For Shelters
After any disaster you can text Shelter + your Zip Code to 43362 (4FEMA) to find the nearest shelter. Please note that shelters are not activated unless there is a disaster, so this only works after a true emergency/disaster event.