ESCONDIDO — In an effort to increase disaster preparedness, the Escondido Fire Safe Council hosted an event in partnership with the Fire Department to bring residents up to speed on a range of services and information sources.
Denise Rolen, chief executive officer of the EFSC, said the goal of the Feb. 14 Disaster Awareness Training was to build resiliency within the community by introducing residents to emergency response leaders and demonstrating applications that provide real-time information.
“How this got started was for anyone who’s a little tech phobic, bring your phone and we’ll help you out,” she said.
Two applications Rolen highlighted were Pulse Point and Genasys Protect.
She said PulsePoint can help people respond more quickly to medical emergencies. For example, someone who is CPR-certified might receive an alert and be able to assist a person having a heart attack in the same mall or nearby. That could allow a trained community member to use a defibrillator before emergency responders arrive — time that can be critical to survival during a cardiac emergency.
Genasys Protect tracks a user’s location throughout the region and provides up-to-date information during an emergency, including recommended evacuation routes if necessary.
Rolen said apps like these, and knowing how to use them, can be vital resources during an emergency.
“These apps have grown,” she said. “You don’t want to wait for social media to tell you what to do, these apps push the information to you.”
Beyond digital tools, Rolen said the event also helped familiarize residents with emergency response leaders.
Deputy Fire Chief Tyler Batson hosted and spoke at the event at department headquarters. Other speakers included Nick Thomlinson, the city’s emergency preparedness manager; Thomas Shoots, district chief for Cal Fire; Robert Johnson, fire captain and public information officer for Cal Fire; Clark Beyer, wildfire resilience and operations project adviser for SDG&E; and Morgan Dioli, wildfire resilience manager for the county.
“Everyone gets to meet all these great agencies that are protecting them,” Rolen said. “It’s a whole different situation when you hear it from the people putting their lives on the line.”
Rolen said building a network of disaster-prepared residents — including Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, members — throughout Escondido would strengthen the city’s readiness.
“You need to have those people out interspersed in the community,” Rolen said. “And this type of program helps get people thinking that way.”
