The Connection

McLean residents learned how to prepare themselves for future catastrophes at McLean Citizens Association’s first fall event.

MCA held an Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery panel with several county emergency officials on Sept. 17, teaching residents how to be proactive in an emergency.

“I think this is going to be an annual event,” said MCA President Sally Horn. “This is a dynamic series of programs. This is our centennial year.”

Director of the county’s Emergency Management Program David McKernan noted the new Fairfax Alerts emergency text alert system. Anyone can sign up for the alert, he said, through http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/alerts.

Based on the emergency, the text or call can override “quiet times” or phone calls, he said. The alert system can also be targeted to specific neighborhoods if a tornado has been spotted or a gunman is on the loose.

He also said that if the emergency is truly a catastrophe, police and firefighters may be overwhelmed.

“If we have an emergency, we may not be able to help you, and you need to be prepared for that,” he said.

RESIDENTS, he said, should make sure their family has a place where they can meet and an out-of-town contact. Additionally, they should create a kit with cash, water, important medications and other necessities.

“Every plan is an individual plan,” he said. “You have to make it for your benefit.”

According to the McLean police district commander Captain Paul Norton, 68 percent of the district is made up of the area MCA covers.

“You have to expect that our resources will deplete quickly if an emergency happens,” he said. “For this reason, I think neighborhood watch is more important than ever.”

In case of a big emergency, the McLean District Police Station, located at 1437 Balls Hill Rd., is open at all hours. During major weather events, people came to the station to talk to the officers when phone lines were down.

For county Fire Chief Richard Bowers Jr., being prepared was key. Bowers was one of the responders when a plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

He said the firefighters have been knocking on every door in the county to check smoke alarms.

“Over 50 percent of the smoke alarms we checked did not work,” he said. “Smoke alarms save lives. It’s that simple.”

During these checks, firefighters provide free replacements for faulty alarms.

Additionally, he said that unattended pans on the stove, unattended candles and dryers cause many of the fires that destroy homes and apartment complexes.

County Department of Public Health Emergency Management Coordinator helped county residents when H1N1 hit the area as well as the anthrax scare after 9/11.

“People began to realize that weapons of terror weren’t just terrorists and bombs,” he said. “They were germs and bugs.”

THE LATEST UNDERTAKING of the department has been to insure every nursing home is prepared for a disaster - or even just a power failure.

“Every single time there is a real world emergency, we see their lack of preparedness shine through,” he said.

Even in cases of a power outage, weak emergency generators weren’t able to last a whole night for patients on ventilators or other power-generated lifelines.

All 15 nursing homes in Fairfax County are now equipped with hospital grade emergency communication system and better generators.

“The goal is that we don’t want them to call 911, and we don’t want patients to go to the emergency room, because there isn’t room for them there,” he said.