By Tom Campbell
Richmond Times-Dispatch
RICHMOND, Va. — Surviving the next major storm that hits Richmond — or the first terrorist attack — isn’t guaranteed, but the right equipment and practical knowledge can make it more likely.
Yesterday about 160 people attended the first “Survivor Day” training session hosted at the Landmark Theater by the Richmond Office of Emergency Management.
When they left the free training session, participants had a better idea of what to do when everything goes wrong. They also had a new, red Red-Cross-approved backpack carrying items essential to help two people through three days.
Benjamin W. Johnson, director of emergency services for the city, said he bought 4,000 of the backpacks from the Red Cross. He plans to hold one Survivor Day each quarter and intends to improve the program as it progresses. The next date has not been set. Those who attend will get a backpack.
Johnson said he got the idea from what happened in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and closer to home in the neighborhoods around Battery Park a year ago. Many people would have fared much better if they had made preparations and knew what to do.
Several people who attended yesterday asked instructors questions about what they saw on TV happening to Katrina survivors. In the summing-up session at the end, Antoinette Essa, a member of Johnson’s staff, asked if everyone had a good “Katrina session.”
“It’s having a culture of preparedness,” Johnson said last week. “Readiness is second nature right now.”
Participants yesterday rotated through four classes — fire safety, first-aid, weather-related disasters and acts of terrorism.
Bill Sammler of the National Weather Service, the instructor on weather, said trying to drive through when the road ahead is flooded kills 60 to 70 people in America every year.
“It takes very little water to take your truck, your car, whatever, out of your control,” Sammler said. “If you can’t see the center lines, if you can’t see the side lines, turn around. You can’t make it.”
Most fatalities that happen during a flood can be prevented, Sammler said.
He asked class members to remember that if they put themselves in danger, they are also endangering firefighters, police or other rescue workers who try to save lives.
Cora Dickerson, who said she recently has been appointed to the Richmond Disability Service Board, attended Sammler’s session in her wheelchair. She wasn’t the only person with disabilities who attended Survivor Day.
Dickerson said many disabled and elderly people in Richmond are concerned about what could happen to them during and after a major storm.
She said she wants the city to list every disabled person in a registry so that rescue workers will know where to find them in a general emergency.
But police Lt. Wendell W. Miracle said the city already has a “special-needs registry” of residents who need extra help. The registry includes people with disabilities, mothers with young children and others.
Miracle said people can register their special needs by calling the city’s citizens’ assistance office at 646-7000.
Dickerson called the first Survivor Day excellent and essential.
“Katrina was really a wake-up call for us,” she said. “It showed it can happen and how important it is to have something in place in the community so it doesn’t happen again.”
Create your own backpack
You can put together your own emergency preparedness kit. Include these things, which are in the Red Cross kit, to get two people through three days:
--Two dust masks
--Two rolls of toilet tissue
--One flashlight with batteries
--Two light sticks
--Four sanitary napkins
--One whistle
--Two pairs of working gloves
--One first-aid kit
--Two ponchos
--Two survival blankets
--Purified drinking water
Copyright 2007 Richmond Times - Dispatch
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