This page has links to all of the 1-page handouts we currently have available.
If you want a stack of them to hand out in your neighborhood, just contact us. Just sign in and use the Messages form under "My Profile." If you are not already registered, the Sign-In page will give you a link to do that.
If you are entirely new the idea of preparing for emergencies, just start with the first handout below, the "Emergency Preparedness Jump Start." It gives you 3 simple things to do that make so much sense, you will want to tell your neighbors about it. And we hope you will!
Emergency Preparedness Jump Start
The Jump-Start outlines 3 simple steps we hope every resident will take.
1. Register for SMCAlert.info to get local emergency alerts.
2. Make a plan for the basic steps your family can take to stay in control when an emergency happens.
3. Get a Go-Bag so you do not have to think about what to take when you might only have a few minutes to grab-and-go.
Emergency Preparedness - The Checklist
This simple checklist gives you an easy way to figure out what else you can do, whenever you have a few minutes, to be better prepared for emergencies. We don't try to prepare for big things like earthquakes and wildfires. We prepare for a lot of little things, like being without power, being without tap water, and having a minor injury. It's when we can manage a handful of those little things that we are prepared for the big things.
Basics of Preparedness - Stay Informed
Learn how to sign up for local emergency alerts, what the different kinds of alerts are, what your evacuation zone is, and how to find a broadcasting radio service in an emergency.
Basics of Preparedness - Emergency Food and Water
It is easy to keep water for years. It is easy to purify most water in an emergency, and to tell what can and cannot be purified. And today's options for emergency food are amazingly tasty and long-lasting.
Basics of Preparedness - First Aid
First Aid is a skill we hope everyone will learn, and practice. We hope we never need to use it. But if that day comes, having a good First Aid kit and knowing how to treat some basic injuries can save a life. Even when there is nothing else happening in our area, it will take emergency responders at least 5 minutes to reach you. In those 5 minutes, you can save someone from bleeding to death, going into shock, or fatal choking. You are the help, until help arrives.
Basics of Preparedness - Evacuation
Knowing how to get away from trouble before it reaches you is a crucial life preserving skill. If you know all the ways out of your neighborhood, in the dark, in the fog, and you have planned what to take if you only have 5 minutes, the rest of your day will be much less terrible if a wildfire happens to start nearby.
Organize Your Ready Community
This handout is to help you organize your neighborhood into a Ready Community. We are stronger when we work as a team. Just knowing who your neighbors are, who has special needs, and what the local risks are, puts you far ahead when the day comes to react to an emergency. We are all neighbors, helping neighbors. There are a lot of resources to help you organize, and to help your local community reduce risks.
If you need to find your local Community Leaders, just look up your address on the "Find My Leaders" page. And if you don't have or know your leaders already, think about organizing your neighborhood.
If you want to become a local Community Leader, simply register on this website, and use the "Messages" tool under "My Profile" to send a message to the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. You will find that in the list of options, right at the top. We will answer your questions, and help you accomplish whatever level of organization you feel is best in your neighborhood. See the note below about how to register.
WPV-Ready and WPV-CERT - an Introduction
WPV-Ready is an Emergency Preparedness project. WPV-Ready works to bring every resident of the Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) to the safest possible level of Emergency Preparedness, in small, simple steps. The WFPD encompasses the Town of Portola Valley, the Town of Woodside, and surrounding unincorprated areas of San Mateo County. All in the fire- and earthquake-prone state of California. You are on the WPV-Ready website now.
WPV-CERT is an Emergency Response team. It is a registered FEMA CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program. WPV-CERT offers Basic Skills classes and certification, plus a program that allows volunteers to work as Disaster Service Workers. CERTs learn how to work in teams to put out small fires, search for and transport injured neighbors, and assess the damage throughout the area, saving lives quickly, and providing useful information to professional responders when they arrive. In the event of a major earthquake, WPV-CERT's radio systems might be the only 2-way communication available for hours or days. Join the WPV-CERT team, and be more than prepared; be prepared to respond. Learn more at the website, http://WPV-CERT.org.
If you are not registered on this website, please register today.
It only takes a minute, and it brings you instant benefits in terms of emergency preparedness. You will find several tools under the "My Profile" menu that enable you to send messages to your leaders and the district's program manager, and you will find several "home assessment" tools that give you a simple way to track your level of general preparedness and your level of risk from wildfire. Then take your time and pick one of the items to work on occasionally. In almost no time, you will be much safer from the many little things that can ruin your day, or your life, in an emergency. Click here to register now, or to sign-in if you have already registered.