The recent earthquake in Pakistan that killed over 25 thousand people and injured countless others could happen in Southern California. Unlike Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it will happen without warning. And while plans are underway to prepare for this disaster, Los Angeles will face its' own inherent natural disaster - an inevitable, large earthquake otherwise known as "The Big One." It is a foregone conclusion that the underrepresented ('poor') of our city will not receive the optimum emergency response. The reasons for this are many; however, the fundamental issue is lack of preparedness on the part of the citizenry.
When disaster strikes, most depend on help from someone else; and when emergencies are relatively small, this is a viable option. However, when a major earthquake inundates an entire, highly-populated city like Los Angeles, immediate help will come only to those who are already prepared for such a calamity. Such is the case in many middle class and wealthier neighborhoods in the city, but 'not so' in areas such as South Los Angeles.
Therefore, in order to better prepare the citizens of South Los Angeles for disaster response and recovery, this proposal suggests ways in which local community response centers can be setup with "solar-powered" wireless communications in order to better coordinate response from the police, fire and medical communities.
Project Green Phoenix Mission
The primary mission of Project Green Phoenix (PGP) is to foster education and training in the areas of computer literacy, the Internet, renewable energy and how these major elements can positively impact the lives of citizens, both children and adults, primarily in the South Los Angeles region of Southern California. Once understood, these same skills can translate into an Emergency Preparedness Plan and better job opportunities for the same citizenry.
Emergency Preparedness Plan
In a major disaster like a large earthquake or terrorist attack (with Los Angeles being described as a specific target in both cases) ,the reaction to such events must be dealt with by more than just the fire or police authorities; affected citizens must also be prepared to work along side these authorities to avoid panic and even more destruction. One effective way to make this happen is to first train the local citizenry in ways to communicate with the fire and police on a non-interfering basis, but still make their own situations known to the authorities.
In the event of either a major earthquake or terrorist attack, it is assumed that normal (grid) power will be "out" for an extended period of time, thus rendering regular radios and televisions useless. The next line of communications will be battery-operated radios and televisions. But in a major disaster event lasting days or even weeks, provisions must be made for these battery-operated devices to be recharged. To address this circumstance, it is proposed to set up solar-powered battery chargers as well as dedicated emergency telecommunications equipment to address this need.
Since grid power will be unavailable, it can further be assumed that cell phones will be inoperative, given the fact that cell repeater towers will not have adequate power to relay calls. And even if cell phone communications are not disrupted, cell phone traffic will be unusually high and will result in dropped calls throughout the local area. The result will be ineffective, interrupted communications with friends, relatives and authorities.
Realizing the potential failures for normal telephone, cell, radio and television services, a non-interfering form of wireless communications needs to be established and coordinated to serve the public during such emergencies. One form of wireless communications is CB or Citizens Band radio and another is Amateur (HAM) radio. Citizen Band radio is free of any (formal) licensing requirements but suffers from lack of online organization as well as maverick, rogue users that can tie up channels and interfere with serious communication activities. Alternately, HAM radio has the advantage of being a more formal and reliable communications medium with the added benefit of already established emergency "nets" in place for such occurrences. HAM radio operators must be licensed by the FCC; however, the daunting Morris Code requirements have been eliminated thereby making licensing a far easier task. One must have some technical knowledge to acquire a license, but this, in its self, can be considered a benefit given the fact that technical training for the license exam can be an educational benefit worth pursuing. This training can then be parlayed into other higher-paying technical jobs in the community.
Coming back to battery chargers, either CB or HAM radios will need to be battery operated continuously, both day and night. What is needed is a means to charge these batteries without normal AC house current. Besides gasoline-powered generators to accomplish this task, a viable alternative is solar-powered battery chargers. With the normally abundant sunlight in the Greater Los Angeles area, a series of solar-powered charging stations can be established whose primary goal is to serve in emergency situations. A fall out benefit of these solar-powered charging stations comes in the form of training people, the South Los Angeles citizenry, in how to operate them. Here, too, is another opportunity to provide needed technical training to local citizens in order that they can use this training to both man the stations during an emergency and, also, to seek better employment as a direct result of it.
Wireless Digital Solar TeleVillage Centers
As the name implies, a Wireless Digital Solar TeleVillage Centers can provide both emergency communications needs as well as technical training for local citizens. Showing students, and their parents, how to build solar-powered stations for charging all manner of batteries for cell phones, CB and HAM radios, laptop computers, television sets, etc. will provide the basis for these two related activities. In addition, "hands on" technical training in computers, the Internet, HAM radio and renewable energy technologies can continue during non-emergency conditions.
What are needed are physical locations for these Centers; suggestions include public school buildings and public housing complexes. Additionally, responsible adults are needed to man these facilities and become coordinators for technical learning and emergency preparedness. A qualification and selection criteria will have to be established in order to select the most appropriate Center locations and individuals to man them. Following a definition of all needs (equipment, supplies, manpower and facilities), an adequate budget will be prepared to fund the Centers.
Conclusions
Without doing anything to prepare our most under-represented citizens in South Los Angeles for both technical training and emergency preparedness, it is a foregone conclusion that the same 'poor' status quo will remain in place for the foreseeable future. However, with the correct financial backing and political support, Project Green Phoenix can bring about a "sea change" in the lives of these individuals. This brief proposal points the way to a better prepared and technically literate population that can help change their city into something that they can be proud of once again.
Mayor Villaraigosa's Campaign Position on Homeland Security
Grass Roots Engagement in Threat Preparedness and Response Planning: Mayor Jim Hahn has paid very little attention to the critical role that community groups and organizations should play during emergencies. Emergency preparedness and response efforts must involve neighborhood councils, homeowner associations, community organizations and non-profit groups that are the core of our city. With the appropriate training and equipment, these groups become important first responders during emergencies and will greatly assist the efforts of police officers and firefighters. The Mayor must, and I will, assign the resources and personnel necessary to bring grass roots engagement to the terrorism preparedness process.
Public Awareness Campaign: As you drive or walk around Los Angeles you will notice that something is missing -- a public awareness campaign about what to do in case of a large-scale disaster, such as a terrorist attack. There are no billboards, no signs on the sides of buses, no commercials informing us what we should do if disaster strikes. There are so many questions that will need answers, such as:
- What should we do first if disaster strikes?
- Who should we call?
- Where we should go?
- What do we do if we are driving in our cars?
- How do we adequately prepare at home?
- What do we do if exposed to toxic chemicals?
- Where do we go if we want to help?
