By Dave Atkinson
In times of crisis, a well-coordinated and swift emergency response is crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. Placer County, with its vulnerability to wildfire and severe winter weather, has recognized the need for more robust emergency planning efforts by public safety agencies.
Recently, the Placer County Board of Supervisors took a significant step forward in improving cooperation and coordination by restructuring its emergency management model. Central to this enhanced model is the addition of a dedicated lieutenant from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and an assistant fire chief from Cal Fire Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit (NEU)/Placer County Fire Department.
This effort is aimed at bolstering the county’s efforts to minimize the risk and vulnerability to hazards, while protecting lives and reducing damage and loss to property, the economy, public health and safety, and the environment.
Using the work of the county’s 2021 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, planning efforts will initially focus on the highest-risk hazards, including flooding, wildfires, and severe weather. Work will also consider populations in Placer County that tend to be more vulnerable due to financial limitations, mobility challenges, and lack of access to medical care.
While hazards are not always preventable, having a plan establishes the foundation for a long-term community strategy to reduce disaster losses while making participating jurisdictions eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency grant opportunities.
The model also seeks to heighten operational coordination. By having management personnel from PCSO and Cal Fire NEU/Placer Fire working side by side with OES, this collaboration will foster a deeper understanding of each agency’s capabilities, resources, and protocols. It will also provide training and exercises that are critical steps to ensuring that plans are well executed when they are needed. This synergy will result in improved coordination during emergency response operations, enabling a more efficient allocation of resources and a cohesive approach to handling crises.
This collaboration will provide a foundation for extending response coordination across the many local, state, and federal agencies that make up the Tahoe region. Having so many agencies in the region calls for a high degree of coordination. Although this framework provides added complexity, it’s also a great advantage — there are tremendous expertise and abundant resources in the region that we can draw upon in a crisis.
Another significant aspect of this model is its emphasis on enhanced public information.
During emergencies, clear and timely communication is vital to ensure the safety of our residents. The new model will ensure a streamlined flow of information to the public and allow for timely critical updates, instructions, and guidance. This will empower residents to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions to safeguard themselves and their loved ones. (Bookmark the Ready Placer Dashboard, your one-stop information center during an emergency.)
Placer County’s public safety agencies strongly urge county residents to sign up for the Placer Alert notification system, which will help keep you informed should an emergency arise. The alert system will notify subscribers of regional evacuations regarding wildfires, localized evacuations due to an avalanche, sheltering in place due to extreme weather, and much more. Sign up for Placer Alert at placeralert.org.
If you live, work, or frequently recreate in areas outside of Placer County, you are also encouraged to educate yourself and sign up for their mass notification systems. The below links are for the agencies that surround Lake Tahoe.
Nevada County: nevadacountyca.gov/3780/emergency-alerts
El Dorado County: ready.edso.org
Douglas County: dcso.com/254/emergency-notification-system
Washoe County: washoecounty.gov/em/regionalalerts.php
Carson City: carson.org/our-city/emergency-notification
~ Dave Atkinson is the assistant director of the Placer County Office of Emergency Services.
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