xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5104)
EPA 550-FOO-013
July 2000
www.epa.gov/ceppo/
How to Increase Public Awareness and
Improve Emergency Notification:
Beach Cities CAER (Community
Awareness and Emergency Response)
The Chemical Safety Network is designed to share successful practices in
implementation, risk communication,and data use. The projects detailed in the Chemical
Safety Network are easily reproducible, low cost and promote partnership-building in the
community. This factsheet does not provide extensive information about a project.
Rather, it is intended to help stakeholders generate ideas, identify tools and pinpoint
funding sources for accident preparedness and prevention initiatives.
Purpose
Beach Cities CAER is a nonprofit group comprised of local businesses, industries,
emergency response organizations (first responders and police), utilities, educators,
medical facilities, and the public. Located in Southern California, the group is open to
members located in the cities of El Segundo, Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach, Torrance,
Gardena, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. There are eight chemical and
petrochemical companies, three utility companies, nine emergency assistance
organizations, five school districts and one major hospital involved in the
organization. Over the past decade, the City of Torrance has worked with chemical
and petrochemical companies to develop and install warning sirens and other tools to
be used throughout the community in case of a chemical emergency. However, a
greater public understanding of the warning system and appropriate response actions
was needed. The Community Warning System public awareness campaign was
developed to teach Torrance residents how to identify a chemical release and how to
respond should a chemical emergency occur.
Partnerships
Two chemical companies and one petrochemical company, along with Beach Cities
CAER, the City of Torrance and the Torrance Unified School District sponsored the
Torrance Community Warning System public awareness campaign. The warning
system targets the entire city, which is the location of a number of smaller chemical
companies that were not directly involved in sponsoring the outreach campaign.
Budget
The budget was approximately $75,000, which was funded by the industrial
companies involved with the campaign.
Tips For Setting Up Your Campaign
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office
^ Printed on recycled paper
-------
Page 2
Beach Cities CAER suggests the following tips:
• Identify all tools, systems and procedures and pull together into one unified warning system;
• Conduct community discussion groups and distribute a survey to registered voters to determine
their information needs and information access preferences;
• Develop outreach materials including: color guide (student version and adult version); stickers
for home and car; teacher kits; press release and advertising campaign;
• Brief news reporters and kick off the campaign at a press conference at a local elementary
school following a shelter-in-place drill;
• Send student-version warning system guides home to parents. Reward students with a "free
French fries" coupon if they return a signed tear-off sheet in the guide indicating that they had
reviewed the material with their parents (approximately 3,500 students returned sheets);
• Run large advertisements in local newspaper for six consecutive weeks to alert readers to
check their mail for the guide;
• Mail adult-version guides to all residential and business addresses in your locality,
• Meet with the School District; City Council; homeowner associations; representatives of
private schools, day-care facilities, senior-citizen centers, and senior citizen care and medical
facilities;
• Establish a phone bank to handle calls during emergencies and to determine what additional
training may be needed;
• Produce and air a program on city cable channel (repeat the program periodically); and
• Design and implement an annual refresher course.
Challenges
The group identified the following challenges:
• Large transient population (night time residential population is approximately 130,000,
daytime population approximately 500,000);
• Diverse ethnic population , over 60 dialects are spoken, lending to language barriers in
communication tools and the need for multiple communication techniques (mailings,
newspaper articles, cable television, community meetings);
• Condensation of pertinent information into readable and friendly language and in an accessible
format; and
• Need to identify additional audiences and to develop refresher communication to initial
audiences.
Increased Awareness
In June 2000, the Community Warning Siren was used for the first time to warn the community of a
chemical release. Schools within the 12-mile radius of the warning siren sheltered in place and
waited for the all-clear signal. Many neighboring businesses sheltered in place. While some of the
calls that came into the phone bank during the emergency indicated the need for additional training;
many residents indicated they had followed the appropriate procedure and had sheltered in place.
Callers then requested specific information regarding the incident as well as next steps.
For more information, contact...
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office ^ Printed on recycled paper
-------
Page 3
Name: Amy McLeod
Organization: Beach Cities CAER
Address: PO Box 2313
El Segundo, CA 90245
E-Mail: amy_m_mcleod@email.mobil.com
Telephone: (310)212-4756
Additional copies of this and other pubications in the Chemical Safety Network series are available from:
National Service Center for Environmental Publications
Phone: (800)490-9198
Fax:(513)489-8695
Email: ncepi.mail@epamail.epa.gov
or you can download an electronic copy from the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office's
web site on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ceppo.
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office ^> Printed on recycled paper
------- |