By Julia Sommer, Public Affairs
Posted February 24, 1999

A scene from the Marina district of San Francisco after the 1989 earthquake.

The Office of Emergency Preparedness, with support from Chancellor Berdahl, is introducing a new volunteer program: the HOME team (Helping Our Campus Manage Emergencies).

A component of the SAFER Program, the HOME team reflects Berkeley's ongoing commitment to prepare the campus for disasters.

"Seismological experts agree that a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault is likely within the next 20 years," said Tom Klatt, director of the campus Office of Emergency Preparedness. "In a regional disaster such as this, emergency response resources on campus and throughout the region will be overwhelmed. The campus must prepare to be self-sufficient until outside help can arrive.

"By developing and fielding teams of trained disaster volunteers to work with campus emergency responders," he said, "we will increase our response capabilities and save lives."

HOME team volunteers will receive free training in the area of their interest: light search and rescue, first aid/triage, shelter operations, emergency hotline phone operations and amateur radio emergency services. Chancellor Berdahl has granted up to eight hours of paid release time for staff interested in training for the HOME team. Students and faculty are also encouraged to take part.

Training sessions start March 11 and continue through April and May, mainly during regular business hours. Trained volunteers will be asked to report to specific campus essential service departments during a disaster.

Information and online registration may be found at www.berkeley.edu/oep.

February 24 - March 2, 1999 (Volume 27, Number 24)
Copyright 1999, The Regents of the University of California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley.
Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.