Community turns out for disaster preparedness workshop

By: YVETTE URREA - Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 19, 2005 10:44 PM PDT ∞

POWAY ---- The two fastest things that will kill people in the event of a disaster are exposure and lack of water, said survival coach Tom Beasley during an urban survival workshop Wednesday night.

An estimated 250 people attended the workshop held at the Poway Community Center Auditorium, which served as a shelter during the 2003 Cedar fire, to find out what they should do if they are caught unprepared in an emergency, said Poway fire Division Chief Garry MacPherson.

Beasley and Susan Conniry, who run a survival skill training program called Backyard Tourists, offered residents a survivalist approach to disaster preparedness.

"You will die from exposure faster than anything out there," Beasley said. "Shelter is the single most important thing you can do."

Beasley reminded people about making forts as children and advised them take the same approach to emergency shelter. Even a rolled-up carpet with enough room for residents to squeeze inside would make suitable shelter, he said.

The point in an emergency, he said, is to stay warm. He demonstrated how residents could cheaply keep warm just by stuffing their clothes with plastic bags or wadded up paper for insulation.

Beasley and Conniry recruited people in the audience to attest to the fact that wearing plastic under one of their socks and shoes kept the one foot much warmer than the other.

"Now your focus is going to become water. (A lack of it) is what's going to kill you second in line," Beasley said.

He said people in emergencies should assume that, with the exception of rain and dew, "all water is contaminated," and suggested using iodine, chlorine, bleach and boiling to purify water.

MacPherson said the goal of the workshop is to help people be self-sufficient for just 72 hours until a government agency can assist people.

"If you're able to stay home and make a shelter for yourself, wearing plastic bags, wouldn't you rather be home than on a cold gymnasium floor?" Conniry asked.

Nick Lerma, 32, of Poway attended the workshop with his mother. They said they attended because they were caught unprepared during the Cedar fire and felt it was important to be ready for another disaster after seeing the situation people were in after the hurricanes.

Fiona Stavros, 52, of Poway said she felt it was "just part of your civic duty to be able to care for yourself and others that are around you that may need help."

MacPherson said residents would be alerted of evacuation routes and shelters in the event of an emergency.

Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com.

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