Emergency Preparedness

The events of September 11, 2001, and the education of terrorism in our country have added another layer of expectations on law enforcement by the public we serve. Not only do we enforce laws, investigate crimes, and ensure the safety of our community, but we are also responsible for assessing and responding to terrorist threats. 

Though we need not be fearful, each of us does need to do our part to be prepared for threats of a greater nature, earthquake, flooding, terrorism, and the like. This is YOUR individual responsibility and for the benefit of your family, so we would impress upon you to take it seriously. 

We will be adding in this section educational information for our community to stay abreast of information and to be personally prepared. As much as you, our public, depend on us to respond when needed, we in law enforcement depend on you to be part of the safety net of information gathering, reporting, and volunteering. We cannot do this alone - we must embrace real community policing.

One of the first things we can do to help you is to provide you with some educational resources. So, I would encourage you to check out a couple of websites that are chock full of information about family planning and personal preparedness. Please take the time to check them out. And come back to our site periodically to check out any additional information we post.

READY KERN Emergency Notification

One of the first things we would recommend to any person living in Kern County is the register with Ready Kern. You can get there right now by clicking on: Ready Kern (https://kerncountyfire.org/index.php/education/ready-kern )

Ready Kern is a state of the art emergency notification system which allows alerts to residents and businesses of critical incidents occurring in real time in our community. It allows for Kern County to notify residents quickly of any number of incidents what is going on, where to evacuate if necessary, or other types of information. 

They can’t call you if they don’t have your number. You have to go to the Ready Kern website, create a profile and password (I know, another one?), and then you can enter multiple numbers, locations (home, business, school), and then receive notifications accordingly.

PLEASE, start with registering with Ready Kern before you do one more thing. It could make all the difference in the world. 

Water Preparation

Besides air, I think it’s safe to say we all need to have water. In a major disaster, the reality is that you and your family may have to rely on how you have prepared for an emergency disaster. One of the most important recommendations we give to people is to start with ensuring they have available water. It is one of the most responsible things you can do to prepare for a potential disaster. There are a number of charts that recommend how much to store depending on the number of persons in your home. For example, see the following chart:

Water Use Chart

Storage and maintenance of water can be a tad tricky. If you get a lower quality container, it could spring a leak or allow for contamination of your water. And although properly stored and prepared, you do have to cycle water periodically. You can’t just use any barrel or container to store drinking water, you need barrels that are safe for water storage, which is why we recommend 55 gallon drum barrels. We recommend polyethylene barrels for safe drinking water storage. There are a number of options out on the internet and prices as well. 

The Titan company has one of the more expensive, but convenient storage systems we’ve seen. The Titan Hydrant Water Storage System allows for an expandable and stackable 55 gallon drum storage system. The best part of this system is that you connect the barrels and they can easily cycle your storage water. There is a lower turn on valve and an upper fill valve which allows for a top-down draining and refilling. Your water can be cycled to a garden, or available for use to help fill buckets for toilet flushing if you’re on septic systems or other similar uses. 

You can check out the Titan System Here: Titan Ready Water Storage System 

The Uline company makes a variety of plastic drums that may suit your needs as well. Some disaster preparation professionals prefer the clear plastic drums as opposed to the blue drums because they can see the contents more clearly. And the cost for these drums are very affordable. Check out Ulines drums here at: Uline.com

Another great option to consider is the Augason Farms barrels that can be ordered and delivered free from Walmart. This particular unit has a water filtration component along with a pump and cap lock/unlock feature. Check it out Auguson Water Kit.

The City of Shafter is not promoting any or all of these products, but simply posting them here as a variety of products for you to consider. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss your needs and give recommendations for you to consider. 

But at least do this...look at the water chart above, and purchase water now to meet the 3 day recommendation for your household size. 

Non-Governmental Preparedness Sites

There are a number of websites we would encourage you to check out for information, tips, and suggestions for emergency preparedness. Here’s just a few: 

- PREPAREDNESS MAMA - (Check out there recommendations for water barrels here:                                                                                                        https://preparednessmama.com/water-barrels/)

-  TOP PREPPER WEBSITES.COM 

 - OFF GRID SURVIVAL WEBSITE

Government Emergency Preparedness Sites

American Sign Language Emergency Management

The State of Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) provides 52 emergency preparedness videos in American Sign Language. You can access this resource by visiting the American Sign Language Emergency Management Help. 

Emergency Management - Food Basics

In emergency situations, difficult conditions can be made even worse in the event of foodborne disease outbreak. Provision of food is often carried out under crude conditions and the people available to organize and implement feeding operations may not have the necessary experience to manage food safety effectively.

The Food Basic Guide is intended to assist those responsible for planning and overseeing food operations to recognize aspects of their function that influence food safety and to guide them in minimizing risk of foodborne illness.

In view of the fact that the infrastructure on the ground may be completely destroyed in many types of emergency situation, this document highlights the most critical requirements. The document also directs users to useful information sources that provide a more complete outline of food hygiene requirements, to guide operations in cases where there has been less disruption, and higher standards of hygiene are feasible as well on guidance on related activities (E.g. waste management).