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Shelter-in-Place
Emergency Plan for Businesses
What
is "Shelter-in-Place"?
How do
you know when to Shelter-in-Place?
What should
we do during a chemical emergency?
How long
will the sirens sound?
How will we know when the emergency is over?
When are the sirens tested?
How can I better promote Shelter-in-Place safety in my place of
work?
Emergency "Go Kits" for Businesses
Download
emergency plan checklist (PDF*)
View
Shelter-in-Place Presentation (with siren coverage maps)
Download Shelter-in-Place PowerPoint
Presentation
 What
is "Shelter-in-Place"?
In the event of a chemical
release, safety sirens (pictured at right) in Contra Costa County’s
industrial corridor will sound to alert the public. If you hear
the sirens, or are told to Shelter-in-Place, emergency officials
recommend these actions:
- Stay inside and ask
customers to stay inside, too.
- Close all windows
and secure doors (locking provides a tighter seal).
- Turn off all ventilation
systems such as heating or air conditioning.
- If there are gaps
in windows or doors, seal with tape or damp towels.
- Have an AM radio for
emergencies and tune to KCBS 740 for more information
How do you know when
to Shelter-in-Place?
Contra Costa County has a Community Warning
System in place that uses several tools to alert the public.
If there is a chemical release with the potential to impact the
community, the outdoor Safety Sirens located in the vicinity of
the emergency will be sounded. The sirens will sound for about 3
minutes, and will be re-sounded periodically during the emergency.
The sirens are tested on the first Wednesday of every month at 11:00
a.m. Safety sirens are located in the industrial corridor of the
County from Oakley to Richmond. There are other CWS tools to alert
people in case of an emergency in other areas.
Shelter-in-Place advisories are issued by emergency officials via
the news media. County officials recommend tuning an AM radio to
KCBS 740. NOAA weather radios in Contra Costa County with “SAME”
functionality will also receive Shelter-in-Place alerts. (These
radios have been provided to schools, childcare centers, hospitals,
etc. in the industrial corridor to provide indoor alerting and information,
but anyone can purchase a weather radio with SAME capabilities from
a retail supplier. NWS radios will sound an alert tone, followed
by a voice message about the chemical emergency. Consider adding
a weather radio to your facility.)
The County also has a phone ringdown system that would automatically
begin calling homes and businesses in the impacted area with pre-recorded
instructions about what to do. Even unlisted numbers will receive
this call in the impacted areas.
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What should we do
during a chemical emergency?
If emergency officials recommend that people in your area Shelter-in-Place,
you should stay inside and encourage customers, vendors, and others
to do the same. Allow people from outside to Shelter-in-Place in
your facility. Begin implementing your site emergency plan. For
a Shelter-in-Place emergency, you will need to stay inside until
the chemical leak has stopped and winds have dissipated any vapors
in the vicinity.
Here are the recommended
steps to Shelter-in-Place:
- Advise everyone to
stay inside.
Announce to everyone in the building that the County has issued
a Shelter-in-Place advisory. Recommend that people not leave the
building during this time unless specifically ordered to do so
by police or fire personnel. Leaving the building could result
in exposure to toxic chemical vapors.
- Close all doors, windows
and other sources of outside air.
Close and lock windows for a tighter seal. Control access doors
(locking will provide a tighter seal). Post a “Shelter-in-Place
in Effect – Controlled Access” sign in the window so
that people outside will know you are closed and Sheltering-In-Place.
If additional people want to enter to Shelter-in-Place, minimize
the time the door is held open. Move others in the room away from
the door that is opened. People who insist on leaving the building
should be allowed to leave, but advise them it is at their own
risk since emergency officials have issued a Shelter-in-Place
advisory.
- Turn off all air conditioning
or heating systems
Your building’s thermostats or air-handling cutoff switches
should be labeled, and employees should be trained where they
are located and how they work. Ceiling fans or portable fans can
be used inside to keep cool while the ventilation system is shut
down.
- Turn on your AM radio
to KCBS 740
Emergency officials in Contra Costa County recommend tuning to
KCBS 740 for emergency information. Officials will be providing
the news media with updated information on the locations that
should continue to Shelter-in-Place. If you have a television
available, Bay Area television stations will also provide news
reports, and should scroll information during the event.
- Stay off the telephone
Contra Costa County has a telephone ringdown system that will
begin calling numbers in the impacted area during a Shelter-in-Place
emergency. Avoid using the phone so it is available to receive
the informational call. Do not call 9-1-1 to get more information.
Only call 9-1-1 if you need immediate assistance with a life-threatening
emergency. Overloaded telephone circuits (including cellular phone
calls) can prevent actual emergency calls from getting through.
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How long will the
sirens sound?
The sirens will sound
initially for about three minutes. They will continue to be resounded
periodically if the event continues. Shelter-in-Place alerts are
also broadcast over weather radios in Contra Costa County, and the
County operates a phone ringdown system that is activated for Shelter-in-Place
alerts.
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How will we know when
the emergency is over?
County officials will
announce the All Clear via the news media, so keep monitoring KCBS
740. There is no separate Safety Siren signal for All Clear. The
sirens were not designed to be heard indoors. The County will also
reactivate its telephone ringdown system to begin calling numbers
in the impacted area with the All Clear message, but it may take
a little while to call all numbers. If you have Internet access,
you can register for free Shelter-in-Place alerts and All Clear
messages via e-mail at www.incident.com.
After the All Clear is
announced, Health Department officials recommend that you open your
windows and doors and air out your building.
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When are the sirens
tested?
The sirens are tested
on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:00 a.m. They only sound
for about one minute during the test, but will sound for three minutes
during a real event.
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How can I better promote
Shelter-in-Place safety in my place of work?
CCC CAER OFFERS FREE
Shelter-in-Place KITS FOR BUSINESSES
If a major chemical release occurred, local emergency officials
would notify people to Shelter-in-Place as a protective action.
Shelter-in-Place means to go inside, close doors and windows, shut
off heating or air conditioning systems and take any other steps
necessary to prevent contaminated outside air from entering the
building. Businesses have unique challenges during such an event.
Employees need to be trained to know what to do. Customers and vendors
will need instructions. What if people on the street enter your
business looking for a place to get indoors?
To assist businesses
with these challenges and help them get prepared for a Shelter-in-Place
event, the Contra Costa County CAER (Community Awareness and Emergency
Response) Group is offering free planning kits to businesses in
the county.
CAER’s Business
Shelter-in-Place Kits include information and training materials
to assist businesses in developing a Shelter-in-Place plan for their
sites, including:
- color window decal
- thermostat label
- color poster
- color magnet
- a Shelter-in-Place
emergency planning checklist
- fliers for customers
or vendors
- a “controlled
entry” sign for an outside entrance
- employee training
procedure
- a copy of the guide
“Shelter-in-Place at Your Office” prepared by the National
Institute of Chemical Studies
Every business should
develop a written emergency plan that includes what to do in case
the safety sirens sound or a Shelter-in-Place advisory is issued,
just as the plan covers what to do in case of a fire or earthquake.
A harmful chemical could be accidentally released from an industrial
processing or storage facility, or during transportation from a
spill involving a pipeline, railcar or truck. Chemical releases
can also occur from municipal wastewater treatment facilities that
utilize ammonia or even a community swimming pool that still uses
chlorine.
To request a free copy
by mail of the Business Shelter-in-Place Kit, contact CAER toll-free
at (888) 972-2237. CAER will also provide speakers or onsite mentoring
to assist with emergency planning.
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Emergency "Go-Kits"
for Businesses
 CAER
offers "Go-Kits" for businesses to help them prepare for
emergencies. For $5, businesses can purchase either a backpack or
a duffel bag and also receive a checklist of items to include in
the kit.
What is a "Go-Kit"?
Go-kits are for everyone
– not just got people with special needs. The purpose of a
go-kit is to have survival necessities immediately available in
a bag that can be grabbed when exiting a home, living situation,
work, school, addiction program, day program, etc. in the case of
a disaster. Having necessary items ready-to-go saves valuable time
and insures necessary items are taken.
Special-needs people
(frail elder, mentally or physically disabled, children) often do
not have the physical mobility or mental acuity to gather these
types of things up under the stress of a disaster. Even people without
special needs may forget or not know what to grab under the stress
of an emergency situation.
A go-kit is comprised
of a portable (duffel) bag (preferably red or orange) to hold the
following contents:
- Emergency information
listing contact person(s)
- Emergency health information
card with medical and hospital information, etc.
- Well-labeled medications
- enough for three days
- Copy of current prescriptions
- The style and serial
number of medical devices, such as pacemakers.
- Small first aid kit
- Water (16 ounces)
- Energy bar(s) or few
food items
- Whistle or other noisemaker
- Small flashlight (perhaps
on a key chain)
- Pad and pencil
- Extra pair of glasses
- Extra set of house
and car keys
- Small battery operated
radio and extra batteries
- Sanitary supplies
(if used daily)
- Sweater or light jacket
- Cap or hat; extra
clothes (one underwear, sweats)
- Heavy gloves
- Large plastic trash
bag (can be used as raingear)
- Pair of tennis shoes
- If you babysit or
have a pet, include items for them in your go-kit
A go-kit can be placed
in an inconspicuous place near an exit. If you own a car, keep a
go-kit in the trunk in addition to the home. Many assisted living
and board and care facilities have a go-kit in each person’s
room. Spread the word about go-kits.
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*This
document is in Adobe PDF format. If you do not have Acrobat
Reader installed on your computer, please click the logo below:
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