San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced the launch of a new emergency response plan called “ReadySF” on May 14th. The program, led by the City’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM), aims to provide more comprehensive and practical tools and information for disaster preparedness by integrating professional expertise and community experiences to assist residents, workers, and visitors in being prepared for emergencies.
As the initial phase of the “ReadySF” plan, the City’s Department of Emergency Management has officially launched a new website sf.gov/ReadySF, replacing the previous SF72.org platform. The new platform is designed to better cater to the needs of San Francisco residents, featuring personalized emergency plans, interactive disaster maps, detailed disaster guides, and multilingual accessible information.
Mayor Lurie stated, “A safe San Francisco must be built upon a reliable, secure, and efficient disaster prevention system. We are calling on everyone, from officials to residents, to participate in this initiative to ensure that residents and visitors can cope with disasters. Our frontline responders are on standby, and ‘ReadySF’ will provide residents with practical tools to help them protect themselves and their families.”
The core features of the “ReadySF” platform include:
1. Personal disaster planning tools: Providing instructions for creating emergency kits and home preparedness boxes tailored to individual and family needs, as well as emergency plans and response checklists.
2. Interactive disaster maps: Integrating multiple risk information on storms, floods, heatwaves, power outages, weather, air quality, and more.
3. Disaster guides: Offering practical advice for earthquakes, storms, floods, extreme heat, power outages, tsunamis, air pollution, fires, etc., before, during, and after disasters.
4. Multilingual translation services: Collaborating with professional organizations to translate website content into Chinese, English, Spanish, Filipino, and Vietnamese versions to cater to the city’s diverse population.
5. Integration with the official emergency alert system AlertSF: Encouraging residents to register for AlertSF to receive real-time alerts and response instructions. Registration methods: Send your zip code via text to 888-777 or visit AlertSF.org to register.
Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the City’s Department of Emergency Management, emphasized, “Disaster preparedness requires collaboration between the government, community, and individuals. We aim to help everyone acquire life-saving skills in emergencies through convenient, timely, and feasible information and tools.”
Dean Crispen, Chief of the City’s Fire Department, stated, “A safe San Francisco requires the participation of all residents. Our firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams (NERTs) are always prepared to respond to disasters, ensuring that San Francisco is equipped with resilience and emergency response capabilities.”
Since taking office, Mayor Daniel Lurie has been involved in various city disaster preparedness efforts, including hosting multi-agency joint exercises and participating in training courses provided by the Fire Department’s Community Emergency Response Teams. On the 119th anniversary of the 1906 earthquake commemorated last month, he paid tribute to the frontline responders who worked tirelessly during the disaster.