Abstract for Joint Meeting Discussion Items

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4 c) Potential Emergency Management/Sheltering Considerations As new public schools and recreational facilities are proposed, the inclusion of features that improve resilience and support community protective actions during disasters should be evaluated. The County maintains agreements with the school systems for the use of facilities as mass care shelters and recommends that all new schools be developed with this in mind. By incorporating criteria from the American Red Cross, projects can gain the secondary benefit of increasing mass care shelter readiness alongside their primary function, allowing facilities to double as emergency shelters when needed. Key features that may require intentional consideration are mainly in the electrical and HVAC systems design. A facility must, at a minimum, include a generator interconnect with an automatic transfer switch that services lighting, communications, refrigeration, food preparation, and HVAC servicing the shelter zones. Additionally, Orange County routinely operates co-located pet sheltering in partnership with Animal Services, which requires at least one separate room or zone for pets that has sufficient outdoor air exchange and avoids returning shared air to the other zones. Other features, such as ADA accessibility, adjacent rooms for medical isolation, staff use, special populations, and storage, enough restrooms and showers, and a kitchen with cold storage and food prep equipment, are also necessary; however, newly constructed educational and recreational facilities typically meet many of these needs in their core designs. The Boards can discuss issues related to this item as necessary, and staff will be available at the meeting. Attachment 3c—American Red Cross On-Site Shelter Survey RECOMMENDATION(S): The Managers recommend the Governing Boards discuss the topics listed above and provide appropriate direction to the respective staffs.