Actions Completed for Emergency Preparedness:

The Department of Corrections (CDC) and the Department of Youth Authority (DYA) have established an Emergency Operations Plan, to allow prison staff to adequately manage the impact of a disaster. These actions include sandbagging, providing transportation services, medical services, housing of displaced citizens, providing food services, supplying sanitation and potable water, providing peace officer personnel, facilitating hazardous material containment, and providing fire services.

Actions Taken to Prepare for El Niño:

During a disaster, the Department of Corrections can provide 182 emergency fire crews and the Department of the Youth Authority can provide 24 emergency fire crews which would be available for community work such as construction, cleanup, levee repair and provision of rescue services. In addition, a large work force from these two departments would be available to fill sandbags to be placed on pallets and then trucked to the disaster sites.

Emergency transportation of flood victims or emergency crews could be provided using State vehicles from each prison and the fleet of buses utilized to transport inmates within the CDC system. Two ward transportation buses and ten vans would also be available from the Department of the Youth Authority.

Within the CDC, there are four certified Acute Care Hospitals, as well as a Skilled Nursing Facility, which could provide medical services to displaced members of the community. Each of the 11 Youth Authority institutions could provide emergency medical care as well.

Many prison warehouses and other buildings outside the secure perimeter of a prison could be converted for temporary shelter for displaced community members.

Food services can be provided to displaced citizens via utilization of existing prison services and stores or in the field via utilization of CDC Conservation Camp Field Kitchens and assigned crews.

Most prisons have their own dedicated water supply and waste water treatment facilities which could be utilized to supplement services within the community that had been jeopardized or rendered unusable by flood waters or related disasters.

Each prison and Youth Authority institution have sworn peace officer personnel that could be utilized by the County Mutual Aid Coordinator (County Sheriff) to provide additional law enforcement services within the community.

Each prison has a trained Hazardous Materials Coordinator and Hazardous Materials Team and each Youth Authority institution has a Hazardous Materials Team that could be utilized to bolster efforts within the community to contain hazardous materials.

Each prison has trained fire suppression staff who routinely provide services to the community in a mutual aid capacity to bolster fire suppression efforts.

Public Information Contacts:

Department of Corrections

Tip Kindel
Christine May
Kati Couraut
916/445-4950

Department of the Youth Authority

J.P. Tremblay
916/262-1479