Are You, Your Family and Business Prepared?

Park City Municipal Corporation is committed to a prepared community. Two key components of Emergency Management are Planning and Mitigation.  These include the education and training of City employees, community businesses, and Park City’s residents.

In a major regional disaster such as an earthquake, our citizens will likely need to be able to survive independently for three to five days. Daily emergency services typically see response times measured in minutes.  In a major disaster however, emergency services will quickly become overwhelmed and responses will be prioritized, which could mean no one will be in your neighborhood for days. Preparing to take care of yourself, your family, your neighbors, and your business becomes paramount.

Park City Municipal Corporation has a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) , which outlines how the City will respond to a disaster or emergency, does your family have an emergency plan?

The Park City Emergency Management Group has identified 14 possible Risks or Hazards which could impact Park City. Some risks have a higher probability or chance of happening than others. When you develop your family or business emergency plan, please consider what things you might need to prepare for by reviewing the Risks or Hazards list.  

Planning and Mitigation
Where will your family be when disaster strikes? They could be anywhere…at work…at school…in the car. How will you find each other? Will you know if your children are safe?

Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services -- water, gas, electricity, or telephones -- were cut off? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.

Families can prepare in advance for disasters, working together as a team. Follow the guidelines presented in the Summit County Emergency Preparedness Guide to create your family disaster plan. Knowing what to do during an emergency is your best protection and your responsibility.

Visit the following links for other preparedness tips:

• 12 Points to Preparedness -
  This is a great article by a Utah Emergency Manager, which provides a good overview of how to prepare your family.  Click on this link to start down the road to preparedness!
• Supplies/72 Hour Kit -
  72 hour or preparedness kits can be purchased from any number of local suppliers. Click on this link for lists of what should go in your kit.
• Utilities -
  Gas, Electricity, Water, Sewer, and phones are all utilities that we use in our day-to-day lives.  During a disaster you could lose one or all of these important resources.  Make sure you have the necessary backup supplies and know how to turn your utilities off if they are damaged or leaking.  Utilities should only be turned back on by a professional. Click on this link for more information.
• Neighbors -
  Our neighbors are important to us and our communities.  Make sure you take time to check they are OK and don't need help.  Particularly help those that are elderly, have disabilities or other special needs. Click on the link above for some neighborly tips.
• Home Hazard Hunt -
  Take a few moments and do a "Home Hazard Hunt."  This is particularly fun to do with your children, but adults can participate and learn as well.  Look for those things that would pose a hazard to your family in a disaster.  Click this link for how to conduct your "hunt."
• Evacuation -
  You may be asked by the authorities to evacuate your home or you may need to evacuate if your home is severely damaged.  Click on this link for what to think about before needing to evacuate.
• Shelter in Place -
  You may also be asked by the authorities to "Shelter-in-Place."  This is when you will be asked to stay home and care for yourself and your family and not leave.  Click here for Shelter-in-Place ideas.
• Special Needs -
  Some citizens have Special Needs which range from mobility issues, medical problems, oxygen use, the need for electricity, help in evacuations, etc.  It is important for emergency officials to know where folks in need of special assistance live and what type of assistance they may need.  This link will discuss those issues and also provide an additional link to the Utah Special Needs Registry.
• If A Disaster Happens -
  A disaster in our community could entail any number of hazards, earthquake, fire, explosion, utility disruptions, etc.  Look at this link for the basics of how you, your family, and/or your employees should react to an unexpected emergency in our community.

The following links provide valuable additional  information on some of the Risks and Hazards that might occur in our community: 

• Avalanches 
• Landslides/Debris Flows
• Earthquake
• Flooding
• Hazardous Materials
• Winter Storms
• Terrorism 
• Fire
• Drought
• Lightning
• Wild Fires

Training Opportunities:

A little training can go a long way in protecting and saving the lives of your family, friends and even strangers in your community.  Learning to Swim, First Aid, CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), the Use of an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator), Lifeguard are all classes that are available in our community and Salt Lake City.  Some are free and most have a small fee.  The American Red Cross and the Park City Fire District both offer a number of classes locally or a short drive to Salt Lake City.  As the Boy Scouts tell us, "Be Prepared."

Park City Emergency Management in conjunction with the Park City Chamber/Bureau offer a "Be Ready Business" program.  This is a one or two day course that reviews 12 steps in preparing your business for an emergency, disaster or business interruption.  Also called Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), this training is offered community wide or can be arranged for just your business.  Contact Park City's Emergency Program Manager for additional information and to set up a class.

Park City, Summit County and the State of Utah plan a number of exercises through out the area that will often involved various parts of our community.  There are also opportunities to volunteer to help during emergencies and disasters through the Red Cross, State of Utah, Park City Municipal, Summit County Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Emergency Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) and Summit County Search and Rescue just to name a few.

There a number of online training programs for those who are truly interested in Emergency Management.  They can be found on the FEMA Emergency Management Institute website.

Where do you turn to get information during an emergency?
Communications is a key component of the community's response to a disaster or large emergency, as well as, its recovery.  The following are places to check for updated information:

• KPCW 91.7 or 91.9 FM -
  Park City, Summit and Wasatch County local radio station. You can also listen live on the web at kpcw.org
• Salt Lake City Television and Radio stations -
  A number of Salt Lake City stations are part of the National Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) and are available in the Park City area on cable, antenna, FM or AM stations.  KSL TV Channel 5 and KSL Radio 1160AM are two Salt Lake City EBS stations. 
• 1700 AM HAR Radio -
  The local 1700 AM radio station is Park City's Highway Alert Radio (HAR) station.  This station is designed to be on the air 24/7 and used primarily for broadcasting highway, streets, and special event information.  It reaches most of the greater Park City area.  In an emergency the City will broadcast information on this channel.  When idle, the station transmits the National Weather Service forecasts for the Park City area.
• Park City Municipal Hotline -
  The Park City Emergency Hotline is 435-615-5999.  When there is a significant emergency in the community, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will either staff this line with operators or place a recorded message for community members.
• Emergency Mass Notification System - Park City Alert Registration -
  Park City has an emergency mass notification system (EMNS) that allows us to send important and emergency messages via different contact paths out to the community.  If you have a hardwired landline, a Voice Over IP phone (VOIP), and that number(s) is already in the system.  HOWEVER, the system is also capable of calling your cell phone, texting, emailing, and notifying you by an app (Everbridge) in the order you choose for multiple addresses in the City - but the key requirement is to register!  Navigate to www.parkcityalerts.org or www.summitcountyalerts.org to register all your communication devices - if you register on one site, you are registered on the other.
• www.BeReadyParkCity.org - Is Park City's preparedness, emergency and communications website.  We will post important and emergency information to this site when an incident is happening in the community.  It also has links to many resources for preparedness.

• Does someone in your family, a neighbor or friend have a Special Need?

The Utah Special Needs Registry is available at no cost to the following individuals and provides a method for local cities and counties to know where citizens live that may need additional help during an emergency or disaster.  Please take advantage of this confidential service if one of the following applies:
        Visually impaired
        Hearing impaired
        Mobility impaired
        People with special dietary needs
        People with medical conditions
        People with a mental disability

Do you still have questions on Preparedness and Emergency Management in Park City?

Mike McComb, Emergency Program Manager
mike.mccomb@parkcity.org 

2060 Park Ave.
PO Box 1480
Park City, UT 84060-1693
Phone: 435-615-5185

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Word Viewer Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer