SPUR believes that San Francisco can be a resilient city whose residents accept a significant earthquake as inevitable and are prepared to respond and sustain themselves and their communities until help arrives. Preparation for such a comprehensive emergency response must engage each individual, each community and the myriad of organizations that make up these communities. The San Francisco Department of Public Health has obtained a federal grant funding a proposal to create Community Disaster Response Hubs — field-based disaster coordination centers throughout San Francisco. The hubs can provide the infrastructure for community response to major emergencies. By identifying local resources, developing a plan to integrate and coordinate those resources with each other and with the city, and practicing communication through their hubs, communities can develop an effective response.
In this report, SPUR encourages the adoption of the proposed Community Disaster Response Hub plan and offers a set of recommendations to strengthen the plan and sustain the program.