Immediate danger? Call 911.
The EPC mission in the supplied handbook and SOP emphasizes preparedness and resident self-sufficiency, with available resources coordinated as needs and circumstances permit. Household plans should work even when volunteers are away, roads are closed or equipment fails. Do not plan on guaranteed food, water, power, medical care or transport from the committee.
Call public emergency services directly for urgent help. A Neighborhood Coordinator may provide a supplementary communications link and help relay local information when available. Official responders direct public-safety operations. San Diego Police's evacuation procedure assigns evacuation decisions to the public agency Incident Commander or Unified Incident Command; a similarly named community volunteer role should not be confused with that authority. [C9]
Privately record your current coordinator and backup, their agreed contact methods and a safe check-in arrangement. Verify the information directly through the current committee process. Do not print private household medical needs, access codes or residents' absence schedules in a broadly distributed handbook.
Suggested committee practice for approval: keep a dated contact roster with a designated custodian, a defined access list and a review date. Collect only information needed for the agreed purpose and explain who may receive it. Record whether the resident has agreed to a particular assistance plan. Do not promise absolute confidentiality while planning to relay information to responders.
The sources disagree about whether there are 34 or 36 neighborhoods, how regional leaders relate to EPC directors, whether backup coordinators may cover other neighborhoods, and how activation occurs. The 2020 manual describes two-way opt-in texting and a command trailer; those functions are reduced or missing in 2024. The 2021 SOP is not proof of current readiness.
Committee confirmation is required for the current organization chart, roster, activation authority and succession, communication platforms, radio equipment and licensing, backup-power endurance, trailer location and access, supply inventory, staffing and accessible assistance arrangements. Until confirmed, these remain approval items rather than resident promises.
Suggested readiness demonstration: run a planned check-in with one key person unavailable and one communications method intentionally omitted. Record who actually acknowledged, what failed and what needs a correction. Do not simulate an emergency to public dispatch or imply that a routine drill message is a real alert.