The Gardena Disaster Communication Service (GDCS) has started operations. The GDCS Team consists of members from Gardena's Neighborhood Watch and C.E.R.T programs as well as Gardena Amateur Radio Operators (HAM's)
The primary goal of the GDCS is to assist the City of Gardena during a large scale disaster by facilitating the flow of information both to - and from - its citizens and emergency servi
ces providers (fire, police, ERT, etc.). History has shown that when disaster strikes, people can become injured or incapacitated, cell phones and land- lines can go down, fires can ignite, roads may become impassable, and citizen unrest could follow. Emergency personnel warn us that during a major disaster, we may be on our own for hours, if not days as their resources are limited. GDCS will provide our emergency personnel with timely and accurate information on how each district of the city is doing. This information will allow them to prioritize and focus the use of their limited resources. The secondary goal of the GDCS will be to help coordinate citizen-based (CERT) emergency response efforts to maximize their effectiveness
