The aftermath of Katrina raised issues about the coordinating roles of government agencies, community health clinics and disaster response organizations in the event of a large-scale disaster. The lessons learned from community clinics in the Gulf Coast can be applied to disaster preparedness programs for such clinics in California.

Operation USA is not new to disaster preparedness in Los Angeles. Immediately following the Northridge earthquake in 1994, Operation USA established the Clinics Emergency Preparedness Training (CEPT) program which helped Los Angeles area community clinics prepare to withstand disasters with minimal disruption of the vital services they provide to the community. This training provided an array of services to 35 local clinics: on-site staff training; disaster drills; critical non-structural hazard mitigation and more. Unfortunately, this training was not nearly enough – disaster “prep” requires annual training as turnover of staff in clinics is high.

In 2005, Operation USA was awarded a grant by The California Endowment to partner with the California Primary Care Association to facilitate the sytemic inclusion of community clinics in local disaster planning efforts. One avenue is to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will underscore the key role of local clinics as part of an overall response to disasters. These agreements will address the issues before the next disaster and guarantee that community clinics will have a designated role within their community as first responders and meet the funding requirements for reimbursement for such assistance.

Operation USA will also work with local fire departments and the U.S. Coast Guard to secure warehouse space for community clinics before a disaster. These warehouses will serve as receiving centers for material supply depots if necessary.

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Los Angeles City’s Mayor’s office requested that Operation USA screen all offers of donations of medical supplies so that scarce supply space was not inundated with useless items.