Office of the Emergency Manager

Thank you for visiting the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) Emergency Management site!

It is important that our Community members know that the SRPMIC Government is working very hard to ensure that our Community is prepared for any type of disaster that may impact the safety or quality of life for our members. Staff in all areas of Government are involved in this effort to prevent, plan, respond, and recover from a disaster or major event in our Community.

One of the most critical components for an effective disaster plan is having Community Members that are educated and prepared on what to do when disaster strikes.

We hope that you will use this website to not only educate yourself on what our Community staff is doing in the area of emergency preparedness, but perhaps more importantly, what you and your family can do to prepare for a disaster before it strikes. Please feel free to contact the Emergency Management Office if you have additional questions on our Community or your family’s emergency preparedness needs.

For additional questions, you can contact Cliff Puckett, the Community's Emergency Manager, at (480) 362-7927.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

The Salt River Fire Department's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their Community and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

For more information please call Salt River Fire Admin at (480) 362-7290 for the next available training session.

Disaster Strikes ... Are you prepared?

In the year 2007 the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community took a big step in enhancing the safety of our Community. This step was to hire a full time emergency manager to improve our readiness for a disaster or major event that could have a negative impact on our Community members, our land, and our quality of life. Just hiring an emergency manager is only one critical component to having an effective Community emergency plan. One of the most critical components for an effective plan is having Community members that are educated and prepared on what to do when disaster strikes.

The following chart is a basic way to prepare yourself and your family for an emergency situation. For more information you can contact Cliff Puckett, the Community Emergency Manager, at (480) 362-7927, or go to the American Red Cross website.

Emergency Shelter in Place ... Do you know how?

Most people know that there is a chance that they may be asked to evacuate if there is an emergency such as a chemical spill in their area. When evacuating, most people would go to a shelter that would be set up by emergency workers, or some would prefer to go to a friend or relative's house until it is safe to return. What if the emergency instructions were not to evacuate, but to "shelter in place". Do you know what this means? Would you know what to do to protect yourself and your family? If the answer is "no", you are not alone. Most people are very confused as to what "shelter in place" really means.

Sheltering in place simply means that you stay in your residents, or current location such as work, and take some general precautions such as:

• Close and lock all windows and exterior doors.
• If you are told there is danger of explosion, close the window shades, blinds, or curtains.
• Turn off all fans, heating and air conditioning systems.
• Close the fireplace damper.
• Get your family disaster supplies kit and make sure the radio is working.
• Go to an interior room without windows that's above ground level.
• In the case of a chemical threat, an above-ground location is preferable because some chemicals are heavier than air, and may seep into basements even if the windows are closed.
• Bring your pets with you, and be sure to bring additional food and water supplies for them.
• It is ideal to have a hard-wired telephone in the room you select. Call your emergency contact and have the phone available if you need to report a life-threatening condition. Cellular telephone equipment may be overwhelmed or damaged during an emergency.
• Use duct tape and plastic sheeting (heavier than food wrap) to seal all cracks around the door and any vents into the room.
• Keep listening to your radio, television, telephone until you are told all is safe or you are told to evacuate. Local officials may call for evacuation in specific areas at greatest risk in your community.

So remember, evacuating is not the only choice in a disaster or hazardous situation. Sometimes the safest thing for you and your family is to shelter in place, and now you know how to do this.

Emergency Messages Delivered to Your Phone

You pick up your telephone at home and it is obviously one of those recorded messages that we all get, usually advertising something ... or is it? It could actually be a recorded emergency message that is being sent to your home to advise you and your family of a hazardous situation.

Our Community is part of the Community Emergency Notification System, known as CENS. CENS is a phone notification system that can deliver emergency information to thousands of home phones in a matter of minutes. If there was a large scale emergency in our Community, this would be one of the tools that our Public Safety personnel would use to notify our Community Members, Community Staff, and business in our Community about the event. The recorded message would advise you of the event and give you some general instructions as to what to do. For example if they wanted you to evacuate the area, they would state this and give a location of where you could go for assistance. In some situations, it is best to stay in your home. Emergency workers call this shelter in place. This CENS system could notify you to shelter in place and give brief instructions on how to do this.

This system can only be used for a true emergency and the use of it is regulated and monitored. There is also a significant cost to use the system, which also controls this system from being improperly used. Some additional facts about CENS are as follows:

• It will not leave a message on your cell phone
• If you have caller ID it will come up "Priority Alert" or "Alert Call"
• It is designed to leave a message on an answering machine
• It will call back automatically if it gets a busy signal
• This system is only available to the Maricopa County region

So, the next time you pick up the phone and are tempted to hang up because you think that it is just a recorded advertisement, think again. It could be an emergency message from emergency workers trying to deliver important information to you in an effort to keep you and your family safe.

For additional questions on this system, you can contact Cliff Puckett, the Community’s Emergency Manager, at (480) 362-7927.