done so successfully for 12 years. 75 percent of the calls that we receive are from cell phones so it is important that you train your kids and family members to know how to dial from a cell phone and if they speak a language other than english to call for help saying what dialect they can speak, we can translate into three languages if someone that you knows or loves dials 911 and english is not their first language, give us the dialect and be able to connect them with someone that can speak their language as quickly as possible. >> it is my pleasure to present the first 911 hero. tala hall. if you come up and we have supervisor john avalos here. if you want to read this and i will play an audio clip. >> great, it is really wonderful to be invited here to honor this young person, tala

hall. and on october 25th, at 8:25 p.m., ten-year-old tala hall, called 911 requesting a medical response for her mother, who was having a severe headache, semiconscious and shallow breathing. her call for help was answered by a public safety dispatcher edgar velasco. but out the contact, he provided assistance and compassion to her and her two young siblings. he gave assurances that help was on the way and reminded her that she was doing a great job helping her mother. together, they worked to help insure a successful out come to this medical emergency. let's take a moment to listen to a brief segment of tala's 911 call. >> i would like to invite edgar to come up on stage, too. >> sorry about that. >> come on up.

>> police department. >> this the highway patrol i have a transfer, i have paula, she is ten years old and she needs an ambulance for her mom. >> apartment eight. >> sorry. >> tala? yes. >> i'm detective i am going to stay on the line with you until the ambulance gets there. >> okay, but is it okay if we go with her. >> yes, you can, absolutely, you don't have to stay home. what is the phone number that you are calling us? we are on the way and driving to you right now, don't worry. what is the problem with your mom tell me exactly what is happening. >> she as a really bad headache and she is really tired and she was fasting today.

>> okay >> she can't eat or drink anything. >> okay. >> fasting? is she still awake? [ applause ] >> so at this time we would like to invite supervisor avalos to present the certificates from his office and the board of supervisors and thank you for bringing those to tala and edgar. >> thank you i am really choked up. just thinking about the pose and the courage that tala held on that call, and just the great help she got from 911 staff. thank you so much for just being a great example for city staff, and for young people in the city. i have a certificate of honor, i want to provide to each of you, from our office and signed by the members of the board of supervisors. and i will do tala first. so, in recognition of your

quick response to your family member's need and your ability to keep calm, and to help make you a 911 hero. thank you very much for your wonderful courage. [ applause ] and for edgar in recognition of your expert assistance and compassion for those in need of help, thank you for providing calm assurances to encourage others, you are a true 911 hero. thank you. [ applause ] >> now we would like to present the 911 for heroes awards to both tala and edgar.

>> supervisor avalos thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to come and join us, we know that you are tied up in budget meetings, thank you very much. [ applause ] >> all right, so, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to please have you join me in welcoming kante brown and public safety dispatcher kim tuae and on behalf of the

mayor's office, paul henderson, deputy chief of staff for mayor lee presenting the awards on behalf of martha coen who is the supervisor for district ten. >> thank you guys all so much for coming out. it always makes me so happy when i see the people from the community here in the city haul sharing in this public building and it makes me proud when i look out and i hear the stories today and meet the people. i don't know if any of you guys caught it this morning, but they were talking about the hero awards today on npr. and they were talking about the achievements that are happening right here in san francisco and to be able to look out and see the faces of the people that are the heroes that work and live among us, and it really makes me proud and it really is what public service is about. and it is only exacerbated by the fact that we have city employees that have done such an outstanding job and it makes me proud and i am happy to see all of you and thank you for

being here and welcome. >> i am here and pleased to present the certificates of honor on behalf of supervisor coen who is the supervisor in district ten which is the bay view and let me tell you a little bit about what we are celebrating so on september 30th, 6:49 p.m., eleven-year-old brown called 911 and requested an ambulance for his mother who was unconscious after being hit in the head by a falling object. >> the 911 call was answered by kim tua. i said it right. and during their call, kim provided medical instruction, assistance and most importantly, comfort and reassurance to kiate, together, they worked to help insure a successful out come to the medical emergency. and so now, we are going to listen to a little clip of that incident as well so that you can hear just how things

happened on that day. >> 911. >> hello, can you... the ceiling just fell on my mom and i am really scared. >> where are you? >> what is your address? >> what happened? >> so the ceiling like the bathroom i don't know what happened, but like the ceiling collapsed on her. >> are you with your mom right now? >> yeah. >> can i talk to her, is she able to talk to you at all? >> i don't know. i am just really scared. >> okay. i need to ask you some questions, i am going to stay on the phone with you. [ applause ]

>> i just want to remind you guys that kiante is 12 years old and to have the wherewithal to stay calm and to snow exactly what to do was his real smart decision to get help that really made him a hero. i mean that is such a big deal at 12 years old, i know that i was having a good day if i did not hit my, sister that day. i wanted to congratulate you in front of an audience and i have commendations that i would like to present to you first kiante and this is recognizing you as a hero for your extraordinary act of heroism on this tenth day of april, the year of 2013, and i know that you may have had to miss a little school to be here but we are excited that you are here and we welcome you as one of san francisco's heroes. thank you so much. [ applause ] >> now hold this up so people

can see that picture. there you go. >> i also want to recognize, kim, for a very similar act of taking the phone call, and working with this young person, to help make sure that we had a positive out come and kiante your mother is here in the audience and here we go, we have a one extra audience member because of kiante. and so kim, as the san francisco city 911 dispatch hero, this also is in recognition for your response, while assisting a child in an emergency situation. that takes a lot of work to make sure that you understand and you get the information, and this was the best turn out that we could have expected. and it makes all of us proud that you are standing here and representing the very finest of san francisco employees, thank you very much. >> we also have medals for both of them as well.

let's give them all a big round of applause. [ applause ] >> i am back up, all right. so now, i have another certification and another challenging opportunity for us. am i pronouncing it correctly? >> because you know that i will mess up the pronouncation in a minute. matricia, >> is that right? >> yes.

come on up here, let's have everybody get a look at you. [ applause ] >> okay, let me tell you about what patricia did for us for the city. >> on march fourth, at 6:25 p.m., public safety dispatcher patricia marcuchi. received, i am just waiting for her to look at me mean and say that they said it wrong. >> received a call from a 9-year-old boy named jason, now he called 911 that day and he reported his grandfather who was having an asthma attack. during this call, she provided jason can medical instructions and assistance and most importantly comfort and reassurance. there is an added level of difficulty for her in that jason was translating for adults who only spoke chinese.

even under these difficulty situations they worked to help to insure a successful out come. unfortunately he and his family were unable to join us today. but that is not going stop us from celebrating the fine work of this city employee and the job that she did to save the lives here in our city. so we will take a brief moment to hear this conversation, but what i want you to keep in mind is that this 10-year-old child is translating for adults who are in need of assistance that don't speak english at all. >> police, fire or medical? >> medical >> what is the exact location of the emergency? >> kasada avenue, wait... >> the exact address. >> kasada, 1280, my grandfather is uncomfortable he is like

having asthma or something. >> so he is having breathing problems? >> yes. breathing problems. >> all right, thank you, and stay on the phone with me. don't hang up. i am going to go ahead and get a medic, but i need to know what is your name? >> jason. >> jason, thank you for calling are you with your grandfather? >> yes, and my mother. >> and your mother is there is too. >> how old is your grandfather? >> 70 something. does your mom speak english? >> only a little. >> okay. so a little bit. so he is in his 70s you are with him now, and is he awake? >> yes. he is awake. >> and he is breathing, correct? >> yes. >> jason, is he completely alert? >> he completely alert? >> is he responding to you or you asking you questions and he is answering you like he normally does. >> let me check. >> okay.

>> go ahead. >> he can respond. >> he can or cannot. >> is that how he normally talks to you. >> yes. >> is he having a hard time speaking? >> let's celebrate that. [ applause ] >> so, now i know that anybody of you that have worked with children in the past now how difficult it can be to speak to someone that you may not have met before on the phone, with a 10-year-old to try to keep them calm and actually get crucial and important information across to them and from them all at the same time. and that is really what we are talking about here today and that is what you heard on the call which is why i think that this is such a big and important deal. so i actually have two certificates to present. one from the local 911 heroes award for patricia and i want you to hold on to that. [ applause ] >> because i am just warming up because we have got more.

>> and i also have the certificate of honor from the board of supervisors authorizing the execution of this certificate of honor and appreciatation and public recognition of distinction and merit for outstanding service for a significant portion of the people and county of san francisco. so congratulations, once again, we thank you so much for your work. you make all of us proud. >> we are still not done. and we still have a medal to present to patricia as well. [ applause ]

>> i am back. all right, we have another honoree. so, once again, i would like to call up, dan, where is dan? i already talked to dan. dan? all right. so this is dan wynn, let me tell you about what dan did. so on september eleventh, at 4:57. public safety safety dispatcher received a call from a 14-year-old girl named tiane saying that she needed medical help for her mother and verified the address and her phone number and provided her with medical instructions. and stayed on the line with tanani and kept reassuring her that help was on the way.

and compassionate tone helped tani remain calm and assisted her in providing assistance to her mother. unfortunately she and her family were unable to join us today but we do have this fine public servant representing the good work of the city that we are going to celebrate and we are going to take a moment again to hear the tape played so we hear a little bit of his work and what we are celebrating. >> do you have an emergency? >> tanin >> is the bleeding stopped or still going? >> i am not sure. feeling really tired and a lot of pain. >> and so, how hold is the patient? >> how old is the patient?

>> he is 32. >> okay. >> is he awake? >> i think that he is... >> okay. is the breathing completely normal? >> yes. >> is she completely alert? >> i'm not sure. >> did you say yes and is she changing color? >> no. and is there a history of heart problems? >> no. and does she have abdominal pain? >> yes. >> thank you, dan. >> you know, one of the things that you should keep in mind is that you heard them say that they received over a million calls, a year.

a lot of timeds, especially when you talk about children, the only thing that they know is to make that phone call and so that entire situation has to be dealt with by the dispatchers who have to assess the situation and provide information, usually through that child as you have seen today to provide the assistance because they are the only ones that are around until the help can get there, that is such a big deal that is part of the reason why we play you these calls so you understand on the opposite side of that call is often times when people call this making a determination as to who is best to come and help with the situation. it is such a big deal and we don't take these lightly and it is so impressive the work that you do on a daily basis and more impressive and so i want to present this commendation as a dispatcher award for our local hero to dan wynn. [ applause ]

>> and as well, and another certificate of honor for his fine work and for doing such a good job of representing his department, and it really is the work that we all strive to achieve as public employees, so thank you again, and this certificate is from the board of supervisors and one more medal to give. >> i like to call the rest of the dispatchers up to get a picture and i would really like to thank paul henderson for doing a fabulous job today and thank you so much paul and you

are wonderful and i also want to thank for the kids and supervisor avalos and coen to make the ceremony so effective. thank you so much. >> [ applause ]

>> hi. welcome to san francisco. stay safe and exploring how you can stay in your home safely after an earthquake. let's look at common earthquake myths. >> we are here at the urban center on mission street in san francisco. we have 3 guest today. we have david constructional engineer and bill harvey. i want to talk about urban myths. what do you think about earthquakes, can you tell if they are coming in advance? >> he's sleeping during those earthquakes? >> have you noticed him take any special? >> no. he sleeps right through them. there is no truth that i'm aware of with harvey that

dogs are aware of an impending earthquake. >> you hear the myth all the time. suppose the dog helps you get up, is it going to help you do something >> i hear they are aware of small vibrations. but yes, i read extensively that dogs cannot realize earthquakes. >> today is a spectacular day in san francisco and sometimes people would say this is earthquake weather. is this earthquake weather? >> no. not that i have heard of. no such thing. >> there is no such thing. >> we are talking about the weather in a daily or weekly cycle. there is no relationship. i have heard it's hot or cold weather or rain. i'm not sure which is the myth.

>> how about time of day? >> yes. it happens when it's least convenient. when it happens people say we were lucky and when they don't. it's terrible timing. it's never a good time for an earthquake. >> but we are going to have one. >> how about the ground swallowing people into the ground? >> like the earth that collapsed? it's not like the tv shows. >> the earth does move and it bumps up and you get a ground fracture but it's not something that opens up and sucks you up

into haddes. >> it's not going anywhere. we are going to have a lot of damage, but this myth that california is going to the ocean is not real. >> southern california is moving north. it's coming up from the south to the north. >> you would have to invest the million year cycle, not weeks or years. maybe millions of years from now, part of los angeles will be in the bay area. >> for better or worse. >> yes. >> this is a tough question. >> those other ones weren't tough. >> this is a really easy challenge. are the smaller ones less stress? >> yes. the amount released in

small earthquakes is that they are so small in you need many of those. >> i think would you probably have to have maybe hundreds of magnitude earthquakes of 4.7. >> so small earthquakes are not making our lives better in the future? >> not anyway that you can count on. >> i have heard that buildings in san francisco are on rollers and isolated? >> it's not true. it's a conventional foundation like almost all the circumstances buildings in san francisco. >> the trans-america was built way before. it's a pretty conventional foundation design. >> i have heard about this

thing called the triangle of life and up you are supposed to go to the edge of your bed to save yourself. is there anything of value to that ? >> yes, if you are in your room. you should drop, cover and hold onto something. if you are in school, same thing, kitchen same thing. if you happen to be in your bed, and you rollover your bed, it's not a bad place to be. >> the reality is when we have a major earthquake the ground shaking so pronounced that you are not going to be able to get up and go anywhere. you are pretty much staying where you are when that earthquake hits. you are not going to be able to stand up and run with gravity. >> you want to get under the door frame but you are not moving to great distances.

>> where can i buy a richter scale? >> mr. richter is selling it. we are going to put a plug in for cold hardware. they are not available. it's a rather complex. >> in fact we don't even use the richter scale anymore. we use a moment magnitude. the richter scale was early technology. >> probably a myth that i hear most often is my building is just fine in the loma prieta earthquake so everything is fine. is that true ? >> loma prieta was different. the ground acceleration here was quite moderate and the duration was moderate. so anyone that believes they survived a big earthquake and

their building has been tested is sadly mistaken. >> we are planning for the bigger earthquake closer to san francisco and a fault totally independent. >> much stronger than the loma prieta earthquake. >> so people who were here in '89 they should say 3 times as strong and twice as long and that will give them more of an occasion of the earthquake we would have. 10 percent isn't really the threshold of damage. when you triple it you cross that line. it's much more damage in earthquake. >> i want to thank you, harvey, thanks pat for