There's a lot to be said about the response to
hurricanes Katrina and Irene. Without getting into all
the politics, I will say that the federal response was
not as bad in Katrina as it was made out to be. There
was a lot to be learned - by the public and by some
leaders. Here are some that stood out in my mind:
- In 14 years of teaching disaster
preparedness, I always harped on two key points:
"Don't let your response become the story," and
"have a plan, work the plan." Both were violated by
some of those responding to Katrina.
- FEMA is not, and
was not designed to be, an immediate disaster
response agency. It
is a back-up to local and state resources, not a
replacement for them.
- Leadership demands a lot - one of
the most important is remaining calm when everyone
else is in a panic.
- Sometimes, you just gotta be
blunt. A spokesperson in Texas told the public that
if they elected to stay in their homes rather than
evacuate, they would be on their own and officials
would make no effort to come and save them until it
was safe.
- Your goal should be to get people
out of harm's way - not to help them stay in harm's
way. Example - if someone is burned in a house fire,
they are removed from the home and taken to the
hospital while firefighters are still fighting the
flames. You do not bring the doctors and nurses into
the house while it is still burning!
- If you can't get out - what makes
you think anyone else can get in?
- When you're thirsty - don't
complain when someone risks their life to get water
to you.
- In the immediate aftermath of a
disaster, you're on your own, buddy! You better be
prepared to take care of yourself.
- As I've said before, if you don't
give the media something to talk about, they will
grasp at anything. Despite all the horrendous talk
of undeterred murders and rampant rapes at the
Astrodome - it appears that none of the stories were
true. Unfortunately, some of the blame lies with
official spokespersons who relayed rumors to the
public rather than waiting to get the facts.
Some areas of our Gulf Coast were
better prepared to deal with the hurricanes. Others
were ill prepared - some would even say criminally
ill prepared. That remains to be seen. If you are a
leader of a community or a business, this is a good
time to look at your organization's level of
preparedness. The Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations has some good
guidelines, issued in 2003 and re-issued after
the hurricanes. While these are for communities,
they are easily adapted to a business.
-
Define the community
-
Identify and establish an emergency
management preparedness and response
team
-
Determine the risks and hazards the
community faces
-
Set goals for preparedness and
response planning
-
Determine current capacities and
capabilities
-
Develop the integrated plan
-
Ensure thorough communication planning
-
Ensure thorough mental health planning
-
Ensure planning related to vulnerable
populations
-
Identify, cultivate, and sustain
funding sources
-
Train, exercise, and drill
collaboratively
-
Critique and improve the integrated
community plan
-
Sustain collaboration, communication,
and coordination
If that all
sounds like a difficult task, imagine how hard it
will be to stand before the media and the people
who depended on you, trying to explain why your
lack of preparedness, or your poor response,
resulted in hundreds of people dying.
For those in the
Gulf Coast - God Bless You and Keep You.
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