A reporter’s checklist for emergency preparedness

ASK THIS | November 313, 2005

Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that responses to disaster may not be adequate even where the dangers are well known. Reporters should find out how prepared for disaster their cities are.

By Sam Kean

kean@niemanwatchdog.org

 

Questions for local officials:

Q: Is the city tied into FEMA’s National Incident Management System (NIMS)? How closely?

 

Q: Does the city have its own Office of Emergency Management Plan? Who is the city’s incident commander? Is this in line with NIMS standards?

 

Q: How far do first responders live from the people likely to be most affected by a disaster? If the bridges stand, will approaches to them remain open? How? Has the city pre-contracted for food/housing/water/heavy diesel equipment?

 

Q: Are the city’s emergency vehicles up-to-date and well-maintained? Have contracts lapsed? Is the city relying too heavily on surrounding areas or using the state as a crutch?

 

Q: Have the police been adequately trained in trauma intervention and orderly evacuation procedures? Have these procedures been coordinated with hospitals and other medical relief? What is the pre-plan for transportation of the injured?

 

Earthquakes, mudslides, tornadoes and hurricanes strike the U.S. every year, and some cities face an acute threat. The United States Geological Survey has reported, for example, that the likelihood of a large earthquake striking San Francisco before the year 2032 is 67 percent. Are disaster relief plans there and in other places adequate?

 

A main source for disaster preparedness is Dennis Smith, the author of “San Francisco is Burning,” a book that examined the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Smith also runs First Responders Financial, which he describes as “a company that will provide financial and insurance services exclusively for first responders.” (Click here for Smith's Web site.)

 

Smith says experience in America has shown that unless there is a reliable incident command response there will be confusion at the top. He recommends having one person in charge, with the same person being in the public eye making statements. Confusion of roles could result in hundreds of needless deaths, possibly more.

 

Often cities and states see disaster-relief offices as political patronage positions or rely on inadequate emergency plans from higher levels of government that might not take unique aspects of their situation into account.

 

A related problem is that people with no experience in relief situations may be put in charge, people who have never sent someone into perilous situations. Currently, the mayor of San Francisco is the city's incident commander. Smith questions whether that's in line with NIMS standards.

 

Ensuring that services such as food, water, emergency housing and heavy machinery are provided for before disaster strikes is vital, as is a pre-plan for transportation of the injured and suddenly homeless. These things cannot be done afterward. Just as with car or life insurance, the more you pay ahead of time, the better you will be insured. Cities should also ensure that first responders to disasters live close enough to the areas that might be hardest hit.

 

In New Orleans, the state system and the federal government clashed during a crisis in which political considerations needed to be pushed to the side. If life is not the primary goal in every decision, people will die. There were intelligent people in charge of San Francisco during the disastrous 1906 earthquake, but they made very poor decisions.

 

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