“But when you have an operation like this, you have to be coordinated, you have to know where you’re going. And one of the big issues at the beginning was just communication. Think of it—the State Department couldn’t even talk to the officials in the Haitian government initially.”

Can We Communicate Better Today?

What if a Haiti-like event—or any disruption that knocks out communications and power—happened in your community today? Could your government officials call anyone outside the area to coordinate critical resources?  Could your county emergency managers reach the governor to identify needs and request support? Could the governor and his or her staff email or call FEMA? Would anyone be able to tweet or update the community on Facebook or other social networks? Would they be in the same boat as Haitian officials were a year ago today?

If Haiti’s leaders had portable satellite communications kits with solar power, Washington could have known what they needed within minutes—instead of hours, even days—of the 7.0 quake.

To honor the memory of those lost a year ago and to respect the lives of people everywhere, let’s resolve to be resilient. Let’ accept the fact that communications networks can and do fail—more often than we like to admit. Without adequate communications for sharing situational awareness, people unnecessarily suffer—even die. Let’s commit to having a Plan B so lack of communications is never a question for rapid response when lives are at stake.

On a recent consulting assignment, I learned that volcanic ash in the atmosphere can cause real problems for airplane engines, and the airlines must balance safety and efficiency in response to these events. The goal from a safety perspective is to avoid aircraft encounters with volcanic ash. From the perspective of efficiency, the  goal is to minimize re-routing of aircraft.

Because of this, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coordinates the activities and operations of nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) in strategic areas around the world. These centers produce advisory information about volcanic ash and its presence in the atmosphere used by airlines in flight planning and air traffic control to warn in-flight aircraft.

Because normal aviation radar is ineffective in locating volcanic ash clouds, the VAACs detect eruptions and forecast how the ash is going to disperse in the atmosphere. Standard advisories include eruption location, the specific volcano producing the event, wind speed and direction and, most importantly, flight levels affected by the ash so that aircraft en route or scheduled to depart can be advised to fly well above or around the affected area.

These Airways Volcano Watch facilities operate much in the same way that airport fire services are maintained – in constant readiness but with the hope that they will rarely have to be used.

Checkout the 2008 eruption of gas from Kilauea in Kauai, Hawaii:

How many more people will die in the future because of our complacency – in this country and elsewhere?

How many times do we have to witness such disasters only to find that once again lack of communications is the greatest hindrance to rapid and accurate assessment of the impact? How many people could have been saved if communications were available to quickly obtain accurate situational awareness and better coordinate the resources for search and rescue?

We’ve heard over and over again from the media, “The lack of communications in Haiti is preventing … ”

Many have spent years working diligently to ensure that communities and organizations can communicate when disaster strikes. However, conflicting priorities and budget constraints have postponed spending in this area – yielding late-night pleas for communications gear in the immediate aftermath of each new disaster.

Another painful reminder that such communications cannot be an afterthought if we want to minimize loss of life among the victims!

Despite the many admonitions and recommendations we’ve received, only a small percentage of people, organizations, and communities are truly prepared to deal effectively with the next crisis or emergency whether man-made or natural. Perhaps a change in perspective would increase our local, regional, and national preparedness postures.

During this holiday season and as we enter the new year of 2010, let us consider becoming more prepared as individuals, families, organizations, and communities as a gift that we can offer to others. By being more prepared ourselves, we can be available to help each other when the next challenging event occurs – as it surely will.

Happy Holidays to all!