Out of Disaster into Preparedness

The Time is Now to Capitalize on Risk Mitigation Opportunities

Major disas­ters provide impor­tant learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. People are motivated by the loss of life to be more recep­tive to new approaches and strate­gies for risk reduc­tion in the after­math of a crisis. In 2008, 321 natural disas­ters claimed more than 235,000 lives and cost the world an estimated $181 billion (accord­ing to The World Bank).

A long-term approach to build­ing disas­ter resilience is criti­cal, sadly however, disas­ter risk is often only fully acknowl­edged follow­ing a major event. The disas­ter recov­ery period thus provides an oppor­tu­nity to once again sound the alarm and prose­ly­tize for increas­ing disas­ter prepared­ness and risk reduc­tion funding at the federal, state and local levels.

Climate change now compounds the risks for natural disas­ters, but also provides an oppor­tu­nity to empower commu­ni­ties to manage that risk. Consider that disas­ter risk reduc­tion and climate change adapta­tion funding can actually be integrated into relief and recov­ery budgets. How about an in-depth review of the relevant funding instru­ments and practices to ensure that those insti­tu­tions most able to effect change have access to relevant funding  facil­i­tated by local and national governments?

Let’s get serious about risk reduc­tion partner­ships and collab­o­ra­tion with practices that engage local govern­ment, civil society and NGOs in collec­tive decision-making and tangi­ble strate­gies to reduce risk and strengthen early warning. Technology MUST be utilized more effec­tively if we are to achieve enhanced resiliency and risk reduc­tion with the limited funds we are currently willing to allocate.

This fleet­ing moment needs to be capital­ized upon by policy­mak­ers, practi­tion­ers and the public alike — let’s do it together.

Resilient Cities

In the wake of the Haiti earth­quake and the destruc­tion of Port-au-Prince, we can wonder again at what it takes to create resilient cities and commu­ni­ties. In this day and age — do we even know what it takes to become resilient ourselves and thereby prepare our commu­ni­ties and our cities? Amidst the wonder, though, is a question of resolve. Do we have the requi­site desire and the resources to do so? Haiti surely did not.

Thankfully there are those who are tackling these thorny questions. In October 2009 the 6^th Gaining Ground Summit series attracted 600 people to Vancouver, BC to learn, talk about, and build connec­tions around the theme of “Resilient Cities.”

Check out Mark Holland’s Resilient Cities Manifesto:

“I will open to the pain that I cause in the world through my ignorance and fear and the distance I seem to have from my inter­nal dignity and nobil­ity, and I will feel the pain, shock and injus­tice of partic­i­pat­ing in the death of so many, if only by accident — and then I will move past the grief to the restless seren­ity of my respon­si­bil­ity — to my planet, to my commu­nity, to my family, and to myself.”

Preparedness Grants can Fund Maintenance and User Fees

Did You Know that FEMA Grant Funds Extend Beyond Equipment Purchases?

Last November, Timothy Manning, FEMA’s Deputy Administrator of the National Preparedness Directorate (NPD) announced that prepared­ness grant funds can be used for fees associ­ated with equip­ment purchases.

An excerpt from the FEMA Grants Program Directorate’s bulletin released by his office:

“Effective [November 2o, 2009], the use of FEMA prepared­ness grant funds for mainte­nance contracts, warranties, repair or replace­ment costs, upgrades, and user fees are allow­able under all active and future grant awards, unless other­wise noted.”

How Does FEMA Define User Fees for Preparedness?

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Disaster Strikes When You Least Expect It

The night­mare in Haiti once again hammers home this age-old axiom.

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?

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Let the (Disaster) Games Begin

Now surely you’ve never thought to make a game of disas­ter prepared­ness!? Well … 2010 may be a good time to rethink your approach to improv­ing your business conti­nu­ity readiness.

Games are essen­tial to our human experi­ence and they form a part of every culture.

Defined as struc­tured activ­i­ties under­taken for fun, games are more and more being used as educa­tional tools. By making aspects of educa­tion and work fun through games, atten­tion and reten­tion among partic­i­pants can be greatly enhanced. The defense indus­try has under­stood this for many years — invest­ing heavily in gaming software to enhance soldier training.

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Operable or Interoperable Communications? The Chicken or the Egg?

Operable or inter­op­er­a­ble — which came first? A few defin­i­tions to get you thinkin’:

• Communications = a process of trans­fer­ring infor­ma­tion from one entity to another
• Operable = able to operate/perform your duties
• Interoperable = able to exchange and use information
• Interoperability = ability to work with each other

With all the talk of commu­ni­ca­tions inter­op­er­abil­ity and all the money we’ve spent since 9/11, you’d think this problem has been solved. Perhaps it has in some specific cases, but for the major­ity of U.S. commu­ni­ties — despite the best of inten­tions — inter­op­er­abil­ity as well as basic commu­ni­ca­tions operabil­ity is still lacking as a funda­men­tal corner­stone of our local, regional, and national preparedness.

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Comments Due on Private Sector Preparedness Standards

The Department of Homeland Security is solic­it­ing comments — by January 15 — on their proposed standards for the new Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep). Recommended by the 9/11 commis­sion, PS-Prep was devel­oped for private entities to receive certi­fi­ca­tion for emergency prepared­ness from DHS.

“Preparedness is a shared respon­si­bil­ity and everyone—including businesses, univer­si­ties and non-profit organizations—has a role to play,” said Napolitano when announc­ing the proposed standards in October. “Ensuring our private sector partners have the infor­ma­tion and train­ing they need to respond to disas­ters will strengthen our efforts to build a culture of prepared­ness nationwide.”

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Preparedness as a Gift

The holiday season, for many, is a time of gather­ing with family and friends. It’s a time when we share gifts, and as a prelude to the new year, it is also a time of reflec­tion. However, many through­out the world are not at peace, are not gather­ing with friends and family, are not sharing gifts. It is time we awaken to the fact that we are indeed in a new age — an age in which we need to stop think­ing just about ourselves and begin to care more about other people and indeed all living things.

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