Let's get our emergency plans in order

When confronted with a disaster on the scale of the recent New Orleans flood how would Canadian emergency services hold up? It is certain that when something like this occurs you need a strong leader to take control and you need a strong personality to reassure the public. They need not necessarily be the same person but the two ingredients had better be there when things start happening.

I find it rather difficult to lay blame on any level of government or institution regarding incidents of the magnitude of this one. To have the complete destruction of a city of half a million people is beyond the realm of comprehension. Given this scenario I was taken aback by the horror of the deaths of 34 seniors in the St. Rita’s nursing home in Chalmette, LA. Although homicide charges were laid it’s certainly a wake-up call to all senior care facilities to get their emergency plans in order and ensure they actually work.

Over the years many jurisdictions have had plans in place to ensure appropriate response to disasters. Many have plans but no opportunities to practice them due to budget restraints of some form or another. I was fortunate enough many years ago to be asked to sit in on an emergency management response exercise. It taught me a great deal about the differences between how we think and how politicians think about emergency response.

The scenario exercise was a nuclear power plant explosion just outside the city. The incident was set to occur at 6:15 a.m. which magically coincided with the beginning of the day shift for just about every municipal service in the city. It was obvious at the outset there was going to be no test of the emergency call-back list or how fast human resources could be marshaled in sufficient numbers to respond. Of course I also understood that this was a “paper exercise” and not the real thing.

I was asked to look over the road maps and give any suggestions I might have. As I looked at each map my eyes were drawn to two small blue stars at the intersection of two six lane highways. I asked what these were and was advised they were two police cars and four officers. Their duties were to block off the roads from east bound and north bound traffic and re-direct them back the way they came. The next function for the police was to block off other roadways in order to eventually convert all six lanes on both highways to one-way roads west bound and southbound away from the disaster zone.

When asked who drew up these plans I was advised it was done with the municipal department heads as directed by the mayor’s office. The plans were probably good in theory and the book it was bound in was an impressive three inches thick. It made for a formidable piece of literature with a great deal of effort put into its development. It was sure to impress anyone looking at it on a shelf. Implementation, however, failed to consider many realities of life and human nature.

When asked my opinion I responded in my usual apolitical but cynical fashion. I advised them that the two “blue stars” would never have people there to fulfill their mandate. In fact the two “blue stars” would, in all probability, be leading the parade out of town with the advantage of lights and sirens to clear the way for themselves. Human nature as it is would not likely allow finding two dedicated officers to willingly expose themselves to the effects of radiation in any higher levels than any other citizen. In a true break down in choice between keeping the peace and keeping alive I would place my bets on staying alive. If the basis of their plan was those two “blue stars” they might as well remove them now and figure out what they would do next. Perhaps the Sanitation Department might have some dedicated individuals willing to stick around.

As clever as I thought I was being I did not have a solution or even a suggestion for them. Instead I was struck by the enormity of the task of planning for such an event. When one considers the politicians’ and top brass’ need for command and control and mix that with the need to have front-line innovators on the ground and in the right place at the right time, it appears almost impossible to do anything in a predictable fashion. I also know that there are some experts out there who can figure all this out and my hat goes off to them for even trying.

This is why I was heartened by a recent announcement by Deputy Minister Anne McLellan that the government was going to ensure funds were released for emergency services to perform simulations in real time. There are many lessons to be learned that can only be taught through the lives and blood lost by others. Disasters such as the New Orleans flood will no doubt provide a great deal of learning opportunities for many thousands of emergency services personnel in the future. It would be nice if senior care facilities would be included in some of these real-time disaster simulations.