In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

FEMA Administrator met with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler and Office of Emergency Management head Joseph Bruno to discuss New York’s emergency preparedness efforts and to bolster the relationship between the City and the federal agency.

I spoke with Fugate after the meeting on the steps of New York’s City Hall and recorded two YouTube videos with him. In the first, he urges New Yorkers to prepare for emergencies saying, “if you haven’t gotten ready, you need to get ready” (including learning CPR and First Aid). Fugate points out that while the Big Apple may have the most resources of any city to respond to a disaster, if those New Yorkers who can prepare do so it frees responders to help the most vulnerable members of the public.

In front of City Hall, Craig Fugate urges New Yorkers to prepare for disasters.

In the second video, Fugate discusses his meeting with City officials. He notes that New York typifies the all-hazards approach to disaster management and emphasizes that FEMA’s role is to complement and assist local and state efforts.

Recently on the blog I have been focusing attention on citizen preparedness for the potential of a more serious outbreak of H1N1 flu in the Fall. And so I wanted to highlight an interesting article from the news service of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). The piece, “Experts stress need for personal, community preparedness”, by Ayisha Yahya notes that public health officials are repositioning their messaging for the Fall and are urging citizens to make more robust plans:

If you don’t have an emergency preparedness plan for yourself, your family, and even your community, now is a good time to make one. That’s the message public health officials are sending as cases of the novel H1N1 influenza virus continue to rise nationally and globally.

“If you don’t have a plan, you need one now,” said Roger Pollok, special projects manager for Emergency Preparedness at the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District in Texas. “The stakes are a little different now.”

The CIDRAP article notes further that in the initial H1N1 outbreak public health officials focused primarily on disease prevention:

“The message was, ‘People, y’all need to take precautions,’” Pollok said.

These precautions include covering coughs with tissue, cleaning hands frequently and thoroughly with soap or alcohol-based sanitizers, sanitizing surfaces such as shopping cart handles, and staying away from others when ill. Pollok said these are healthy habits people always need to maintain.

But now many health departments are now also working on reinforcing messages on personal and community preparedness. Being informed is the first step, health officials say.

Pandemicflu.gov and various health departments offer checklists on what individuals and families can do to get ready for a pandemic. They include:

· Learn about pandemic H1N1 influenza, its symptoms, how it spreads, and how to prevent infections.

· Stock up on water and non-perishable food. Although the recommendations vary from days’ to months’ worth, most experts agree it’s important to have extra key supplies on hand.

· Ensure you have a supply of your prescription medicines.

· Keep other emergency and health supplies handy such as flashlights, manual can openers, face masks, and painkillers.

· Make a list of people who are willing to help and can be contacted in case of emergencies.

· Make plans for potential disruptions at work, curtailed social gatherings, and school closures (for example, is it possible to work from home if you are unable to go into work?).

Other useful skills for pandemic preparedness include learning how to care for the sick at home, rehydration therapy, and isolation measures, said, Joy Alexiou, public information officer for the Santa Clara Department of Public Health in California.

“Get things in order. Have the supplies in hand so you are not surprised when you go to the store and it’s not there,” said Alexiou, noting that in the first days of the HINI outbreak, some stores ran out of hand sanitizer.

Because infections can spread quickly among children and in school settings, constantly reminding kids about necessary health precautions is also important. Hundreds of schools around the world have closed to help contain the spread of infection. Pollok said his department is planning a back-to-school campaign with information about the flu.

Public health officials also encourage a broad approach when it comes to emergency planning-individuals should not only be ready for a pandemic, but other disasters that may affect their area, such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes. “When you develop a plan, make sure it’s all-hazards,” Pollok said.

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In last week’s “Homeland Security Inside & Out” radio show, Amanda Ripley, author of The Unthinkable, had some interesting criticisms of how authorities currently warn people on impending hurricanes:

*In response to questions from interviewer Dave McIntyre, Ripley said a fundamental problem is that the way we inform citizens of hurricane threats is “flawed. It’s not a good warning system” noting that the Saffir-Simpson scale (categories 1-5) doesn’t address storm surge, only wind. That’s in large part because storm surge can be variable throughout the same area. “If this is a warning system designed for the public. it should be designed for the public. It should include storm surge…Emergency warnings are written for emergency officials. They’re written for scientists.” Ripley added: “They’re looking for perfection” because of storm surge variability, but “the public doesn’t need perfection.” (She noted that the World Health Organization’s pandemic alert system had a similar public understanding problem since it is based on geographic spread not the severity of the illness.)

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Though public and media attention on the H1N1/Swine Flu outbreak has waned, there is a clearly need to examine its lessons for future citizen preparedness and response — whether that be for a reoccurrence of a more deadly H1N1 flu in the Fall or another national emergency situation. So, I thought I would contact some experts as well as ask for reader input to see what we should be learning from the H1N1 situation when it comes to informing, engaging and preparing citizens for future emergencies. Below are some of the responses; I will be posting another collection in a week or two. If you would like to contribute a “lesson” for Part 2, please either write a Comment at the bottom of this post or email me at  jsolomon@incaseofemergencyblog.com.

LESSONS OF H1N1 FLU OUTBREAK FOR CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS

During the outbreak, there was clear and consistent communication from President Obama on down — led by the public health professionals — which was effective in calming the American people. However, the social and economic consequences of community mitigation guidance have not been as carefully thought through as had been hoped. The value of some mitigation strategies implemented, such as face masks in Mexico, were overstated. While reopening the schools was driven in part by the fact that the virus turned out to be less virulent, the full impact of the challenges of finding alternative child care had not been planned for, even though the CDC had been warned about this.

At present, the nation does not have in place the social and economic policies that support public health recommendations. During the H1N1 outbreak there were numerous media reports of people with influenza-like illnesses not staying home from work, because they had no sick leave and feared losing their jobs or had concerns about the costs in seeking early medical attention. There must be consideration of these work and school policies in a future public health emergency.

There is also a need to consider that the “worried well” did at times stress emergency departments and private practices who were not as prepared as they need to be. Though there were examples of some health departments which did a good job of warning people to stay away from emergency rooms if they did not exhibit symptoms of H1N1.

* Jan Lane, Senior Policy Advisor, George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (www.gwumc.edu/hspi):

Our experience with H1N1 over the past few months provided a number of important lessons, and gave us the opportunity to test a number of areas of pandemic preparedness planning.

Overall, government communications with the general public were handled well, and did much to maintain the public’s trust. However, we still have work to do when it comes to planning at the community level — for example, decisions regarding school closures, and workplace sick leave policies.

Over the coming months, as we face the potential for a more virulent strain to emerge in the Fall, we have a unique opportunity to actively engage the public in community problem solving. While the federal government health authorities can provide general guidance, community needs vary and we can’t always apply a one-size-fits-all response. Local health departments, local emergency managers, schools and businesses would be wise to include members of the general public at their planning tables, as they review lessons learned so far and plan for the future. What do citizens believe they need if we are faced with a more deadly form of the flu? What are their expectations? If they are briefed and understand the issues and limitations of medical surge capabilities of their local health care facilities, can they help reduce the number of patients that could overwhelm emergency rooms?

Real community engagement is an asset to federal, state and local governments as they prepare for what may come next. It requires a re-thinking of roles and responsibilities and the courage to let the public be part of the solution instead of being viewed as a group that needs to be ‘handled’ during a major public health emergency.”

* David Fleming, Director, Public Health – Seattle & King County (www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health.aspx):

One of the major lessons learned here, but it isn’t learned yet because we still have to work on it, is how to handle illnesses in schools and school closings in the setting of an H1N1 outbreak. Most of the schools that were affected had low income students in them with parents, both of whom work, and there weren’t really any good alternatives for parents other than to take the children to an alternate site like a community center or a library. What we really need to do looking into the future is to figure out how to give parents, particularly double income parents, alternatives that are going to work for them to keep their children isolated. That’s a major challenge that we are going to have be looking at in the fall.

A worker disinfects a classroom at Byron P. Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas where all public schools and parks were closed during the H1n1 outbreak. (Associated Press photo)

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I wanted to highlight a new list of social media offerings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which are on its website here. They include the Department’s here. They include the Department’s two-week-old blog; Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter sites for various DHS agencies; and even the iTunes offerings from the Transportation Security Administration. And, DHS is asking for user feedback on its social media initiatives:

“Below is the list of tools and sites that the Department and our components use to provide up-to-date information, straight from the source. If a site is not on this list, it is not presently being used by the Department of Homeland Security. If you think something is missing, or if you have any questions, contact us.”

From FEMA’s YouTube page: Administrator Craig Fugate’s “message to the public on the hurricane season”.

Thanks to AndrewPWilson from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s New Media unit who mentioned the DHS social media page on his Twitter feed.

I know there are some ‘ham radio’ operators among the readership of this blog. And, most will be participating in the Amateur Radio annual “Field Day” events taking place throughout the U.S. this weekend. In fact, thousands of Amateur Radio operators are showing off their wireless capabilities (often during emergencies) at locations in community parks, campgrounds, schools and emergency centers all over the nation. The events gives the public a chance to meet and talk with the hams and learn more about Amateur Radio. Field Day is sponsored by the American Relay Radio League.

To find out where operators are set up in your area, go to www.ARRL.org/fieldday.

A Ham Radio “Field Day” event in Stuart, Florida

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The National Weather Service has declared June 21-27 “Lightning Safety Awareness Week” to highlight the dangers of lightning and show what people can do to prevent being struck. So far in 2009, 15 people have been killed by lightning and many others have been injured.

To avoid being struck by lightning, the National Weather Service recommends that you:

*Get into a fully enclosed building or hardtop vehicle at the first rumble of thunder;
*Stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last thunder clap;
*Monitor the weather forecast when you’re planning to be outdoors;
*Have a plan for getting to safety in case a thunderstorm moves in;
*Do not use a corded phone during a thunderstorm unless it’s an emergency; cell phones are safe to use;
*Keep away from plumbing, electrical equipment and wiring during a thunderstorm.

For more information, check out the National Weather Service’s Lightning Safety webpage here.

Last week’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why book contest asked: “What have you done in the last year to prepare yourself, your family, your workplace, your kids school or your community over last year?” Below are the winners with their entries; they will each receive a copy of the book’s new paperback edition.

Francine Geike/Morton, Illinois –

“My husband and I have stockpiled food, planted a heirloom seed garden-canning later, packed emergency kits for the vehicles, packed BOBs including items for our 22 mth and 3 yr old, planned escape routes if we need to leave our home, copied our financial papers, personal info, etc and gave it to relatives to hold in their safe, bought a water filter…continue to go over lists…”

Dominic Bonacci/Rocky River, Ohio —

“I had the texting feature disabled on my phone (since I was getting charged for “wrong number” texts — texts sent to me accidentally) but learning how text messaging may be the only form of communication that works in a disaster (because of it’s low bandwidth use) I had it turned on again.”

Blair Buchmeyer/St. Louis, Missouri –

“I have started to collect items for a 72 hour kit and a car emergency kit. Continued to practice on the gardening skills!”

Carlene Patterson/Irving, Texas —

“We do have a stock pile of food and a safe place for everyone to meet.”

Connie Hippen/Hulett, Wyoming —

“Because our home location is where extended family and good friends will travel to in a bug out situation, I know that I will need more preps than for just my family. I can’t do it all, so I have been educating my peeps via the internet info on preparedness and food storage. If they come, they can’t show up empty handed and I have made private lockers in my basement should they want to cache supplies. Also I have been burning up the ink on my printer to create a notebook on all kinds of info from canning, butchering, trapping, dental/first aid, you name it. Point is, should the lights go out, it wouldn’t do me much good to have all the wonderful survival info stored in my computer.”

Thank you for participating. Anyone who would like to purchase a copy of Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable can do so here.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano held a “Pen & Pad” availability for reporters and bloggers who cover the Homeland Security Department earlier today (video here). Napolitano previewed some international visits she is making to Europe and the Middle East and highlighted a couple of new DHS initiatives, including her new mission statement of “The Department’s Five Responsibilities.” I wrote about that earlier this month focusing in particular on the first Responsibility, “Protecting the American people from terrorist threats,” in which she asks “Americans to live in a constant state of readiness, not a constant state of fear.”

In the statement, she also underlines the public’s ‘responsibility’ in the enterprise as well (”Protecting the American people from terrorist threats is the founding principle of the Department and our highest priority. This is an effort where everyone-families and communities, first responders, the private sector, state and local governments, as well as the Department-must contribute.”)

In the earlier post, I wrote that I thought it was very good to see the Secretary highlight the citizen’s role in homeland security especially in the first of the Responsibilities, and that I expected she would be elaborating on the “constant readiness” theme in the future. So, as most of the half-hour “Pen & Pad” was dedicated to questions, I got on the queue to ask her about it. However, in the middle of the session, I along with a couple other participants were cut off from the conference line. It was suggested to me that I should just post the question(s):

“Secretary, in the first of the Five Responsibiliities, you ‘ask Americans to live in a constant state of readiness, not a constant state of fear.’ Could you elaborate on that? Are we as Americans at that ’state of readiness’ (and not a ’state of fear’) yet? If not, how do we get there?

In a move that highlights the proliferation of video cameras, the usefulness of citizen/user generated content in emergencies, and, maybe most importantly, the growing appreciation by government authorities of that content, the National Transportation Safety Board has made a public request that any individual who has video of this week’s Washington, D.C. Metro accident should contact them.

According to CSMonitor.com, NTSB inspectors ”surveyed businesses in the area to see if any had surveillance cameras that could be helpful in the investigation, but did not find any. But they are urging witnesses, survivors, or anyone with video to contact 866-328-6347.”

Thanks to the smart and comprehensive Twitter source for disaster news, the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Center (@HazCenter) for flagging this news from the bottom of the article.