Relief Agencies Not Surprised by Kansas City's Response

by David Smale

“I tend to use three of the ‘co’ words: co-locate, coordinate and cooperate,” Christian said. “That’s what we’re about. In terms of emergency response activities, police, fire, EMS and even public works, all have specialists. When you get a bunch of specialists together, sometimes they don’t work together very well. It’s our responsibility as emergency managers to be the generalists, to help those people integrate. As the proprietor of the EOC, we make sure that it is functioning properly to provide a good working environment to help those people do their jobs.”

To be better prepared, the EOC is installing a network of wireless cameras and its own radar system around Kansas City. The National Weather Service radar can be delayed up to 20 minutes, so Christian wants a system that is more timely.

There are three levels of “activations” in the EOC. A level 1activation may take place if there is a storm front a couple of hours away heading toward the metro. The response to that is the EOC staff monitoring the situation. A level 2 activation might be a severe storm in the area, and that would require the representatives of the various entities coming into the EOC and monitoring the situation more closely. A level 3 activation is a full-blown disaster. Christian says that there have been no level 3 activations and 13 level 2 activations since the current EOC opened in March 2004.

The key is to be as prepared as possible when that crisis arises. “I think there are some misconceptions that if you prepare properly for a disaster it is going to go smoothly if one occurs,” Dailey said. “In any type of catastrophic situation, there is going to be chaos. Your response is to organize chaos. You have to work within the chaos and build a structure to contain the chaos. That’s called the stabilization phase.

“When we respond, our whole goal—whether it’s a hospital association, public health, the fire department, the police department or pubic works—is to be prepared. And we all work in concert with each other, with the city Emergency Operations Center, with the regional emergency managers, certainly with the mayors and the governors.”

Christian adds the fact that during an emergency there is a lot of misinformation. That must be taken into account.

“No matter how much planning you do, the reality is that the immediate aftermath of a disaster appears chaotic,” Lynch said. “I think being able to navigate through chaos and recognize where you need to go for information is key, and that’s where it goes back to the planning, training and exercise. It’s a reality of disaster. That’s why it’s called a disaster.”

All the experts agree that there’s one more element involved in being ready for a disaster—personal responsibility. “If something happens and we need to evacuate, there needs to be some planning,” Dailey said. “Where are you going to go? Create a family plan. Make sure the school your kids attend has a plan and your workplace has a plan.”

“People need to understand the limitations of government,” Christian added. “Going back to what we learned from Hurricane Katrina, there seemed to be too many people who thought government would come in and take care of everything. That is not possible. People have to take personal responsibility. If they live in an area where they could sustain flood damage, they need to check on their flood insurance. They need to have a person and family evacuation plan. They need to have extra medicine and food and water. They need to understand the difference between a tornado watch and tornado warning.”

So is Kansas City ready? Probably so. Will there be chaos if a disaster strikes? Absolutely. Are the leaders of the various fields of emergency management constantly revising their plans? It’s happening daily.

“We must continue to be diligent in the work that we are doing,” Lynch said. “We’re better at those things we’ve done before. There’s a difference between being educated and actually living through it and knowing what to do afterward as a result.”

Hopefully, Kansas City will never have to use all the preparations that are being done, but that’s not a realistic view. “That’s our plan,” Dailey said. “We don’t want to ever have to use it, but in the event that we do, that’s why we work every day on it.”

 

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