"IF ONLY we would have had Social Media During Katrina!! " #SMEM
Ralph R. Fisk Jr., ATO, PCP-1, MEMS,
Counter and Antiterrorism, Contemporary Threats, Emergency Management, Physical Security Threats; RET USA SNCO
This will be a short opinion, I promise, on what some are talking about after #Katrina10
People are taking about 10 years ago Twitter and Facebook didn't exist, for the most part, and many more lives could have been saved, during Hurricane Katrina.
Although that could be true;
But ten years after the next major disaster there will be another “cool wiz-bang” idea that could have saved even more lives.
We have to make do with what we have NOW to save lives.
There was no excuse for the amount of life lost during Katrina! To be blunt the evacuation systems were there, just some people let the egos get in the way of providing effective response! Local authorities were told that it would take at least 48 hours to evacuate the entire City. Evacuations were ordered 20 hours before Katrina arrived.
We have to develop a preparedness mindset in the Country.
One thing we are lacking, people firmly believe that "the Cavalry will come to the rescue and we don't need to do anything but wait" Here's a news flash, that doesn't happen and you should be prepared to support yourself for as long as 10 days. Now, I know that the Federal Government says 3 days or 72 hours, in my humble opinion this is an under estimation! This is one of those times you need to be an over achiever!
It takes real time for First Responder resources to make it to the affected areas. These things don’t happen by FM (Yes, I said FM that is a colorful euphemism for magic)
It does take time for First Responders to reach you; Sorry to say, but your neighborhood might not be on the priority list for assistance in the hours or even days after a disaster! There are more important things First Responders might have to deal with, examples Hospital Operations, Opening up roads and access points to your location, rescuing people that are truly in harms way.
So what you do today to prepare yourself and your family matters;
So in ten years you won’t have to say if only I had twitter It all would have been better.
Take a First Aid Course, learn how to save a life; attend a CERT course, through CERT you can learn the dangers associated with disasters, learn light rescue operations, some basic First Aid. Plan a "Go-Bag". Learn to think for yourself! Keep a situational mindset!
Consultant / Trainer at SafetyMax Corporation
9 年Nice use of "colorful euphemism", Ralph. My hope is that someone that doesn't already have similar mindsets may read op-eds like this and actually consider it... we can make change, but we have to keep pushing the rock will roll back down the hill as soon as we do. Best of luck, and good to hear from you.
Retired
9 年Thanks Ralph. Hard for some people to hear and accept, but the truth sometimes hurts. Becoming self-sufficient, even just for the short term, will save many lives.
I help companies and organizations around the world to prepare for the most serious crises, respond effectively during a crisis and to rebuild goodwill with critical audiences once the crisis subsides.
9 年Excellent piece, Ralph. Needed to be said!