1/7/09: TEN NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS FOR FEMA
Jan 7, 2009
Contact: Ben Smilowitz – (314) 761-7631
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Ten New Year’s Resolutions for FEMA
A little advice for the new FEMA chief for 2009 and beyond
NEW ORLEANS, La. (January 7, 2009) Few people will argue 2008 was a good year for constituents of the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
– Gulf Coast residents are still struggling to recover from the 2005 devastation wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
– FEMA trailer occupants learned of their exposure to unhealthy levels of formaldehyde.
– Texas residents spent days locating emergency food and water supplies promised by FEMA after Hurricane Ike.
– State and local officials were blind-sided by a change in FEMA’s unwritten “policy” on supplying ice.
– Communities along the upper Mississippi River experienced the inadequacy of FEMA’s flood insurance program.
As 2008 demonstrated, FEMA has plenty of room for improvement. Pending President-elect Obama’s announcement of his new FEMA director, the Disaster Accountability Project has compiled a list of 10 New Year’s resolutions for FEMA to implement in 2009.
– Act openly – Invite real journalists to press conferences and allow them entry to disaster-stricken areas. Also, give the public access to disaster-related maps, databases and reports currently password-protected portions on the agency’s website.
– Hire a talented and diverse workforce – No more political cronies. Fill leadership posts with highly accomplished individuals that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of emergency management.
– Increase capacity – Hire and train enough people to perform routine tasks and to handle sudden surges in demand.
– Communicate more effectively – Make preparations in advance to provide prompt information to evacuees on housing and to match evacuees with accommodation. FEMA should also ensure that those affected by a proposed policy change have plenty of time to respond.
– Remember those who have additional needs – Commit to giving more attention to the needs of individuals who are poor, elderly, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged in terms of coping with a disaster and its aftermath.
Full New Years Resolution List:
1) Act openly. Invite real journalists to press conferences and allow them entry to disaster-stricken areas. Secrecy sows rumors and distrust and undermines public cooperation. Also, give the public access to disaster-related maps, databases and reports that currently are hidden on password-protected portions of the agency website. The collective wisdom of a nation is greater that of a few thousand bureaucrats.
2) Encourage teamwork. Encourage participation by the public and state and local agencies in the development of national plans and policies (and in all phases, not just the first or final draft). Even a well-executed emergency plan is a failure if it does not meet the needs of disaster survivors and first responders.
3) Hire a talented and diverse workforce. No more political cronies. Fill leadership posts with highly accomplished individuals that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of emergency management. Social scientists are important to understanding human responses to disaster. Earth scientists and engineers bring with them the skills needed to develop effective mitigation strategies for earthquakes and floods. Economics, finance and management expertise are essential for dealing with the massive costs of recovery. Other kinds of diversity, such as cultural, racial, disability and linguistic diversity, are invaluable for serving a highly diverse constituency.
4) Increase capacity. Hire and train enough people to perform routine tasks and to handle sudden surges in demand. People struggling to patch together their lives after a disaster shouldn’t have to spend hours on a telephone requesting help. Increasing capacity should increase the speed of response to filed claims so that individuals are not left to wonder for weeks how much assistance they can expect from the federal government.
5) Communicate more effectively. Make necessary preparations in advance to promptly provide sufficient housing information to match evacuees with sufficient accommodations at facilities (such as hotels participating in FEMA’s disaster housing reimbursement program), through deployment of a comprehensive housing database. Ensure that those affected by a policy change (for example, the policy for supplying ice) have plenty of time to respond to a proposed change.
6) Get it right the first time. Revise policies and practices so that damage assessments and claims determinations can be made accurately the first time rather than rely on the appeals process to correct deficiencies.
7) Plan ahead for recovery and emergency housing. Before disaster strikes, FEMA, state and local agencies should (a) identify regionally appropriate recovery strategies, including interim housing options, (b) submit these for public review and approval, and (c) procure necessary implementing authorities. With a list of pre-approved strategies in hand, local authorities could more quickly develop specific solutions when disaster occurs. Delays in recovery can be fatal to the successful recovery of businesses, families and communities.
8) Remember those who have additional needs. Commit to giving more attention to the needs of individuals who are poor, elderly, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged in terms of coping with a disaster and its aftermath. Make emergency and recovery plans more accommodating of additional needs for transportation, housing, medical care, education and social services to maintain independence and function.
9) Give health the priority it deserves. To avoid magnifying the impacts of future disasters, commit more funds to restoring broken medical systems in communities previously struck by disasters. Consider that just 12% of Louisiana residents are within an hour[‘s drive?] of a level 1 or 2 trauma center. (That compares to 76% of all residents throughout the rest of the country.) While Louisiana has improved their overall disaster preparedness, the lack of facilities (0.2 trauma facilities per million people) and personnel (ranked 47th in number of primary care physicians) will cause a potentially devastating strain on the system when another disaster hits. Texas, also, lacks critical medical resources. It is estimated that Texas needs more than 650 more primary care providers and 130 mental health providers to meet the demands of the state’s growing population.
10) Try, try again. Rather than abruptly abandon a service (like emergency supplies of ice), try harder to make it work. Giving up on activities that have been publicly criticized makes FEMA appear petty and mean. It’s a potentially harmful practice, too. Consider that ice is sometimes vital for keeping prescriptions and baby formula cool and safe to use, and for preventing heat stroke in elderly persons. If maintaining a disaster service isn’t possible or practical, ensure that alternative solutions are in place before dropping it.
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Disaster Accountability Project is a nonpartisan non-profit organization providing accountability and oversight to the nation’s disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery systems through monitoring and policy research. The Disaster Accountability Project’s website is https://disasteraccountability.org.
A toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) is available as a public service for disaster survivors, workers and volunteers to report critical gaps in disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery services or planning.
The group is recruiting a national network of Disaster Accountability Monitors and Bloggers to help report, verify, and publicize gaps in disaster services or planning. Disaster Accountability Project is a 2008 Echoing Green Fellowship Organization. For more information: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/ben-smilowitz
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