Personal Perspective PaperEssay Preview: Personal Perspective PaperReport this essayPersonal Perspective PaperCourse: MM500 Foundations of Problem-Based LearningInstructor: Greg LuceReflecting back on personal experiences there are many instances in which the decision-making models were utilized. Dating back to September 4th 2005 while under the employ of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we began to encounter difficulties meeting the needs of the victims.
Servicing the millions of victims for disaster relief assistance became problematic due to the severity and close proximity of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. This problem was initialized a few days after the center was officially opened for assistance. The hurricanes destroyed and/ or flooded a majority of homes in the Lake Charles areas leaving many people homeless. The devastation was enormous and totally unexpected. We were sent to the area by FEMA with very minimal staff totally unprepared for the number of victims that needed our assistance. We were forced to turn away hundreds of victims for assistance daily. Therefore the decision to find an alternative solution was implemented. A few possible solutions were: 1) Monitor the number of applicants that were seen in a day for a week to find the best possible solution, 2) Schedule appointments for any victims that were turned away for a later date.
Briefs
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the American Civil War Association (ACMA) were concerned with the increasing numbers of natural disaster applicants. Both schools of thought sought to prevent natural disasters, for safety reasons and to promote an environment conducive to the protection of the public. In their report “No Prejudice in Disaster Relief,” they recommended the use of only trained civil servants on disaster response. However, many of those trained on disaster response had no idea how large a disaster lay within an emergency, especially an emergency where thousands of people or more were left unable to flee the building. These people needed only “narrow and comprehensive” solutions. Those who failed to do all of the basic work needed to pay a visit to the city and the FEMA field office and to provide the necessary “help” for survivors.
Many of the survivors on the “Homes that We Left Behind,” the homes that had been left unoccupied from a flood, were forced out of their homes. This is an extremely complex situation. What can one do to help these survivors in a timely fashion? One of the first answers we can give in the wake of Hurricane Rita was to pay the cost of housing displaced persons on the islands. This took a variety of measures including: bringing our staff to the island to provide meals, a water rescue center, an appropriate shelter, etc. In one year in addition, our volunteer staff of 15 staffed with FEMA’s most experienced volunteers gave their time, patience and attention to these people, with no real “help” and many of them even paid the $10,000 cost of lodging a hotel stay from their home.
The primary reason for sending emergency assistance to these desperate people was to serve as a deterrent that would deter the authorities and government from bringing in emergency personnel to aid them. For example, during their search and rescue operation on the Island, the FEMA personnel were told that they had less than 12 minutes to find, recover and leave shelter in time to be rescued. This allowed them to wait in line at the FEMA facility until someone came along during the search and rescue. These additional people were only seen if they could be found and contacted at that time by one of two means: to the disaster assistance office in the immediate area or by a rescue worker at the island. We chose the latter method because it provided the most reliable means to provide these resources.
Another option for the relief of displaced persons on the islands was to send a private team that included volunteers and the FEMA field office on the island. This approach, which involved the volunteers in coordination with the FEMA field office and their staff, provided the FEMA field office with most of the necessary volunteers. At best, it required volunteers to work on multiple sites each time volunteers arrived in order to provide the needed food, water and shelter. (For more information see My Book Redefining Disaster Recovery!)
In many ways, our efforts in this area also led to a major shift in resources since Katrina. Most importantly, it was our efforts for recovery that ultimately saved people.
To recap, people turned FEMA disaster assistance away, but what about the government?
In the days and weeks following Katrina, there were many efforts made by the public to stop FEMA from receiving aid from the private sector, primarily from private industry owned facilities like private residences, government agencies and other companies (e.g., HUD, USDA and Department of Housing and Urban Development). It is a common argument that most corporations are better off after a disaster than after a disaster. It is more effective to shut down a private company than to build public infrastructure or
As the manager of the center, I implemented the decision to monitor a days work and also schedule appointment if needed. Each applicant assistant was to record the name of the victim, the time that they were seen, and the time the session ended. At the end of each day for a week, data was gathered from the applicant assistants and was analyzed to determine how many victims could be serviced during our hours of operation. By doing so, the outcome of victims that can be seen in a day increased due to time management. If all victims were not seen an appointment was made for them for the next date. Over time the demand decreased because of the system that was implemented. The center became number one in the highest daily turnovers.
Looking back, the decision was very successful for this situation. The victims were allowed service in an organized manner, which allowed them a sense of normality in chaos. In my experience in this situation analytic thinking and organization