Tag Archives: Disaster Preparedness

DISASTERS NEVER STRIKE IN ISOLATION

Disaster Planning, Emergency Management, ,

Disasters Never Strike In Isolation

Joanne Hull | May 6, 2014

It’s not enough to know your job and, certainly in the disaster business no one has the luxury of working in isolation.  Disasters never strike in isolation.  Quite the contrary, they strike with an unprecedented magnitude that requires disciplined leadership, management and extensive collaboration across all sectors of government agencies, communities, business and industry.

In order to prepare, respond, or mitigate any of these natural or man-made challenges, multidisciplinary collaboration must be incorporated on each event.  Flawless integration of all sectors allows each Emergency Manager and Disaster Employee to expedite the recovery process without disruption.  When the disaster universe becomes aligned, and all stakeholders’ work together sharing and collaborating, this approach takes positive results to an entirely new level.   Understanding and managing different degrees of expectations and being receptive to different perspectives foster successful outcomes.

Manage the plan,

                     Manage the outcome,

Recognize divergent approaches.

 

THIS STORY HAS A MORAL

Disaster Planning, Emergency Management, How To Prepare,

THIS STORY HAS A MORAL

TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY—-HOW TO BE PREPARED ON VACATION (subtitle- A Little Piece Of The Job Has Rubbed off On Me).

Joanne Hull | March 24, 2014

I admit, I’m not the easiest person to vacation with! 

Let’s face it, when you spend the majority of your life traveling and your day job is disasters, it’s difficult not to notice things that most of your happy vacationer friends won’t be looking for.   I don’t go on vacation with the mission critical presumption- to have fun- cannot fail.

Touch Down- Tropical Island Paradise ??

The minute the plane touches down and the rest of party heads to the hotel to throw on a bathing suit, I’m back in the car off to get supplies.  For Instance; plenty of water, non-perishable food, flashlights. I make sure the car is always filled with gas, I will only stay in a hotel with a backup generator,  never book a room on the ground floor no matter how close to the  water that private patio is and, I always carry a weather radio.

Why you ask?? 

I’ve been in plenty of tropical storms and hurricanes on the job.   Try to find water or pump gas without electricity, try to find food or, see how you feel when your room heats up to over 100 degrees without a backup generator.  See how you feel when your shoes and suitcases are floating on the floor when water comes through the patio door or, how you feel when the lights finally go out and you can’t see your hand in front of your face.

My Friends think it’s funny (for now).

Two days later, they weren’t laughing when a storm hit our beautiful “tropical island paradise”.    Lights out all over the island, wind howling and, one by one they came climbing up the stair and knocking on my door.  It’s amazing what happens and how popular you become when you are the only one in the group with a dry room, sustenance, libations and light.  A veritable port in a storm…….pun intended !!!

Moral :

Even a tropical paradise has a dark side.  Go prepared!

My Take Away !

Chief of staff, Musings, Reflections, ,

MY TAKE AWAY ! 

All disasters end !

Joanne Hull | February 19, 2014

No matter how long you live in a strange state, the time comes…..You have to go home.

When I pack my bags to leave a disaster I take away something as well.   I don’t mean my nameplate on my office door, or the tons of clothes jammed in the tiny closet.   No, not the tangible things.

Think about it!   During hard times you hear more good stories than bad–community helping community, neighbor helping neighbor.

The mind has that special way of filtering out all of the painful stuff to let you focus on the good.

What I take away is something that lasts forever because it’s something you can’t pack in your bags.  I take away something you pack in your heart…lots of memories and many, many lasting friendships.