Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 21:20:36 -0500
Reply-To: vt <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: vt <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Converting '88 Vanagon into a mobile office
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I don't know how many members of this list hang out in the disaster and
emergency services operational and planning arenae, but offer the following
as some sort of clarifier re expenses insofar as infrastructure and resource
augmentation - I have a fair amount of disaster response experience and am
FEMA trained as well.
Following 9/11 as we've all read, the creation of the Department of Homeland
Security was created and several prior formed and operational agencies were
folded into what is now called DHS. Prior to becoming part of DHS, while
not perfect (and what organization is?) FEMA was a fairly smooth running
agency with not a lot of high level bureaucracy weighing it down.
Typically, once a federal disaster was determined, FEMA would activate and
assign its cadre of paid part time, full time and volunteer assessment and
eligibility determination staff into the established operation. From that
point on, most resources and services would be coordinated and fullfilled in
a fairly integrated manner. 9/11 and its political aftermath has changed
all of the experience-based protocols and interoperable agreements and we
saw the results of this dysfunctional bureaucratic mess during the
Katrina/Rita response operations to date.
Until I left American Red Cross disaster services, I had been a member of a
national disaster mental health training instructor cohort and had served in
operations, management as well as in training functions throughout the
country - and I'd say had seen some of the best as well as some of the worst
of disaster response efforts.
I left disaster services to assume full time management of my wifes primary
care medical practice in 2003. At that time, I was responsible for
recruiting, training and coordinating disaster mental health professionals
in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In Vermont, I served on the state
Emergency Management Planning Committee and on six (6) county or region wide
Local Emergency Planning Committees in Northern Vermont in addition to my
mental health service responsibilities.
During the period of time following 9/11 until I took a leave of absence, I
participated in
several dozen planning meetings in communities as large amounts of federal
funding was being anticipated for this small state. I was appalled by the
almost cavalier manner with which federal and state officials discussed and
recommended how the millions of planned funding could and would be allocated
and for what equipment it would be used to pay for.
Today, I haven't a clue as to how many hazmat response and cleanup trailers
have been purchased and placed with first responder groups in Vermont, and
I'm guessing there are at least 5-8. But, I can state without equivocation
that it is possible to drive the entire north-south length of Vermont with
emergency lights, bells, sirens and whistles going full blast in far less
than three hours and is takes even less time to cover the east-west routes
under similar conditions.
More, I know that Vermont is not unique in terms of communication equipment
and technology in-operability. Turf issues prevailed before and long after
9/11 in terms of which first and second responding organizations could speak
together on the same radio frequencies - and I'm sure this situation has not
been entirely resolved to date. But, I am also certain that literally
millions of dollars have come into Vermont (and what we received is a mere
drop compared with that which poured into larger, more highly populated
states) earmarked specifically for communication equipment and technology as
well as infrastructure intended to ensure inter-operability.
I'm reasonably sure that New Orleans and Louisiana as well as Mississippi
and Texas received millions of dollars intended to improved interagency
communications in disaster response operations. But, in the first few days
after Katrina and the resulting floods inundated New Orleans as well as the
Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast and inland, it was licensed amateur
radio operators who facilitated and utilized their equipment and technology
simply because the "official" resources were not operational.
My point of this rant is simple. Before the Bush administration politicized
FEMA and subourned that agency to DHS, disaster response operations in the
U.S. had been fairly well resourced and implemented. Certainly the events
in New York City on and after 9/11 affected and helped politicize the
concept and organizations which had traditionally been organized and tasked
to respond. In NYC alone, Mayor Guiliani's office stopped managing the city
and all disaster operations deferred to him as well as to his select staff
members. Even the NY Governor was unable to act proactively until/unless
the Mayor's office had someone in place to act in a public leadership role.
I was on that WTC operation, and recall many of our critique discussions
where various site coordinators expressed frustration that they had
resources, but were held up waiting for the mayor or someone to show up for
the PR event.
In my opinion, once the federal Department of Homeland Security was created
and put in "charge" of all disaster service and related concerns, about all
that happened is that billions of dollars were allocated and distributed
nationwide, and literally no real substantive and accountable management has
occurred since.
For those of us who served before, during and after 9/11 (at least from my
perspective), perceived not much more than dysfunctional confusion in terms
of service and infrastructure planning and implementation - and it seemed
clear that FEMA and those who had gone along and into DHS who had been
pro-active and relatively competent b before were stifled, stymied and
otherwise lost in the political and funding shuffle.
And, with apology(ies), that is my rant for the evening.
Whoops! Almost forgot: about mid-way through my work in Northern Vermont
managing a large rural shelter, providing communication and coordination
services and mental health consultation for three shelters following a
devastating ice storm (1998), I recall telling Vermont's Governor, Public
Safety Commissioner and Adjutant General in a meeting before their
helicopters took off that I'd appreciate it highly if they could find 6-10
VW Westphalias similar to my 84 with a driver/owner and I'd line up 10-15
Ham Radio Operators and assign them in Quebec and throughout the northern
counties of Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont to provide
communication services until the public utility infrastructure (power grids,
cell sites and telephone lines) were up and useful again. They sent a
national guard communication truck rigged for military use, and I drove my
Westy all over the place facilitating communication for nearly two weeks.
From that event on, during disaster response operations here, WESTY RULED!
Ciao and tks for reading...
Sam Conant
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Buese" <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 7:06 PM
Subject: Re: Converting '88 Vanagon into a mobile office
> On May 2, 2007, at 5:46 PM, Mark Tuovinen wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>> Re " FEMA could do this for a lot less $$$$"
>>
>> Are you sure about that???
>
> Well they would only be paying about $100K for each vanagon so it
> would still be a lot cheaper than what they pay now?
>
> Grin,
>
> Tom B.-what's a little profit among good ole buddies
