FireRescue magazine's Technical Rescue Web column
Natural Disasters: Are we prepared to respond anywhere, any time?
By Harold Schapelhouman

The recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Japan and Turkey have people understandably wondering what’s going on with our planet, as seismic activity seems to be at an all-time high in many regions of the world, and whether an area near them may be next.

The differences between each of these impacted nations in terms of the effects of the event and how well they were prepared depend on the strength and size of the earthquake, but they also depend on the resilience of the affected communities and the preparedness of emergency responders.

A Look at Chile
The poor infrastructure and daily human turmoil in Haiti ensured that any type of large earthquake would be devastating to their population. In contrast, the 8.8 earthquake in Chile, an event that reportedly changed the rotation of the planet, had a major effect, but the country’s resilient infrastructure, level of preparedness and impressive emergency response saved lives and reduced the impact of one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.

Parts of Chile did descend into chaos with looting, and as a result, people complained about a lack of response or slow response. The international community was seemingly offended by the delay in obtaining a quick and exact damage assessment and the subsequent requests for assistance that never came; however, you have to acknowledge the fact that resilient communities and trained responders do make a difference. The proof is not only in the number of lives saved, but also in the dramatic difference in the number of lives lost, as well as the immediate treatment of injured victims despite significant damage to the Chilean medical system and its infrastructure.

Was the response to the Chile earthquake perfect? Of course not. But let’s not forget that we call these types of events a “disaster” for a reason, so before we get too full of ourselves, I must remind everyone that we struggled with our own issues in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and we weren’t very good at accepting outside assistance either.

I’m sure that as the story comes out in Chile, there will be many smaller disasters within the larger disaster, which, of course, will be mostly human driven and typically caused by individuals in positions of authority who failed to perform, were overwhelmed, didn’t know what to do or, in some way, screwed things up. But hopefully, and more than likely, they were countered by others who stepped up, stood tall and showed everyone how things could be done and were done.

Closer to Home
Closer to home, I’m more worried about the effects that the recent economic downturn have had on our own responders when it comes to effectively handling a large-scale event. With layoffs, station closures, downsizing and agencies delaying important projects, are we or our communities as prepared as we used to be? And how well could we have performed if the earthquakes had struck our region of the world and our citizens?

Representatives from the national urban search and rescue (USAR) community were invited to speak before a Congressional committee after returning from Haiti in an effort to both educate and inform Congress about the value of their response efforts, as well as the need to preserve and sustain the national USAR program’s budget. With the federal government bleeding red ink, no one is safe these days, so proving one’s value—even from a rubble pile—to avoid budget cuts can become a daily effort.

Minimizing the Impact
The earthquake in Chile also proved once again that public preparedness is a key factor in minimizing the overall impact of a significant event. Empowering the average citizen allows them to take control of their situation and help their neighbors. Agencies that are cutting their public preparedness programs at a time when government can offer less are committing double jeopardy and possibly disaster suicide.

Modern building codes and proper construction practices can ensure a higher probability of minimizing structural failures and building more resilient communities and infrastructure over time; however, they shouldn’t replace having a robust technical rescue capability sponsored at a local, state or federal level because, as we saw in Chile and have seen in other earthquakes and disasters around the world, things that shouldn’t have gone wrong do go wrong; therefore, someone must be able to effectively and aggressively deal with those issues or more lives will be lost.

Conclusion
The debate about what’s going on with our planet and whether the next earthquake can happen here always comes to mind as we watch other countries struggle with their own emergencies. The real questions: Do we feel that we’re prepared to handle those challenges when they come? And what are we doing today to ensure that we’ll be ready? Remember, it’s not a matter of whether a disaster will strike, it’s a matter of when and where.

Harold Schapelhouman is a 28-year veteran firefighter with the Menlo Park (Calif.) Fire Protection District. At the start of 2007, he became the first internally selected fire chief in 21 years for his organization. Previously, he was the division chief in charge of special operations, which includes all district specialized preparedness efforts, the local and state water rescue program, and the local, state and National Urban Search and Rescue Program (USAR).

Schapelhouman was the task force leader in charge of California Task Force 3, one of the eight California USAR teams and one of the 28 federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS/FEMA) teams.


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