When it comes to learning and education
there is nothing like hearing from front-line expert practitioners.
When the topics to be covered include emergency preparedness and
disaster response some of the top experts who have played a role in
responding to emergencies both local and global are right here in the
Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. This is a public thank you acknowledging their
contributions and willingness to share their wealth of experiences
with students in a course on Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare
that I taught this semester
at the Isenberg School of Management.
The course, which has students from the
Isenberg School, the College of Engineering, and the School of Public
Health at UMass Amherst, covers all phases of disaster management
from preparedness and mitigation to response and recovery. Those of
us in western Massachusetts will never forget such recent “natural”
disasters as the Springfield tornado on June 1, 2011, the once in a
500 year flood in Deerfield and surrounding areas due to Hurricane
Irene in late August 2011, followed by the snowstorm in late October,
2011, which resulted in massive power outages, and Superstorm
Sandy, which hit landfall in the U.S. on October 29, 2012, and is the
second most costly natural disaster in the U.S. after Hurricane
Katrina. And, of course, we will always remember the shocking Boston
Marathon bombing of April 15, 2013, the suffering of the victims,
and the heroism of responders.
On February 4, 2015, Ms. Debbie Wilson,
a registered nurse from Lenox, MA, who is also a student at UMass
Amherst, spoke on her experiences, over a 6 week period last Fall in
Liberia, working with Doctors without Borders in battling the
biggest outbreak of Ebola in history. She talked about helping to set
up an Ebola treatment facility for 120 patients, the importance of
medical supplies and equipment, which would have to be delivered from
Geneva, Switzerland. She spoke about her personal experiences donning
the special protective gear with hygienists who would then spray the
chlorine on her after which she could carefully disrobe. She dealt
with temperatures of 100 degrees, horrible rains, insufficient food
for the staff - essentially making do with bread and mayonnaise with
some ketchup for many meals. She described how they got rid of the
medical waste by burning it in a pit. She emphasized the importance
of logisticians, known as “logs” and her travel there, in itself,
was a logistical feat. Ms. Wilson traveled by plane, truck, and
canoe. Through her efforts and those of her fellow healthcare
workers, the survival rate of Ebola patients was increased. She asks
now that we not forget western African countries since the healthcare
infrastructure there has been decimated since so many doctors and
nurses died battling Ebola.
On February 11, 2015, Mr. Jeffrey
Hescock, the Director for Emergency
Management and Business Continuity at UMass Amherst since September
2013, spoke about protecting education, research, and the
reputation of the university and how careful planning for sports
events and other events on campus and periphery can enhance community
building and minimize negative outcomes. In his previous position as
the Emergency Management and Business Continuity Manager for the
UMass President’s Office, Mr. Hescock was responsible for safely
evacuating students and staff from UMass Dartmouth during the search
for one of the Boston marathon bombers there. He described the
shelters that were set up so that students, most of who are
commuters, could reconnect with family members and friends. He also
described the challenges of dealing with the immense media response
to the events. Of course, given that we have had two university
closings on Mondays this semester, due to major snowfalls, the
students were also very interested in finding out who makes the
decision to close the university. The emergency notification system,
in particular, works very well. UMass has an excellent organization
structure consisting of an emergency operations team as well as a
business continuity and recovery committee and conducts not only
table-top exercises but also field exercises such as the emergency
sheltering exercise last spring at the Mullins Center, which also
involved the town of Amherst.
Ms. Kim Goulette, the new Executive
Director of the Pioneer Valley Red Cross spoke on February 23, 2015.
The Red Cross provides immediate response to people in need because
of disasters. Whether it is food, blankets, drinks, or even teddy
bears for children in the near term, or shelter, food, and resources
during the recovery phase, Red Cross volunteers are there to help.
Ms. Goulette spoke about the big fire in Amherst last summer in an
apartment complex at which she assisted after only about 1 week on
the job. She described the role of the Red Cross in feeding the
National Guardsmen who were deployed to eastern MA because of the
multiple immense snowfalls this winter that disrupted lives,
transportation, and other infrastructure. The Red Cross, which
consists of 97% volunteers, provided soup, peanut butter & jelly
sandwiches, coffee and hot chocolate to the Guardsmen. A group of
volunteers began their journey from the new Springfield headquarters
with all the red cross activities now consolidated under one rook at
2AM to delivery nourishment.
On February 25, 2015, Mr. Brian
Rust, the Director of Security Services at Cooley Dickinson Hospital
spoke. He had originally been scheduled to speak the week before, but
had to deal with emergencies at the hospital, and they were not
patient emergencies! Nothing like some real-life practice in
disruption management. Cooley Dickinson Hospital, which was recently
acquired by Mass General Hospital, is one of our community
hospitals, serving about 200,000 people. It seeks to provide the best
possible healthcare in an appropriate setting. He noted that the
population always assumes that hospitals will be available, when
needed. He emphasized how a hospital is supposed to be prepared to be
self-sufficient post a disaster for 96 hours. This, of course,
entails backup power generators, the stockpiling of essential
supplies, which is challenging given a model of just-in-time daily
deliveries of medicines, and possible needs for additional food.
Hazard analyses are conducted each year to prepare for possible
natural disasters, human hazards, and technological ones. He
emphasized the importance of communications and building strong
relationships with other hospitals, first responders, etc.
During the snowstorms this past winter,
70 staff slept at the hospital to make sure that there was
appropriate patient coverage, since a storm could affect
transportation. And, the week prior to his lecture at the Isenberg
School, Mr. Rust had to deal with multiple emergencies, beginning
with a computer failure on Monday, followed by complete
communication failure on Wednesday (not related to the Monday one)
with no Internet or phone lines available. Hence, medical records
could not be accessed electronically, and X-rays could not be read.
Back to documentation on paper. This major disruption was fixed on
Wednesday but then Wednesday afternoon a sprinkler pipe burst and
flooded the back of the Emergency Room with thousands of gallons of
water pouring in. There is a new cancer facility being constructed
above the Emergency Room area and it seems that the pipe was not
properly insulated. With facility experts on hand (luckily, he said,
not everything has been outsourced) in a few hours the area was
cleaned up and disinfected. During that period, however, 4 ambulances
had to be diverted to other hospitals.
On March 25, 2015, we had the pleasure
of hearing Mr. Jeff Meyer, the CEO of Blood Services for the Red
Cross in Massachusetts and Connecticut, who told us how he had been a
consultant for the Red Cross and was offered a job with this
organization the day before 9/11. After the terrorist attacks that
horrific day, he decided that he wanted to help communities and
accepted the job offer from the Red Cross. With an outstanding
background in operations, including an MBA, he has helped the Red
Cross in balancing supply and demand of this life-saving product
that is also highly perishable and has dealt with many challenges in
the changing economic landscape of blood supply chains.
On April 8, 2015, the students got to
hear from SMSgt Thomas Orifice of the 104th Fighter Wing
of the Air National Guard in Westfield. He came dressed in fatigues
and had the students at the edge of their seats as he spoke about the
response to Superstorm Sandy. Because NOAA had forecasted Superstorm
Sandy one week before landing, major planning could be done in a
timely manner and, within 24 hours, the Air National Guard had
mobilized and delivered water, food, and fuel, which was direly
needed since, with the loss of electricity, the gas pumps were not
functioning and public transportation in NYC was at a standstill. Mr.
Orifice has had an over thirty year career with the National Guard
and has served in France Italy, Germany, and Kyrgyztan, and also took
part in the liberation of Bosnia and Iraq Operation Freedom.
And, on April 22, 2015, last, but not least, the "other" Professor Nagurney (my husband), Dr. Ladimer S. Nagurney, who is a Professor of Electric and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, at the University of Hartford, spoke to the class on Disaster Communications, including the challenges of technology in this important domain, along with FirstNet.
Many thanks to the above Hometown
Heroes, who took time out of their very busy schedules to share
experiences with students – we are very lucky to have you in our
midst.
Also, given that the number of disasters is growing, as well as the number of people affected by them, I have made the lectures, as well as many of the guest lecture presentations,
available online.
Posts
