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By Robert A. Jensen
The Asian tsunami disaster of 2004 was a reminder of the
incredible and sometimes destructive power of nature, as well as a wake-up
call for countries and organizations to ensure they are prepared to deal
with emergencies and crises. While the scale of destruction and geographic
scope made the tsunami disaster extraordinary, in many ways it bears the
same lessons that governments and companies have experienced in their
own crises. These lessons are fundamental to understanding how to protect
investments in people, property, and reputation.
Teams engaged in crisis management, crisis communication,
and humanitarian assistance in Phuket, Thailand, learned a number of lessons
from the experience. Each illustrates a new commitment to helping protect
companies and institutions in crisis.
1. Consequence management plans are fundamental.
It is no longer enough just to have crisis management plans
in place; the tsumani taught us that the tip of crisis management planning
- consequence management - is what can make or break a company. Clearly
good crisis management plans are helpful; yet in that one percent of the
time that exceeds a community's or company's ability to handle a "normal"
crisis, an understanding of consequence management planning is vital.
2. Public and private partnerships
are essential in disasters of this scale.
While it is true in almost every crisis, the Asian tsunami demonstrated
how public and private cooperation can make a big difference in helping
resolve issues and come to common standards. In the case of Phuket, private
business shared its expertise in the fields of information management
systems, logistic support, DNA analysis, and communication.
3. Early establishment of mutually
understood relationships with all groups in the crisis is necessary.
The size and scope of the tsunami disaster prompted more than 30 nations
and various private companies to respond. With so many resources coming
from such a large number of sources, it was critical that each entity
understood what its role was in relation to the others.
4. Early protocol controls and hierarchy
within all cooperating organizations is critical.
With 30 nations involved, standards had to be set and agreed upon early
in the process. The Thai government did an excellent job of building a
framework for cooperation among the nations involved, and even then protocols
sometimes varied. In the sensitive area of victim identification, a common
protocol was necessary to ensure all victims and their families are treated
with care and dignity.
5. Extreme flexibility is required
for varying environmental, political, and cultural factors.
Given the number of victims in the Phuket area, now estimated at over
several thousand, the highest standard of care for victims and their families
was needed, recognizing that cultures are different from country to country.
For example, Buddhist monks from nearby temples participated in remembrance
services, as did religious leaders from other faiths.
6. Uniform information sharing is
vital so that all parties have the same information in the same time frame.
In any crisis, over-communicating is a minimal concern. A good model for
this is what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other
civil aviation authorities do in the event of an airline accident: holding
twice-a-day press briefings. But before information is released to the
media, it should be communicated to each of the response agencies and,
to the degree possible, the families of the victims involved. In Thailand,
however, this model was not adhered to with uniformity and regularity.
International disasters also require experienced translators who can skillfully
articulate the disaster response process.
7. Ensure proper funding is in place
to sustain relief and recovery operations.
This is a difficult area because of what is not known at the time of the
crisis. However, a fundamental axiom in crisis management applies here.
It is much easier to spend money correctly the first time than to spend
money to do it over.
8. Provide continual health and
welfare support for all employees deployed to the disaster site.
During a crisis, most companies naturally focus their efforts on the needs
of the survivors of a crisis or their families and support groups. Companies
discovered that sustained support for those who are deployed to a disaster
site is equally important. For some, it is their first experience with
a mass fatality disaster. For others, it may be their first experience
outside their home country or working in a different culture. Long hours,
difficult work, and the stress of being away from home may foster emotional
issues long after a responder has returned home. For that reason, medical
doctors, psychological counselors, and health and safety teams were deployed
to Phuket to work with response and recovery personnel.
9. Have the depth and breadth of
personnel to sustain multiple operations over an extended period of time.
In addition to providing care for those team members at a disaster site,
it is also critical to rotate them in and out of the disaster area at
the end of a typical three-week deployment. Too much exposure to a disaster
can dull the senses and lead to both physical and emotional stress. On
the other hand, an organization needs a significant base of trained personnel
to redeploy them after their rotation. Without that breadth and depth,
a company would have a continuous learning curve and would not have developed
the relationships necessary with other interested parties.
10. Need for a dedicated, experienced
crisis management team.
A crisis is not the time to train people. A company's very existence may
be at stake, and proven people are essential in such areas as incident
management, communications, human resource management, safety, transportation,
security, and logistics. The bottom line: experience counts.
About the Author
Robert A. Jensen is President and Chief Operating
Officer of Kenyon International Emergency Services, Inc., the world leader
in disaster response coordination services. He has directed response efforts
to numerous mass fatalities including the most recent Asian Tsunami from
Phuket, Thailand; the UN Headquarters in Bahgdad, Iraq; the Bali nightclub
bombing; mortuary work at the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster; the crashes
of United 93; Alaska Air 261; Egypt Air 990; USAirways 5481; Swissair
111, and TWA 800.
He is the author of Mass Fatality and
Casualty Incidents, A Field Guide, the only published forensic text focusing
strictly on the response to mass fatality incidents. He can be reached
at (281) 872-6074 or by email at www.kenyoninternational.com
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