You can't prepare for an emergency after its arrival (Lesson 9)

The local chapter in New Hampshire was not prepared for the disaster of the magnitude we faced. The infrastructure of authority within the chapter was not in place when the floods overwhelmed so many families in the area. The few paid Red Cross employees cannot harness the power of good will in a community. Volunteers who have response-ability have to be in place to move quickly to bring together properly trained volunteers. It's too late to give this responsibility to someone who didn't have it before. It's too late to train people. The chapter either has the people resources to do a job well or the job is going to devolve into needless chaos.

By the time national volunteers (DSHR) arrived to provide support, there were few local volunteer caseworkers in place. The first responders made mistakes in giving funds that caused later problems. There was no volunteer who served as an official local supervisor of family services. So no one was in charge of casework that I could see.

A lack of preparation introduces needless chaos into an emergency situation. Preparing has to start at the top of the chapter but local volunteers have to be willing to assume responsibility. If a disaster involving several tornadoes reduces half of my community to rubble, I would take leave from my position to focus on pulling together the resources of materials and people necessary to respond and to put into place a structure that the DSHR people would fit into when they arrive.

I wonder how many Red Cross chapters across the country are prepared to respond to a worst-case emergency? Since more than 95% of all the work to be done would be initiated by volunteers, such preparation requires a cadre of volunteers who would make a serious commitment to providing support. If that cadre is not nurtured and valued prior to the serious emergency, the national folks who arrive by plane and car four days or so later will find much of their effort expended to manage the needless chaos.

I don't mind the inevitable chaos that accompanies a disaster. The emotionality of a disaster is unavoidable. The problem I have is with the chaos that results from the failure to establish a disciplined and structured response in the days immediately following the crisis. As DSHR volunteers our job is turn the operation over to the chapter. If the local structure is not in place in the transition, we leave feeling disappointed and worried about follow-up.