Sometimes I feel like the guy in the movie Network. “I’m mad as (blank) and I’m not going to take it anymore.” I’ve sat back and watched self-righteous news organizations and political types and the infamous, unnamed, “some-people-say” point the finger of blame at everyone in charge.

Hey, why not? If we had more Geraldo’s rescuing little old ladies from roof tops, or had just listened to old Shep or the other news anchors pleading for help, think of how things would have turned out different. Bunk!

Yes, I wish the President had come riding in on his white horse much sooner after Katrina struck. Why the heck Michael Brown didn’t have more FEMA gear read to roll is beyond me. Heck, he didn’t even follow the proscribed FEMA game plan. He should have taken a cue from the President’s brother, Jeb, who spent countless hours on scene moments after Florida’s four hurricanes smacked the state. That’s how you deal with mayhem on a state level.

Working with many in the mass casualty arena though, I can see why there were delays in the Katrina response. Hopefully, if you understand the conceptual problems working disasters pose you will begin to understand “what went wrong” without getting to the specifics of each complaint. In short, if you want answers you better know the right questions to ask. If you want results you better stop keeping score as if every event in life is always measured in “wins” and “losses”. That only works on Keith Olberman’s MSNBC TV show.

My qualifications first, if you don’t mind. For the last 4 years I have been hosting monthly programs produced by an organization trying to better prepare our first responder community for tragedies involving weapons of mass destruction. I’ve talked to dozens of the folks behind the scenes of the “faces” you’ve been seeing on TV. These are local, state and federal emergency folks who spend their lives trying to dream up worst-case scenarios and ways to better prepare for them. I’ve asked them tough questions even putting some on the spot for their “iffy” answers. They’ve never backed away or tried to “pretty up” the difficult tasks they face. They are all compassionate, intelligent individuals giving it their best. I won’t betray their confidences by naming them. I will share with you my impressions of our state of readiness based on my hours and hours of interviews.

1. We will never be prepared for worst-case scenarios. Duh! Why do you think they call them worst case? We neither have the money nor the legislative will power to spend money on projects where the results only bare fruit 100 years down the line. You make do with what you have and beg and kick and scream for more hoping the public will buy into what you are doing.

2. Government is government. By its very nature government is slow to respond. You want your 18-wheeler to drive like a two seat convertible you can forget it. Strip it down, toss out the supplies, don’t allow any backseat drivers and maybe, just maybe you’ll get it there in time to do some good. You want to change that, than get your fat butt politicians out of their pork barrels and write them a blank check with a memo attached saying, “get ‘er done no matter the cost”!

3. Nobody wants to surrender their power. Oh sure, when you sit down with the planners from all levels they tell you the incident command structure is already in place and executing it is something these folks do on a day to day basis. Hum! You mean the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana are good buddies who think alike and can complete each other’s sentences? You mean they can’t wait to surrender their cities and states to a federal militia without so much as a phone call to ask permission?

4. When things go wrong it’s never just one error, it’s a series of blunders. When New Jersey firefighters came rushing across the river to try and help New York on September 11th no one told them their hose adapters wouldn’t fit on New York’s fire hydrants. No one thought about having duplicate mobile transmitters on other buildings besides the twin towers, which were the tallest structures. No one thought folks wouldn’t evacuate their homes in New Orleans. No one thought pre-positioning school buses outside the flood zones would preserve an important mode of transportation. No one thought a Governor would tell the President of the United States she needed 24 hours to see if nationally mobilized guard units might be needed NOW!

5. Protocol is like poison; just the right amount can heal the patient, too much and the patient dies. We were so focused on following proscribed anti-terror measures of control and consent, of documentation and verification; we forgot to put a stopwatch on the process. We treated the patients’ symptoms but he was already dead before we could get the medicine in him.

6. Humans make mistakes. Yep! We’re not perfect. We are supposed to be cool and calm and collected and have all of our ducks in a row. But when the “quackers” take off on their own, when the plan isn’t followed, you’re gone lose some ducklings. And we lost a bunch. Accepting that we are human is key to understanding how to adapt to the horrific predicaments disasters bring with them.

7. Humans are unpredictable! This is the unknown that makes planners lay awake at night. When Max Mayfield of the National Weather Service wrote has apocalyptic declaration of what Katrina would do he never imagined that those in Katrina’s direct path would play dumb. The only difference between sheep and people is that sheep have wool. They can be dumb and stubborn as sticks. You can plan an exercise and have every aspect covered, where people should go, when they should evacuate, how they should evacuate, etc. But you can’t MAKE THEM LEAVE unless you plan on shooting them if they don’t. Put that in a plan and watch New York Times reporters wet their pants uncovering that story.

8. The public’s expectations can never be met. It’s not just those generations of poor folks who have become dependant on government for everything. It’s all of us who think SOMEONE ELSE should be looking out for our welfare. Ah, the price for freedom. If only socialism would catch on. We have surrendered our confidence to systems that don’t exist. We believe because we pay taxes there is a real live Uncle Sam, sort of a superman, waiting to rescue us in our time of greatest need. Government is not God. Government didn’t create Katrina so why on earth do we think government can undo all that Katrina has done in 24, 48, 72, 7-million hours for that matter.

9. It’s a numbers game. You do the best you can with what you’ve got. The more people affected the greater challenge, the greater the failures will appear. You put plans in place on the local, state and federal level to save as many lives as you can. You pray most will live but know in mass casualty events many will die. You will be heroes for saving many and blamed for those you couldn’t save even if their deaths are connected to their inability to make wise choices. Every first responder knows that intimately. It’s the undeniable truth they attempt to change with their very lifeblood.

10. There can be no successful response to mass casualty events without the private sector. People helping people for no other reason than that they are people. The units that have the most value in our lives, our churches, our neighborhoods, our families, are the units who can respond most quickly to the recovering and rebuilding process. Government needs to plan how to get out of the way and help facilitate more direct, interventional behaviors. Private sector groups generally respond from the heart while government groups, though well intentioned and perhaps as compassionate, respond out of obligation to their constituents, their leaders, their political parties and the media.

Sorry this is such a long list. I can’t stand it when complicated issues are glossed over for cute four-word headlines. Until you understand the “rules” of dealing with disasters you cannot fully appreciate why there are “delays” in delivering aid. And if you think those delays occurred because emergency folks were sitting on their butts, or because the people in need were poor and black, or because the President doesn’t like black people, than you are not only living in a state of denial… you are digging yourself into a dependency hole from which there is no escape. And that kind of thinking may be more deadly to this nation than the floodwaters and wind that Katrina brought our way.

Al Ruechel, Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved

Like today's commentary? Hate it? Send your comments here..