Emergency Management

“Emergency Management” the Real Katrina Catastrophe
By Daniel G. Jennings
The real cause of much of the suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath maybe a government dogma called Emergency Management.
The idea behind Emergency Management is that a group of bureaucrats can draw up a plan that will address all of the problems created by a disaster and implement it. These plans are usually drawn up by high paid consultants and preceded by lots of meetings where officials sit around drinking coffee and watching slide shows. The bureaucrats will then direct the disaster rescue and relief effort.
This of course is a prescription for disaster, just as no battle plan can survive contact with the enemy no emergency management plan can survive a real emergency. Bureaucrats used to sitting in offices, shuffling paper and attending meetings are ill prepared for dealing with real emergency situations.
We saw a prime example of this in Louisiana where the state department of Homeland Security the state’s emergency management agency actually hindered relief efforts. The Red Cross tried to deliver supplies to people trapped at the Superdome and other locations. Emergency managers blocked these efforts because they weren’t part of the emergency management plan. Real people suffered and suffered badly.
The only agencies that effectively helped the people in New Orleans were old fashioned results focused ones. The military, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Coast Guard, the police, fire departments etc. These people effectively responded to the plan because they came in rolled up their sleeves and got to work and forget about the plans.
In other words the Emergency Managers were useless and perhaps unnecessary. Nothing shows this more than the President’s decision to pull Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown out of the disaster area and replace him with veteran Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.
Brown of course is typical of emergency management officials, he’s a politically connected lawyer with little or no background in dealing with emergencies. Thad Allen on the other hand has decades of experience rescuing and helping the victims of accidents and disasters.
Perhaps it’s time for us to look at doing away with Emergency Management and going back to the traditional method of having established authorities, the military and charities deal with disasters. This would save taxpayer’s money and alleviate suffering.
We also should ask ourselves is the expensive new Department of Homeland Security really necessary? Will it prevent a single terrorist attack or provide an effective response to one? Or will it become a catastrophic failure like FEMA?
More importantly, we should question the mindless faith in bureaucracy and planning. Perhaps it’s time to start looking for real world responses rather than fancy plans.