All-Hazards Regional Evacuation Planning

Today, I attended a regional evacuation planning workshop at the Washoe County Regional Emergency Operations Center in Reno. Conducted by Jonathan Best of Disaster by Design LLC, the day one focused on the importance of a team approach to planning for all-hazards.

After the first day, I went away with five key lessons to ponder over:

• Preparedness starts at personal and family level- it is crucial to have family communication plan for the family to re-unite after an evacution
• Cities need to plan for spill-over effects of handling evacuees from nearby cities of states- Nevada needs to plan to receive evacuees from California, Arizona, Utah or Oregon
• Evacuation planning must take into consideration vulnerable populations with special needs
• It is important to consider hospitals and healthcare as part of the critical infrastructure to be at the top of the list for evacuations
• Public-private partnerships are crucial in planning, response and recovery during disasters  

As the workshop continues tomorrow, I will keep an eye on finding a different perspective on all-hazard planning.

Gideon F. For-mukwai, CEM

Reno-Nevada ’s Premier Emergency Management Blog

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Washoe County Becoming Epicenter of Swine Flu in Nevada

With latest reports of new cases of swine flu confirmed in Washoe County, our county is apparently the epicenter of this disease in Nevada. Reno Gazette Journal reported this morning that there are 20 confirmed cases with over 50% at Mendive Middle School in the City of Sparks. 

This raises new questions about what local authorities are doing to curb this flu. Is Washoe County School District in collaboration with Washoe County Health District doing enough in handling this issue in our county?

• Are the school and health districts doing enough to curb the spread?
• Are the authorities acting or reacting to the situation?
• What else are they doing to prevent a further worsening of the situation?
• Are the authorities complacent or issues unattended to?

Weeks ago, when the authorities refused to close down the pre-school that had the first case of H1N1 in Washoe County, I was very troubled because they missed a huge opportunity to restore public confidence. Their refusal to close down that school, troubled me because when I lived through SARS in Singapore  the situation was different. Before the peak of the dissease, the government closed down all schools just to restore confidence, not withstanding the fact that not all schools had SARS cases.

If you can leave me your point or a question on this matter, I will seek an interview with the authorities to dig to the bottom of this matter.

Gideon F. For-mukwai, CEM

Reno ’s Premiere Emergency Management Blogger

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