AMERICAN RED CROSS DISASTER SERVICES COLORADO WILDFIRES Lessons

AMERICAN RED CROSS DISASTER SERVICES COLORADO WILDFIRES Lessons Learned Dr. Lizabeth Jordan March 27, 2013

Focus Areas o Multi-jurisdictional coordinated response and recovery in large scale disasters o Involving emergency management, human services, public health, non-profit and disability communities in response and recovery operations o Applying lessons learned from recent disasters to situations that might occur in Arizona

Coordinated Response o Before n Partnerships/relationship building n Planning, setting expectations, resources, information sharing o During n Communicate to avoid redundancies n Provide ongoing updates n Stay in your lane but – you drive o After n Celebrate and strengthen relationships n Analyze after action review

Example of Community Partnerships o o o Office of Emergency Management First Responders Faith based organizations School Districts/Universities Care and Share/ Tri Lakes Cares Catholic Charities/ Ecumenical Social Ministries United Way 211 County Health Dept. and Dept of Human Services Grocery stores and restaurants Pharmacies/Optical Centers Hotels and Motels/Private Businesses

Lessons Learned o Wildfire Lessons Learned n n Successes Opportunities Risk Management Mitigations

Successes o Six shelters in a two hour period o Smooth operations with partners o Joint functional success o Exercised FNSS prior to the actual event o Community assisted with displaced clients o Whole community focus

Opportunities o Conduct a listening session with FNSS clients to hear their concerns n Transportation n Space allocation n Equipment and Adaptive technologies o Find out challenges that partners experienced during the event n Communication with National Volunteers n Process issues

Risk Management o Communicated with partners and instructed them to call me if any issues arose o Consulted resources to research laws and policies o Leadership of all agencies met to discuss future plans o Discussions and tough questions were asked to avoid issues

Mitigations o Met with ADA Rocky Mountain Agency to review laws and policies and request their inspection, input and feedback if we open a shelter o Established a plan for future Operations Management Center o EOC will be staffed by local personnel o CEO fundraised and purchased additional trailers with supplies to be prestaged in prone disaster areas

Ready When the Times Comes Training o Can be likened to the ability to have Just in Time Training, with a twist. o Q: How does it work? o Q: What are the Pros and Cons? o Q: Is there one standardized training model for RWTC? Why or why not?

Functional Needs Considerations ADA compliance vs. accessibility Establish a common ground Functional needs clients are not to be singled out Mitigate concerns We do accept service animals In advance it’s wise to include ADA when completing the checklist o It takes both of us to succeed, information sharing, setting expectations and inclusion in the understanding of meeting these expectations o o o

Working with ADA Agencies o ADA Listening Sessions n Provide a safe environment n Empathize don’t sympathize o Set expectations o Explain the difference between ADA Compliance vs. Accessibility or Accommodations o Ask for their help and engage them during drills or small events