Highlighting a Neighborhood Disaster Model

By Elisabeth K. Whitney 

We are pleased to introduce the newest members of the SF CARD team. Feel free to congratulate them when you see them in the field working toward a resilient community. 

Kristin Szafraniec

Director of Development

It is with great enthusiasm that I begin in my new role as Director of Development with SF CARD. This is an exciting opportunity for me as it integrates my professional experience, academic training, and my passion for Emergency Management/Public Safety.

I possess more than 20 years of combined experience and education in the private, nonprofit and public sectors. I hold a Master's degree in Criminal Justice, a Bachelor's degree in Emergency Management, and several certifications in Emergency Management including the Homeland Security and Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). I am also adjunct faculty for both ITT Technical Institute and the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) of Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), Texas A&M University System.

Prior to joining SF CARD, I managed and directed a nonprofit educational organization providing basic literacy programs and services for adults. My educational research centered on vulnerable populations and reducing barriers for those with limited literacy and limited English proficiency.

I have recently relocated back to the Bay Area, and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the important work of SF CARD.  In my new role, I will be helping to develop the organization's capacity building strategy so that we may continue and expand our services to the community. I look forward to meeting and collaborating with you and your organizations.

With Regards, 

Kristin 

Emmett Brady

Program Coordinator

Hello All,

My name is Emmett Brady, and I've recently been brought on to join the SF CARD team as a program coordinator. I've been in the Bay Area for about a year and a half now, though I call my family farm in Tennessee home; however, I think the Bay has won me over, and I won't be going anywhere for quite some time.

I come to SF CARD after completing a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service with the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin (CVNL) where I worked with nonprofits and faith based organizations primarily on disaster volunteer mobilization plans. Following the end of my service year, I worked with CVNL to offer workshops around developing continuity of operations plans (COOPs).

I hope to draw on these experiences and to grow in my time with SF CARD as we work together to create a better prepared Bay Area. Be on the look out because this means I may be the one assisting your organization to become more disaster resilient!

All the best,

Emmett

Siobhann Bellinger

Volunteer

Greetings!   

My name is Siobhann Bellinger and I am the newest volunteer to join SF CARD. I'm a San Francisco native, born and raised on 1906 history and earthquake drills, and seasoned by the experience of living through the Loma Prieta quake of 1989.  Due to the high-profile disasters in recent years, I've become increasingly interested in how I can help communities prepare and respond to emergencies.  I'm very excited to be joining a team doing such innovative work in this field.

My educational background is in the arts and humanities and since1999, I've worked with a wide array of technology companies on developing web-based and mobile applications.  One of my core competencies is in being a bridge between technical and non-technical staff. Since 2002, I've sought consultant work in which I can assist clients in adopting technology tools and best practices.  My hope is to leverage this expertise in my role supporting SF CARD. 

Some of my additional work in the realm of disaster preparation includes participating in NERT training in my neighborhood and recently joining the Disaster Services Human Resources team of the Bay Area Chapter of the Red Cross.  In general, I ceaselessly evangelize for personal preparedness!      

In addition to disaster response, I have a very diverse range of personal interests, including visual arts, comedy, cooking, cocktail mixology, cinema, community outreach, fiction of all sorts and local history.    

I look forward to meeting and collaborating with all of you during my time at SF CARD.

Best,

Siobhann

Destination Sarajevo

By Brian E Whitlow

During the month of March 2011 (March 6^th-12^th), Brian Whitlow SF CARD Program Manager visited Sarajevo.  Not for vacation, not for a disaster response, not for a humanitarian mission.  Brian visited Sarajevo to participate in a learning exchange with the Red Cross Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RCSBH) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Front gate to the RCSBH office

Over five days, Brian spent time with staff from the RCSBH and IFRC exchanging ideas, learning about each other's programs, and most importantly learning about their lives and how the Siege on Sarajevo affected their community.

Primarily I was interested in learning about the National Society's Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and Population Movement Program.  Both of these programs held particular interest for me because of the type of work they do in Sarajevo is somewhat different from the type of disaster preparedness work we undertake in the Bay Area.  Furthermore, population movement was a foreign idea for me as we, in America or in the Bay Area, typically do not deal with this issue.  In Sarajevo, the RCSBH is working with Roma Population to access services and help them to plan for their future.  The DPP resembled the type of American Red Cross services that are offered for free locally.  Red Cross volunteers respond to emergencies and disasters in their community.   Primarily the biggest risks the country faces currently, according to the Prevention Web are floods, droughts, and yes even earthquakes.  Along with training, support, and basic resources RCSBH works with local Red Cross agencies to prepare, train, and provides support to a local response during a disaster such as facilitating funds to cover response costs.  

A view overlooking the surrounding mountainside close to Sarajevo.   

In addition to learning more about the current programs they offer, I was interested in learning more about their long-term recovery from the War in Sarajevo from 1992-1996.  Specifically, I was interested in learning how a community within a particular city could live through a war and then begin the process of recovery.  The City of Sarajevo accounted for over 300,000 people in the four municipalities that make up the city (2010) that occupies 54 square miles.  I was particularly interested in learning how community organizations worked together to keep providing services with the backdrop of war, death, and lack of the most basic resources such as access to electricity, food, and water.

I was told this is a monument to the children that died during the Sarajevo War 

The Backdrop of War

Most of us are planning to be on our own for at least 3 to 7 days with the possibility of recovery taking a couple of months and years.  During the Sarajevo War, their country went roughly 4 years without the basic resources mentioned above.  When I asked several colleagues and friends I made throughout the week, the general consensus was they relied primarily on their families and neighbors.  The most common sentiment I inferred from all my conversations was that the residents in Sarajevo held strong connections, built up over forty years of living amongst one another. 

Another important factor to their survival was the volunteer spirit and informal networks.  Many of the residents volunteered to support their community.  Specifically, RCSBH performed the incredible task of providing messaging services to residents of Sarajevo.  People ran from home to home keeping the network of communication open and helping to maintain family links.  Other community-based organizations provided services such as the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  They provided food and offered emotional support. I guess the lesson I walked away from my time was that whatever a community is faced with, the key is our connections, accountability, and commitment!

One of the feelings I struggled with leading up to my trip was "should I ask people about their experience in the war?"  I had read from several travel books and websites that this particular topic was sensitive and should not be initiated as a conversation topic.  It was quite the contrary; all of the individuals I befriended were very willing and open about their personal and family experience during the war.  One particular statement sticks with me today and is from my new friend Zaklina Ninkovic (International Relations Coordinator for RCSBH).  She said that it is important to keep telling their story and develop friendships with as many people as possible.  This makes sure that the people of Bosnia & Hergzovina, who went through the horrific war, are never forgotten.  Furthermore, even though the war has been over for the last 15 years, the people of Bosnia & Hergzovina still need help.  Resources and strong connections are the best thing we can do to support their recovery effort.  If you're interested in learning more how you can help, please send me an email.

Present Day

Let me preface this by pointing out I stayed in Sarajevo for only 6 days, but in the little amount of time I spent in Sarajevo I can tell you that the City is beautiful and the people are super friendly.  As I met and talked with people, I could sense the City and its residents were experiencing a kind of rebirth.  Immediately after the war, most of the services and assistance was built on getting people back into their homes similar to post-Katrina.  Programs also were focused on reunifing families and tracing where people relocated.  The goal was to get people home and help them to rebuild their lives.  Through the years, these types of programs have become less prevelant and the focus has turned to development whether in the public sector or commerce. The country was working towards a national identity and adopting best practices.  I had the distinct pleasure to meet with the Ministry of Civil Protection and the idea that stuck out from our conversation was the change taking place.  For example, I had the chance to tour their new EOC and he mentioned that ICS was being utilized at local response levels.  He was also excited at the prospects of bringing fire departments from around the country together to train.

I took this picture which represented to me a great example of the building that is taking place in Sarajevo.  

I guess the sense now is that war and human conflict is a thing of the past and the biggest concerns are now over employment, growth, and in relation to disaster, floods and fire.  I hope someday I will get to return but in the meantime, I will stay connected with my new friends via Facebook and look forward to reading the ongoing good news!         

A Lesson From Haiti

With only local disaster responders, in a localized disaster here in San Francisco, we hopefully will not face a non-indigenous disease outbreak like that experienced in Haiti, but it is important to know how an international response can have a large impact during a catastrophic disaster.

There has been an important health related lesson learned from the disaster response and recovery efforts in Haiti. No one wants to introduce new diseases into an area. While it seems obvious to say "health screen and immunize disaster responders for diseases before deploying them," the reality is that there is a cost associated with this precaution which complicates things. This is just the tip of the ice-burg! Here are some questions to think about before you read about the events in Haiti.

• Should responders from regions where there are endemic (naturally occurring) diseases not found in the disaster region be screened differently?
• Should responding entities be held culpable if their impact was preventable?
• Who should pick up the cost for health screening disaster responders? 
• Who should control/monitor this major public health issue? Can this be mandated by the United Nations in an international disaster deployment? 
• Is there a precedent in international law? Or, does it need to be addressed in international law? 
• Does this situation constitute a crime against humanity?

While the first two answers are a resounding "yes", I do not know the answers to the subsequent questions, but the case in Haiti begs that the situation be addressed and hopefully before the next international disaster. 

Cholera is a new disease for Haitians. In Haiti, cholera has killed four thousand five hundred people and three hundred thousand have contracted the disease. Now Haitians must add another item to their long list of troubles. Cholera has become endemic to their region and will continue to affect generations in the future. 

The United Nations Camp from which the disease was spread could have managed their waste. This outbreak was preventable! Read the article below from the National Public Radio announcing the verdict on the inquiry into who brought cholera to Haiti. 

While long suspected, the verdict is now in on how cholera was introduced into Haiti after the devastating, January 2010 earthquake.

5/6/2011 Verdict: Haiti's Cholera Outbreak Originates in U.N. Camp

Suspicions that U.N. peacekeepers brought cholera to Haiti last fall are so incendiary in that beleagured nation that most health experts fighting the outbreak have refused to discuss it.

But an expert panel appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has concluded those suspicions are correct.

In a 32-page report released quietly on Wednesday, the four-person panel leaves no doubt that cholera spread quickly from a U.N. camp in the upper Artibonite River valley to waters used by tens of thousands of Haitians for bathing, washing and drinking.

So far, Haiti's cholera epidemic has sickened nearly 300,000 people and killed 4,500 of them.

While the U.N. panel stops short of saying Nepalese peacekeepers carried cholera to Haiti, their report says preliminary genetic tests indicate "the strains isolated in Haiti and Nepal ... were a perfect match."

Reflecting the sensitive nature of their findings, the panel takes pains to say the explosive outbreak was due to a "confluence" of factors "and was not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual."

Some of those factors are:

• Widespread use of the Artibonite River and its tributaries for washing, bathing and drinking; 
• Lack of immunity to cholera in Haiti, where the disease hasn't been seen for nearly a century; 
• Poor water and sanitation conditions in Haiti; and 
• An especially virulent type of cholera, with a toxin that causes more severe diarrhea. 

While all of those things contributed, the experts don't mince words in saying cholera was introduced into Haiti and spread from the U.N. camp where peacekeepers were quartered.

"The sanitation conditions at the [U.N. camp] were not sufficient to prevent contamination of the Meye Tributary System with human fecal waste," the report says. The Meye River feeds into the Artibonite, Haiti's longest river.

Sewage from the UN camp could have gotten into the river system in two ways - from a drainage canal running through the camp or from an open septic pit near the Meye River where a private contractor dumped sewage from the camp.

The experts say Hurricane Thomas last November and a flood in the region last summer played no role in spreading cholera.

The report says the U.N. should clean up its facilities around the world to make sure fecal wastes don't contaminate the environment.

Beyond that, the group says all U.N. personnel mobilized for emergencies should be vaccinated against cholera, receive prophylactic antibiotics, or both. Personnel from areas where cholera is endemic should be screened for cholera before they go to countries where it isn't a problem.

And the panel says authorities should look into using cholera vaccines to reduce spread of the disease once an outbreak has occurred - an idea that's controversial among health experts.

Secretary-General Ban says he will appoint a task force to study the panel's findings and "ensure prompt and appropriate follow-up."

Source: NPR Health News  http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/05/06/136049974/verdict-haitis-cholera-outbreak-originated-in-u-n-camp?ft=1&f=1128 Assessed 5/6/11

California Acute Care Hospitals Join Emergency Communication Network

California Hospitals Update from January 2011: 

This is an important first step in managing hospital surge in a large disaster, but it only addresses a limited number of the emergency health providing assets which local and regional multi-sector organizations hope to coordinate and utilize in a major disaster.

In Sacramento:  Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, announced today, "all hospitals in California are now linked to a statewide emergency communication system that will enable them to share information quickly and securely during a disaster. This communications partnership strengthens our ability to share emergency information between California hospitals and the California Department of Public Health. It will help us better prepare for disasters and save lives." California's 435 general acute care hospitals are enrolled in the California Health Alert Network (CAHAN), the State of California's Web-based information and communications system that is available around the clock for state and local preparedness efforts. CAHAN links health and emergency response partners together to provide:

• Rapid and secure communication among state and local health agencies, hospitals and other emergency response partners;

• Dissemination of information from state authorities about likely or imminent dangers; and

• A secure collaborative environment to develop and share information for emergency preparedness planning and response.

With the addition of three San Bernardino County hospitals -- Ballard Rehabilitation Hospital, Mountains Community Hospital and Victor Valley Community Hospital -- a two-year project to enroll every California hospital in CAHAN is now complete. Nearly 33,000 emergency response partners participate in CAHAN.  C. Duane Dauner, president of the California Hospital Association, said, "In any disaster, timely communication and information is essential. CAHAN is a vehicle that allows this to happen.  

California hospitals are pleased to be a part of this cooperative network which will assist hospitals and the State in preparing for and responding to disasters and in other ongoing operations." CAHAN was used by state authorities to share emergency information during last year's gas explosion in San Bruno, the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and wildfires in Southern California in 2007 and 2003, as well as for other emergencies and regular dissemination of important emergency preparedness information. CAHAN participants receive alerts and notifications via pager, e-mail, fax and phone.

For more information contact: Al Lundeen - (916) 440-7259  

Source: CA DPH http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR11-002.aspx Assessed 5/6/11

Where Will the Debris from Japan's Tsunami Go?

Excerpt from Grind TV

The huge tsunami triggered by the 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake destroyed coastal towns near Sendai in Japan, washing such things as houses and cars into the ocean. Projections of where this debris might head have been made by Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Maximenko has developed a model based on the behavior of drifting buoys deployed over years in the ocean for scientific purposes.

The debris first spreads out eastward from the Japan Coast in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In a year, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument will see pieces washing up on its shores; in two years, the remaining Hawaiian islands will see some effects; in three years, the plume will reach the US West Coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska, and Baja California.

To continue reading this article, visit Grind Tv's website at http://www.grindtv.com/surf/blog/25949/where+will+the+debris+from+japans+tsunami+go/