George Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze.
During the American Revolutionary War, logistics was one of the key factors for America winning the war and General Washington is easily debated as one of the most brilliant logisticans in American history.
This is to honor this past July 4th Holiday - America's Birthday!
The painting describes the historic moment when General George Washington led the American revolutionary troops across the Delaware River in order to surprise the English and Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton the day after Christmas in 1776.
I know we have all heard this before, and discussed at length our community relationships and the importance of maintaining those relationships.But as anything that is worthwhile, ongoing maintenance of those relationships is of the utmost importance when discussing community response post-disaster.
Recently NPR covered this topic with a great audio cast and in-depth article on the subject.The most interesting aspects of the report are the real-life stories about neighbors helping one-another in some of the most terrible disasters that have ever taken place.
After listening to the audio cast and reading the article, I felt a renewed sense of commitment to maintaining our community relationships and developing new ones.This is why I am looking forward to the next SF CARD Coffee Talk!
For more information on the next Coffee Talk, please look in the Upcoming Events section.
Empower Your Community Challenge
As one of the most respected and well-established intermediary agencies 100% dedicated to organizational disaster resilience, SF CARD is an essential link between the public sector first responders and nonprofit & faith-based organizations in disaster response and recovery efforts. We are working hard to make sure organizations will be able to meet the needs of people and their families before, during and long after a disaster strikes.
Please support us so we can support the community. We welcome donations of any size, however, when you donate $50 or more to SF CARD anytime between July 13th and September 11th, 2011, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund will generously match your donation dollar for dollar up to $5,000.
Help us reach our goal by donating to our Empower Your Community Challenge. Please make a secure online donation by credit card at www.sfcard.org, or mail your tax-deductible contribution today to SF CARD, Attn: Empower Your Community Challenge, 1675 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.
SF CARD is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) California Nonprofit. All donations are tax deductible. Tax I.D. #94-3255070
New Mapping Feature for Bay Area CAN
By Alessa Adamo
We are constantly making improvements to Bay Area CAN, the shared disaster client and resource database. Nonprofits and faith-based organizations already have a powerful tool in Bay Area CAN through use of a shared client tracking database and access to nearly 15,000 services. We already have the ability to communicate with each other through the Alert Boards where we can receive and reply to emergency notifications between each other and with local Emergency Operations. We can post reports, maps and other relevant information for easy access in the library and also create custom reports, which allow us to get information on what client services have been donated and what are their continuing needs.
But there is more. Now Bay Area CAN has the ability to map impacted disaster areas with overlays. We can map available services in and around a disaster zone and immediately pull up information about a service by clicking on its map icon (see image A). We can map clients in relation to the disaster zone and pull up their information in the same way. We have the ability to create overlays that show the impacted areas and can export those maps or place them directly on a webpage for use. And the maps have the ability to show the traffic impacts in the area as well as census data for the area(s) you are interested in (see images B and C).
These powerful mapping tools enhance the usability of Bay Area CAN by providing users with visual references to essential information following a disaster. These mapping features are easy to use, extremely accurate, have flexible options and allow for more robust analysis and future planning. It is another example of how SF CARD is working to provide the best tools for collaboration between organizations to allow for a better recovery for our clients.
In short, SF CARD and our partners at VisionLink, The American Red Cross, National CAN, and 2-1-1 of the Bay Area are working to make Bay Area CAN the most robust user friendly tool available for helping disaster clients recover through use of a nationally recognized, locally administered shared client and resource database.
For more information on how to become a member of Bay Area CAN, call Siobhann Bellinger at 415-955-8946 x 226 or email her at Siobhann@sfcard.org.
Image A
Image B
Image C
Speakers Bureau Offer from SF CARD
Looking for outstanding, professional speakers who specialize in disaster preparedness, response and recovery? Need a dynamic, motivational speaker for your upcoming event, conference or trade show?
We have a great opportunity for you to learn more about SF CARD and what we do in the community. We are available for all groups including corporations, civic and neighborhood associations, organizations, clubs, schools and religious centers.
This is a complimentary service that allows us to share important information with the community, putting in practice our mission and core values. If you would like to set up an event with one of our speakers or need additional information, please contact Kristin Szafraniec at Kristin@sfcard.org or (415) 982-8999 ext. 223.
Photo Description: Brian Whitlow, SF CARD Program Manager is conducting an ICS tabletop exercise with over 60 people during the COOP Workshop Series 2011. The Workshop was grasiously sponsored by the California Volunteers.
Health Corner
Electronic Medical Records help in the recovery of a hospital after a tornado.
First Aid kits may not be sexy, but you will love them when you need them!
By Elisabeth K Whitney
Electronic Medical Records help in the recovery of a hospital after a devastating tornado
"Electronic medical records have been seen as a tool to cut down on both costs and medical errors." We now need to add a disaster recovery benefit component to the compelling list of reasons to move to electronic medical records.
After the devastating tornado on May 23rd in Joplin, MO, St. John's Regional Medical Center was badly damaged by the storm, but because they had gone to electronic medical records three weeks before the storm, they were able to set up a mobile field hospital in the parking lot and were operational today (June 10, 2011). To see the full story click in the EMRs help in disaster link.
First Aid kits may not be sexy, but you will love them when you need them!
In the Bay Area, we will most likely face an earthquake disaster. So, are we prepared to address the kinds of injuries we may face in such a disaster? If you are a faith-based organization or a nonprofit serving vulnerable populations, those vulnerable populations will look to you for help in the disaster. Can you handle minor cuts and broken bones? You may be asked to help with simple first aid. What should we have in our First Aid kits? Who can use the medical kits at your organization? How can we afford to buy decent first aid kits?
What should we have in our First Aid kits?
Let's start with your mission, tailor your First Aid kit to meet the needs of your vulnerable population and the level of medical emergency response expertise your staff is trained to handle. Start with two questions. How many will your organization be responsible for in a disaster? (Include staff and clients when you consider building your First Aid kits.) Second, inventory the medical skills of your staff and encourage training if you do not have appropriately trained staff to respond to basic medical emergencies. Consider adding First Aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation - how to "jump start" a heart which has stopped beating) training to your job descriptions. For example, the First Aid certification which the American Red Cross offers is good for three years, and it is designed to prepare "anyone" to minimize bleeding and bandage patients for transport to a higher level of care for all types of injuries, but there are many other options too.
In an earthquake, we will see trauma injuries - cuts, crush injuries, broken bones, burns and amputations. CPR training will not help much with these injuries. That is not to say that someone who gets injured my not subsequently have a heart attack. In a mass casualty emergency (which means there are many people injured all at the same time) people who suffer complicated life threatening emergencies may not be able to get to hospitals to get the high level of care they need in a timely manner. With this in mind, those of us who have taken first aid need to keep foremost in our minds to focus our efforts on those patients who with some minor help will survive. It would be unwise to focus our attention on a critical patient who will probably die without major surgery or the like. This seems very cold, but it is the principle upon which triage (French 'to sort') works.
Triage is the system used by medical staff to sort mass casualty patients into groups divided by their level or severity of injury or illness. There are four categories. Here is an explanation of the categories. It is by no means comprehensive, and different organizations set their own descriptions for each level, but this will give you an idea of how triage works. For our purposes, 'green' is used to describe patients who have minor cuts or injuries but can move around under their own power. 'Yellow' is for more severe or complicated injuries, but these people need more than First Aid. An example of this might be - a compound fracture (a broken bone in which the bone ends are exposed to contamination through an open wound) with minimal bleeding. This patient will live in the short-term and with antibiotics should survive until the public health infrastructure is sufficiently restored to re-set bones, etc. 'Red' is considered critical, but with high level care has a good chance of survival. Depending on the disaster this group may only constitute 5 to 20 percent of the injuries. Most of the reds will move to the black category if they cannot access the appropriate level of medical care which they need. 'Black' is everyone else - all the "dead" or "about to die." 'Black' is all those individuals who will die without hospital level intervention or would die even with it. It is very important and very difficult not to offer more than just compassionate support to this group. Save your First Aid resources and use them on the individuals in the categories which may survive. You, as a First Aid responder, cannot do anything for the 'black' category patients, but you can help the 80 to 95 percent of the other injured - the 'greens' and 'yellows.'
Yes, First Aid in a mass casualty situation is huge, and I would not be surprised if you want to shy away from the whole topic, but in our effort to prepare for disasters, we need to prepare in this sphere also. So, decide what percentage of your staff needs First Aid training and get them trained.
Next, let's talk about how we develop good First Aid kits. I saw an agency evacuate in a drill situation with 3 or 4 First Aid kits which were smaller than a loaf of bread (1" x 6" x 4"). As you can imagine, a couple of alcohol wipes and half a dozen regular band-aids will not go very far in a mass casualty situation.
For an earthquake, where there will be cuts, crush injuries, broken bones, burns and amputations, our two main concerns will be to stop bleeding and protect the injuries from further infection. This is done by applying blood stopping bandaging and splinting. If treated with adequate First Aid, these 80 to 95 percent of the 'green' and 'yellow' injured should manage on their own until they start to need antibiotics to counter the spread of infection at about day 3 or 4 after the earthquake.
So, we need to re-think our First Aid kits. Many emergency medical supply vendors are happy to help build First Aid kits to meet your specific needs. They also sell First Aid kits tailored for many special situations - such as first aid kits 'for pets' and 'for travelers.' (Note: These are not recommendations just samples of what is out there.) Thankfully, much work has already been done by organizations to develop good First Aid kits. Good First Aid kits for mass casualty include loads of blood stopping gauze and bandaging materials. The amounts of stuff in the kits need to reflect the number of clients and staff you are responsible for at your agency. Here are some example kits. Again, I am not recommending any particular vendor, and they are in no particular order, but the links below do help to inform you on what should be in the kits and on how much they will cost.
As you can see, a typical 100 person mass casualty First Aid kit can cost anywhere from $300 to $800, a 500 person kit can cost $900 to $1800, and a 1000 person kit can cost anywhere from $1900 to $4000. You will need to look at the contents of the kits to compare them. While I cannot say "go to this particular foundation and make a request," I will say that you can put it in every capital fund request, and add it to any appropriate grant requests. Also, be sure to submit it as an item in your next year's fiscal budget; get your Board of Director's 'buy-in' on the need to be prepared for a disaster. It is our responsibility to educate our funders on what we need to run our organizations in good times and in disasters. Also, consider asking for help to buy in bulk. Network, see who else is interested in purchasing, and leverage your combined needs for better prices.
Who can use the medical kits at your organization?
Typically, anyone who has taken a certified First Aid course should be considered, but this is an internal organization debate which should include input from your legal department. Care which a reasonable bystander would administer falls under the Good Samaritan Laws, but if it is an employee responsibility be sure to know what your organization's liabilities are ahead of time and include this activity in your insurance coverage. I will write extensively on the Good Samaritan Laws in next month's newsletter.
We are fortunate to have Barbara Morita at our next Coffee Talk on July 15th (Coffee Talk registration) to speak to us on what you should put in your First Aid kit. There will be handouts on different types of First Aid kits made available at the talk. Be sure to register for this opportunity this week. There is a limited amount of space for this event.
As a child, I was bewitched by "The Wizard of Oz" and wanted nothing more than to be Dorothy. What I did not envy about Dorothy's adventure to Oz was how she arrived: in a tornado that twisted her house up and out of its Kansas home and deposited it in that far-away land. My mother consoled me with the notion that in shaky San Francisco, we were leagues from such dangers.
2011 has been a spectacular and horrible year for tornado destruction in the United States, with the highest loss of life since 1953 and a wicked Super Outbreak of related tornadoes in April. These events provide us with a unique opportunity to consider the tornado, inform and prepare ourselves and let our stories and myths about these powerful storms go by the wayside. Correct information can save lives.
Myth 1: Not in My Back Yard
The plains States in the area between the Rockies and the Appalachian mountains are where tornadoes strike most frequently. Known as 'Tornado Alley,' this media-friendly term is no official National Weather Service designation.While popular, the idea of 'tornado country' is only partially accurate. The US as a whole has more tornadoes than any other country by a significant margin (the average is 1,000 a year and Canada is a distant 2nd at an average 100). In 2010, 46 out of 50 US States documented tornado activity, including California.On June 2, 2011 Massachusetts had two twisters strike, the first tornado activity in the state since 2008. At least four people were killed and dozens injured and while surprising, this was hardly a unique occurrence. Tornados are not just for Kansas!
Myth 2:I'm Safe If...
It's Winter/It's day/My town is between two rivers/I live in a city/I go to the south-west corner of my basement/I open all my windows/I drive away from the storm/I park under an overpass.
Tornadoes can occur at any time of year and day, if the weather conditions exist. There is no basis for believing a tornado will strike one type of town over another. Storms do strike populated areas (and did this year). The rest of these notions can actually be dangerous pieces of advice! If outside, in your vehicle, the safest choice is to get out and away from your vehicle and get face-down, low to the ground, covering your head. Your car (like anything else) could become a projectile. And parking under an overpass is not safe, either, as the structure could collapse. If indoors, which is ideal, all reliable advice suggests leaving windows alone, getting to an interior, windowless room and staying there until 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder has passed.
Oldest known photo of a tornado. Photo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oldtorn.jpg
Myth 3:Tornadoes Are On The Rise...
With media focused on the all the devastation caused by tornado activity this year, journalists have been asking the experts if there are more tornadoes than in years past.However, there is no conclusive evidence to support this. Final counts for the first half of 2011 are not settled, and likely many reports are duplicative. We live in a time where the prevalence of video cameras and smart phones means far more reporting than ever before.Additionally, there are simply more people to report in the areas where tornadoes are most frequent than in previous centuries. We simply don't know if there have been increases over long periods of time.
Myth 4:...and Global Warming is the Culprit
This notion may not have achieved mythic status but climatologists, meteorologists and regular folks are concerned.A warmer than usual Gulf of Mexico and unseasonably cool temperatures in the Northern US and Canada is what created the perfect conditions for tornado activity this year. However, this was also a La Nina year, when cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures change the behavior of the Gulf Stream (shifting it North in this case). Two previous violent US tornado seasons were also during La Nina years: the Super Outbreak of 1974 and the Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreaks of 1936. Many scientists, such as Tim Barnett, a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, say La Nina could be a factor in the force of the weather we've experienced this year.
True Tips for Staying Safe and Reducing Damage
A storm plan is key.As in any type of disaster, the best approach is to make a plan and practice, practice, practice!
Some tornadoes strike quickly and you may not see a funnel if there are clouds or rain blocking the sky.
The classic warning signs are hail, a dark or green sky, dark low-lying clouds and the infamous noise - like a roaring freight train.If any of these signs are in play, get to a safe place!
If you don't have a basement, the safest place is a windowless, interior room away from outside walls.
DO NOT STAY IN A MOBILE HOME DURING A TORNADO.
The main reasons why the 2011 Super Outbreak in April of this year was so damaging was that the storms were maximum force - EF4 and EF5 storms, the strongest we measure - and that they hit densely populated areas such as the now famed Joplin, MO. While it's hard to combat a storm of that magnitude, most tornadoes are not that severe. A little preparedness will greatly increase your safety.
A comprehensive list of tornado-specific disaster preparedness advice and resources can found here.
What can you do in a mass casualty emergency if your staff and volunteers are wounded? How will your organization respond? What sort of First Aid supplies should your organization have put aside? What is recommended for First Aid supplies? Who needs First Aid training? How will you decide who needs to go to the hospital or to a community clinic? Where will you send your wounded? COME AND GET THESE ANSWERS!
SF CARD and the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium are partnering to bring you the next Coffee Talkon July 15th from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.!
SF CARD Coffee Talk topic: Disaster First Aid - "Everyone Plays a Role" by Barbara Morita of the Alameda Community Clinic Consortium. Barbara Morita has 30 years experience as a Physician Assistant providing health care in medically underserved communities including non-profit community clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, Health Care for the Homeless and migrant farm workers.
As member of CA-6 Disaster Medical Assistance team she has first hand disaster response experience including the World Trade Center, N.Y. in 2001, Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome and New Orleans Airport in 2005, the San Diego wildfires of 2007 and the Haiti Earthquake 2010.She also participated in tsunami recovery efforts in Patek, Indonesia through the International Medical Corps in April 2006.
She is currently the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Alameda Health Consortium of Community Clinics. She provides emergency preparedness consultation and training to emergency preparedness associations, community clinics, schools and community agencies in the Northern California region.
To register call Tel: 415 955-8946 x 253 or email RegisterForCoffeeTalk@sfcard.org to reserve your seats at the next SF CARD Coffee Talk.
This is a wonderful opportunity to network and talk with others undertaking the disaster preparedness process!
If you cannot make the July Coffee Talk, be sure to send at least one person from your organization and please feel free to invite anyone you think will be interested.
The address is 1550 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (in the penthouse of the Ham Building). Parking is free at the Potrero & 16th Street shopping center, and there will be free coffee and bagels served.
SFCCC Tel. (415) 355-2222. Click on the link http://www.sfccc.org/sfccc/contactus.html for additional information on parking, directions to SFCCC and public transit information.
Free SF CARD Trainings...
Do you have new staff? . . . Send them for FREE disaster training!!
Make sure your staff is personally prepared for disaster. This helps to ensure they are available to help out at your organization in a disaster.
STAFF READINESS
The SF CARD Staff Readiness training course is designed to help the staff of nonprofit and faith-based organizations to individually prepare for a disaster. The class is presented using a workbook which enables students to complete several of the components of staff preparedness in the classroom setting. The SF CARD Preparing Staff for Emergencies Workbook covers the following:
1.Education on Emergencies - "What to do when a specific emergency happens?"
2.Getting your family prepared - Home and go-kits, mitigating your home & your surroundings, and identifying those things you love.
3.Pre-planning for emergencies - Family Communication Plan, Evacuation Plan: Getting out of the House, and Rally Spot: Reunifying with a loved one.
4.Exercises and Resources - How to use what you have, Whistle & Flashlight exercise, and resources for Information and Supplies.
Don't miss this interactive class!
INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM (ICS)
The SF CARD Incident Command System (ICS) training is designed to teach nonprofit and faith-based organization staff and volunteers how to use this nationally accepted and tested disaster response and management system. This course introduces the Incident Command System by describing the history, features, principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. The training also uses a tabletop exercise to reinforce the learning objectives in a scenario setting.
(This interactive class lasts for three hours.)
All these trainings will take place at SF CARD. The address is 1675 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 (in the Volunteer Center).
learn more about SF CARD and what we do in the community. We are available for all groups including corporations, civic and neighborhood associations, organizations, clubs, schools and religious centers.
