Emergency Preparedness Project

1
Emergency Preparedness Project

• Bridge Meeting
• Okemah, OK
• 4-13-09

2
Summary of Previous Meetings

• Meeting 1 Okemah Emergency Management Personnel
• 3/13/09
• Personnel from health department, EMS, city and
  county emergency management, Creek Nation,
  Creoks, churches
• Meeting 2 Boley citizens
• 3/24/09
• Expressing their opinions on past emergencies and
  sharing their experiences

Both groups answered same list of questions
3
Items Discussed

• Recent Experiences with Natural Disasters
• How well community responded / preparation level
• Least prepared for disasters
• Assistance available
• Existing Resources
• Local organizations involved in helping community
  prepare
• Other organizations who could be involved
• Assessing the EPD Project
• Are the steps reasonable / appropriate?
• Value of community coach
• Is the vulnerability assessment process useful?

4
Todays Agenda

• Session 1 Some Areas of Agreement
• Session 2 Some Areas of Differences
• Session 3 Opinions on the EPD Project

Responses / comments from first two meetings will
be shown, then break into discussion groups for
more in-depth conversation
5
Some Areas of Agreement

• Issues / topics that were consistent in both
  meetings

6
What Type of Natural Disasters Did You Experience?

• Ice Storms (Winter 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2001)
• Fires (Nov 2006, Spring 2007)
• Droughts / Fires
• Floods
• Tornadoes

7
What Type of Damage Did Your Community Suffer?

• Most Common
• Loss of electricity
• Fences / hay / livestock lost in fires
• Less Frequent
• Trees lost
• Paden gymnasium collapsed
• Street / road damage
• Weleetka businesses lost

8
Who in Your Community Was Least Able to
Prepare?Why?

• Elderly
• Lack of planning
• Lack of mobility
• Poor communication
• Those with small children
• Lack of mobility

9
Did You Get Information About the Natural
Disaster Ahead of Time?

• Mostly Yes
• But, sources of information used were varied
  (next section)
• Acknowledged strength of community
• Personal contacts
• Need for improved outside communication noted

10
What organizations could be valuable (but may not
have been involved up until now)?

• Some disagreement about which ones are currently
  involved (next section)
• Those who could help
• Ministerial alliance
• Local businesses
• Fire dept auxiliaries

11
Some Areas of Differences

• Issues / topics where there were inconsistencies
  between groups

12
How Well Did Your Community Respond?

• Some thought the community responded quite well
• Well-trained combination of entire community
• People know their roles
• Some felt the community did not respond well
• Lack of a plan / lack of generators / equipment
• Some were very aware of Emergency Operations
  Management (EOM) plans, others were not
• Some knew immediately who to call / where to go,
  for others the information was not obvious

13
How Well Did Your Plan Work?

• Some were very aware of Emergency Operations
  Management (EOM) plans, others were not
• Some saw the plan as a success for obtaining /
  staging resources, others knew little about the
  plan
• Most agreed that educating the public about these
  plans is problematic

14
Sources of Information

• Some indicated that most of their information
  came from TV which had very little coverage for
  their specific community
• Weather radios were also used
• Others mentioned contact from the emergency
  management team within Okfuskee county
• Local contacts also seen as very important

15
What Local Organizations Were Involved in Helping
Your Community?

• Some saw very few local organizations that were
  involved
• Red Cross
• Fire Department
• Police
• Others saw a lot more
• Health Dept
• Department of Human Services
• Schools
• Hospitals
• State Govt
• Salvation Army

16
What are the Best Sources of Information for
Needs of At Risk People?

• Some listed large organizations
• DHS
• Health Department
• Schools
• Others listed local individuals or organizations
• Volunteer Fire Department
• Local leaders
• Church members

17
The EPD Project

• Feedback on the steps involved and the community
  coach

18
Overall Assessment of EPD Project Process

• Most were fairly optimistic
• Felt it represented a good starting point
• Having an organized plan would help keep people
  from panicking
• Very inclusive
• Good to look at areas that are at risk
• Useful for future planning
• Involvement of new people is useful, but
  challenging
• Helps agencies who think about what if to be
  better prepared
• Will encourage participation from larger
  community groups

19
Overall Assessment of EPD Project Process

• But some had a few problems with it
• Getting community involvement will be difficult
• Having enough volunteers to develop and implement
  the plan would be challenging
• Would require some technical expertise to
  implement
• Education needed before process even begins
  (particularly for surrounding communities to
  learn about each other)
• How does it get updated?
• Need for person-to-person recruitment will be
  time consuming

20
Thoughts on the Community Coach

• Most generally thought it was a good idea
• Must be someone from outside the community, with
  experience
• Would be necessary to have this person
• Good for motivation, and experience from other
  sites
• But there were a few problems noted
• Community coach cant do it all
• Difficult for the coach to relate to community
• Trust is an issue
• Cant have an overbearing personality
• How would they be funded?!