Officials make changes to be better prepared for disasters

Friday, June 10, 2011

Tornadoes like the one that ripped through Joplin, Mo., May 22, are not common. But they do happen, and Nevada is in the right part of the country for one of those EF4 or EF5 monsters to rampage out of the plains and devour just about the whole city during any given spring; and the city of Nevada is evaluating its resources and procedures in an effort to be better prepared should such an emergency occur.

Everyone seems to agree that it is impossible to think of everything needed in a response effort. Nevada City Manager JD Kehrman said there's "a small army of full time experts," involved -- such as the police department, the fire department, the ambulance district, the sheriff's office, county emergency management, city workers from the street crew, the construction crew, workers from the water and sewer contractor, Alliance, and possibly personnel from the parks and recreation department, not to mention volunteer organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

They and many, many more like them would be needed, but until others could respond with mutual aid, the city would "need to be able to do it ourself until help arrives," said the Nevada Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Robert Benn.

All of the city's departments sent workers to Joplin, where officials said they gained valuable experience on the scene and some of the lessons learned there will be incorporated into the city's disaster plan -- which according to Benn, already is in a 3.5-inch, three-ring binder and it is full.

Benn also said "that plan is a guide." Nothing can be done to adequately prepare for something on the scale of the Joplin tornado. If a storm like that came through the middle of Nevada moving east to west, it would destroy everything but a few blocks on the northern and southern edges of the town. "Town gone!" said Vernon County Ambulance District Director and Nevada City Councilman James McKenzie.

"There is no magic book" that will prepare any community for such an event, said McKenzie. Most people can't grasp the magnitude of it, either. "Until you walk it, see it, smell it, you have no idea" what a scene like that looks like, he said.

"We thought we were prepared," McKenzie said, "but things have changed."

After their experiences in those first days following the Joplin tornado, the ambulance district immediately began implementing some new policies.

On June 1, McKenzie and VCAD board member Mark Humphrey went to Jefferson City, Mo., to pick up a load of medicines and other items to replenish the district's depleted medical supplies. Normally, the district keeps enough medical supplies on hand to treat about 20 patients said McKenzie; but he and Humphrey were on their way to get enough medicine, IVs, saline solution and other commonly used items to treat 1,200 people. Part of the reason for changing the large inventory is because in the event of a major incident, local "services give out their stuff first," said Tina Werner of VCAD. That means that in a big disaster, there just wouldn't be enough to treat everyone.

Keeping a larger supply and rotating the stock to keep it timely will go a long way toward being able to handle a sudden disaster of major proportions, VCAD officials said.

Werner said that they arrived in Joplin to help and "they moved us three times before we actually set up." She also said that they were short on medications, there weren't enough masks to deliver what oxygen they did have; and there were patients in need of stitches, but there were no suture kits available.

Medical needs aren't the only issue. A ravenous tornado leaves the gutted and splintered remains of people's homes and lives in its wake, and there has to be a way to get through all of that debris to search for survivors and victims. That is another area where VCAD would like to make some changes.

McKenzie said that some of their equipment wasn't adequate for the job. The rescue saws, chain saws, portable lights and other items used by VCAD are, for the most part, very good equipment, but McKenzie said there just wasn't enough of it for the job they had to do. That insufficiency of equipment "was almost a helpless feeling," he said. VCAD is taking steps to increase equipment so they can be of more help.

McKenzie also stressed that most people can help themselves before his expertise is needed.

"Be prepared" with some basic survival items, McKenzie said. Flashlights, water, non-perishable foods, a weather radio and other items can all go into what he called a "survival bucket." People should be prepared to care for themselves and their neighbors for a few days, and that will go a long way toward helping the entire community. Above all, residents should make an emergency plan and stick to it. Jeri Senkevech of VCAD said that she talked to many, many survivors in Joplin and "they had a plan," she said.

"It has certainly been a wake up call," McKenzie said.

Comments
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: