Here's the December column:
Ignore Logistics at Your Own Risk
There are key functions that every activated Emergency Operations Center (EOC) needs to be able to do. They include; gather and share information, coordinate plans and actions, and manage resources/logistics.
As “an operator” I had always concentrated on the gather, display, share, coordinate information aspect of EOC activations. In reality, if you don’t have a functional logistics section and the ability to receive, process and obtain resources in support of field response needs, you will fail as an EOC.
Here, as we are about to close out 2020, we have had some great examples of the critical nature of logistics.
Voting System Logistics: While most emergency managers have not had to directly become involved with the voting process, it should be noted that every county in the nation had to work “the logistics system of voting” in totally new ways in order to be prepared for the November election. Of particular note it was not just about ballots, but the staffing required to be ramped up to process the mail-in votes and staff the polling locations, all during a pandemic concurrent with a national record for the number of voters casting their ballots. The success of those efforts have been amazing to watch.
COVID-19 Test Kits: The shortage of test kits constrained our ability to respond to the coronavirus all year long. It started with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) not having a functional kit. Because of that testing was set-back at the outset. Other logistics issues that dogged testing was the lack of reagents and nasal swabs that are used in the testing process. As a nation we have thrashed around for most of 2020 because of the logistics issues related to test kits. 10,000.000 COVID-19 cases later, there are still calls for more testing and the requisite contract tracing that should follow a positive test result.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): The shortage of PPE became so acute in the spring of 2020 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was asked to step in and help Health and Human Services (HHS) in distributing limited supplies in the National Stockpile and then in the acquiring, prioritization and distribution of PPE to states for future distribution down to their counties, cities and ultimately their medical facilities. This work has continued through the year and may need to ramp-up in the coming weeks and months as COVID-19 cases are spiking around the nation. Many, if not all emergency management organizations were asked to step in and help with the coordination and distribution of PPE supplies.
Vaccine Distribution: You might check in with your public health authorities about what role, if any, you might play in the coming 2021 national COVID vaccination effort that is sure to be coming to every community across the United States. A vaccination effort will require many logistical considerations. Locations, staffing, supplies, equipment, parking, traffic control, security, and then there is the vaccine. Some of these vaccines require special handling for “super cooling” up until they are administered. And then some vaccines have a “two dose” regime, which will require follow-up with people who do not return after their first injection.
Look at your internal logistics process and examine them to see if you have the ability to surge capacity at a critical time when communications and staffing may not be totally capable of handling the number of requests for assistance in the form of people, supplies and equipment.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré who led the active duty Army response to Hurricane Katrina. He said, “Logistics, if it was easy it would be called taxes.”
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by Eric E. Holdeman, Senior Fellow, Emergency Management Magazine
He blogs at www.disaster-zone.com His Podcast is at Disaster Zone
