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Puerto Rico Emergency Management Chief Fired

There is no excuse that the public will accept.

When citizens found out that there was a warehouse full of disaster supplies, expired or not, there was great outrage in the community, see Video Reveals Unused Earthquake Aid in Puerto Rico: ‘We Are Outraged.’

I think that if the public — I mean where you live and work — knew that the majority of donated goods, here I'm talking about clothing items, etc., went to the landfill and were never used, there would be outrage for that occurring too. The reality is we are not terrific at the use and distribution of disaster supplies, especially donated goods. 

My mantra has always been, if I'm going to be fired, let it be for something I did and not for what I did not do. So, be as proactive as possible in all that you do. 

 

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.