COVID-19 • Emergency Preparedness Personnel

February 28, 2020

One key tenant of emergency preparedness; in a crisis, your action in the first minute defines the outcome of the first hour.  Actions in the first hour define the outcome of the first day; the first day defines the first week and so on. Mistakes made compound over time and need a lot of effort to overcome.

September 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla, the emergency preparedness coordinator for Morgan Stanley safely evacuated over 1,000 people from the 44th floor of the south tower.  How?  He forced Morgan Stanley to prepare.  He forced them to drill; to find the exits and use them.  He prepared them for the first minute; and when the time arrived, they acted on their training. Only one person died.

The initial Chinese response to COVID-19 was poor. Their classically authoritarian response made much of their suffering, self-inflicted. However, once they opened their respond, they bought most of the world several weeks to prepare.

Or not.

The worlds’ response is in large part chaos, for the lack of any effective leadership.  The United States, the go-to global leader in healthcare, is still in failure mode and we will now see how hard it will be to catch up.

Emergency Preparedness Personnel are expensive and annoying.  Drilling emergencies is expensive and annoying.  Maintaining supplies for emergencies is expensive and annoying.  Failing to do those things … to turn a phrase … is priceless.  That the US government is aggressively cutting these very tools of our combined safety is stunningly stupid.

After a perfect evacuation of the entire Morgan Stanley staff, Rick Rescorla returned south tower trying to save more.  He was Morgan Stanley’s only fatality.  RIP sir.