The identified areas are 1) Sheltering, 2) Disaster Assessment, 3) Mobile Feeding, and 4) Bulk Distribution. Additionally, it is my opinion that Staff Services must be involved in the early phases of the response.

Part I of this article covers 1)Sheltering and 2)Disaster Assessment. Part II covers 3)Mobile Feeding and 4)Bulk Distribution.

Sheltering

Sheltering may be split into two basic types; shelters opened in coordination with emergency government and shelters opened singly by the Red Cross. This article discusses only the former, see Thoughts on Fire Sheltering (not yet published) for the later.

The process is generally;

1. Red Cross receives notification from Emergency Government that an incident has occurred and a shelter may need to be opened
2. Red Cross discusses possible locations with Emergency Government regarding possible shelter sites. Together, they choose an appropriate site.
3. Red Cross contacts the persons authorized to provide access to the selected facility. Emergency Government often helps to expedite this step.
4. The facility’s authorized persons grant permission and open the facility to Red Cross personnel.
5. Red Cross personnel walk through the facility and layout spaces to meet expected needs.
6. Red Cross personnel staff the facility and transport needed supplies to the facility.
7. The facility is opened to persons affected by the disaster.

As may be seen, this is a multi-step process which does involve some time between identifying a need and having an open shelter. Since Emergency Government has some legal authority, their involvement in the process really does expedite steps 1-5. This basically leaves step 6 as the critical point for Red Cross to improve upon.

Selection of a quality shelter facility is very important since it is difficult to relocate a poorly selected facility. This means that many persons are involved in the selection process. Some of the Red Cross persons involved are the Director, Mass Care Administrator, Material Support Services Administrator, Information Management Support Administrator, and the involved Liaisons.

Just because the shelter facility selection involves many lead persons, does not mean that acquiring the staff and supplies needed for step 6 should be delayed. A variety of staff templates could easily be created and used by Staff Services or others to start rostering staff for the next 48 hours. We already have Go Kits for the materials needed to start shelter operations so no further attention is needed there.

If there is uncertainty about the final facility selection, staff should be gathered at a staging area for quick deployment.

Disaster Assessment

Disaster Assessment is required for planning service delivery beyond the the first night and for determining needed budget, supplies, and staff. Therefore, it is critical that Disaster Assessment be completed as soon as possible, typically that means within 36 hours of the disaster incident.

The actual task of Disaster Assessment is relatively easy so the important factors in timely completion are having staff and transportation available during daylight hours. An additional head start may be accomplished by gathering information from all staff who are responding to the incidents. Information gathered from staff traveling through affected areas and staff serving affected areas (mobile feeding). If the incident occurs within about 4 hours to sunset, Disaster Assessment should be planned for sunrise of the next morning. If the disaster incident occurs early in the day, then an initial Disaster Assessment could be started that same day.

Prior to the actual deployment of a team, a lot of the Preliminary Damage Assessment may be completed.

A Disaster Assessment team consists of a minimum of 3 persons with a vehicle and a communications link to the Group Manager. Requests for personnel should be made as soon as possible. Trying to initiate a Disaster Assessment too early, however; leads site access problems, the need to redo certain areas, and the frustration of staff. Assemble as many teams as are needed to likely complete the Disaster Assessment within 8 hours. Staff Services seems to me the likeliest place to request staff from.

Part I of this article covers 1)Sheltering and 2)Disaster Assessment. Part II covers 3)Mobile Feeding and 4)Bulk Distribution.