Since Sept. 11, 2001, a hurricane has devastated the Louisiana and Texas coastlines, and the Northeast has been covered in more snow than it can remove.
In this corner of the world, Gothenburg and Grant have had tornadoes and ice storms wreaked havoc on public power districts and left thousands without power.
Of these area incidents, none resulted in mass fatalities but they could have, according to Peter Teahen, president of International Mass Fatalities Center.
Teahen defined a mass fatality as any disaster that causes loss of life and human suffering that cannot be met through usual individual and community resources.
“In most metropolitan communities, that can be as few as 30 deaths,” Teahen said.
During the next few days, Teahen will be working with North Platte and Lincoln County emergency personnel to teach them how to handle a mass fatality situation. Jim Nitz, emergency management director, asked Teahen to come to North Platte after attending a workshop a couple years ago.
There are reasons why communities haven’t adopted mass fatality procedures and policies, Teahen said.
People are apathetic and believe the federal government will fix whatever happens, he said.
In Clark County, Nev., Las Vegas not only didn’t have a current disaster plan, it was buried so well no one knew where it was located.
“It was four pages long,” Teahen said.
Teahen uses two manuals, heavy and filled with papers divided by job description and resource tabs, which he will leave with Nitz.
He questions the participants on Tuesday about medical staff, funeral homes, holding areas for the dead and how to handle the influx of grieving family members.
“Where will you put them when you also have 1,500 emergency workers coming in?” Teahen asked. “How long will you hold personal effects?”
In North Platte, participants said vehicle crashes on Interstate 80 are an example of a potential mass fatality. Teahen said County Attorney Jeff Meyer said three fatalities taxes resources.
There were also concerns about chemical and Union Pacific accidents, a tornado, ethanol plant problems, a flood and a plane crash.
Challenges facing the community after a mass fatality could fall under religion, language barriers, ethnicity, and in the event of a terrorist attack, a retaliatory event.
In Teahen’s case, he was in New Orleans when reports started rolling about Hurricane Katrina making landfall.
“I could not convince people they needed to take it seriously,” he said.
Watch Friday’s Telegraph for photos from Thursday’s mass fatality exercise.
©North Platte Telegraph 2007 |
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