A critical next step for the Ohio train derailment disaster
The Ohio chemical train derailment disaster is very difficult to comprehend.
There are many aspects to the disaster that inflame its impact:
Environmental contamination.
Scope of contamination.
Government / corporate negligence, inaction and delayed action.
While we could go into detail about hazards or negligence, there is a critical step that needs to be taken. This step is a role FEMA is expected to take, but for reasons unknown has failed to deliver prompt and satisfactory results.
The step I am referring to is emergency organization.
An emergency organization establishes a coherent workflow to stabilize potential danger and exposure to hazards. It does so by organizing responsibility and expertise into discrete logical units. This is standard practice for most commercial facilities.
What can be done if this step remains unfulfilled?
The people can form their own Emergency Response Organization (ERO).
In a previous article I explain an organizational structure for preparedness groups.
This structure is derived from a typical organization at nuclear facilities. It can be modified slightly under an ERO to deliver an effective functional system to manage a disaster, which uses a standard organizational scheme to deliver professional results.
The citizens of Ohio — or any state or province — could staff, or request volunteers to staff, their own ERO.
This proposed ERO is composed of a Management Board and 5 Function Units.
(The management board should have experienced senior managers or military experience).
Organization Structure
Emergency Response Organization (ERO):
Publicly operated emergency response organization.
Emergency Management Services (EMS)
Manage hazard and protect public.
Operations (OPS)
Execute field tasks assigned from other Functional Units.
Project Management Office (PMO)
Plan and develop deliverables for other Functional Units.Training and Human Resources (TNG&HR)
Identify, acquire and train personnel to support ERO and Functional Units.Communication Management Services (COMMS)
Manage information and internal / external communication.
Organizational Responsibility
Each Functional Unit has several Sections to divide the workflow into logical blocks. These Sections depend on the size of ERO. Below are some possible responsibilities for each Functional Unit, which could be organized into Sections.
ERO.
(Management Board)Provide decision making and set direction.
Provide stakeholder management.
Act as the primary interface with external organizations.
EMS.
Assess risks.
Plan responses.
Respond to, monitor and stabilize contamination hazards.
Delegate tasks to OPS, PMO, COMMS or TNG&HR.
Execute critical tasks.
OPS.
Execute field tasks.
Liaise with external resources and organizations.
Perform independent audits.
Manage and procure necessary resources.
PMO.
Plan deliverables assigned by other Functional Units.
Procure or develop deliverables.
Integrate deliverables for Functional Units.
Communicate requirements and deliverables through COMMS.
TNG&HR.
Identify training needs for staff and stakeholders.
(Procure or develop through PMO).Deliver training.
Identify personnel needs.
Acquire personnel.
COMMS.
Manage sensitive information.
Provide internal communication channel for Function Units.
Communicate with public.
Store records for public.
Example
Contamination monitoring is critical to avoid exposure to hazards.
There are various levels of monitoring and detection to manage exposure.
(e.g., In nuclear there are Geiger counters, TLD badges and dosimeters).
ERO workflow implementing a monitoring / detection system
Below is a simple workflow describing ERO delivering a contamination monitoring solution to the public.
EMS identifies the requirement to provide contamination detection.
(e.g., Common household detection, garden soil detection, etc.)
EMS sends requirements to PMO who then develops or procures a solution.
The delivered solution is communicated through COMMS to ERO.
ERO communicates to stakeholders through COMMS about new systems.
PMO delivers the solution to EMS/OPS who deploys it in the field, and works with TNG&HR to ensure the systems are used as designed.
Why is this necessary?
A structured response is expected by the public, which has a psychological benefit.
This psychological benefit is necessary to persevere through a crisis.
It may seem like overhead — and for simple tasks it is — but the ERO structure addresses the severity of the risk. It establishes a clear workflow and set of functional responsibilities that makes planning, execution and responsibility transparent.
Consider the following resources:
Hazardous response.
(FEMA)Advanced Life Support Response to Hazardous Materials Incidents.
(FEMA)Decontamination and Population Monitoring/Environmental Remediation.
(FEMA)Nuclear contamination.
(Other similar fields)
How useful are these resources without an organization?
An organization can formulate their use, plan a response, acquire the right people to do the right job, execute that response and communicate with the public. Information is important, but utilizing it through a structured team is even more important.
Recent public example
In February 2022, Canadian truckers formed a plan to protest government COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa. Thousands of long haul truckers from across the country mobilized as the Freedom Convoy. They were supported by thousands of other Canucks fighting for freedom.
The public response was overwhelming in Canada and throughout the world.
Eventually, the truckers legally formed an organization. This ensured the protest was structured, which offered clear and precise communication.
When dealing with significant numbers of people, an organization and its public communication plays a key role, especially during crisis management.
Risks
Liability
An organization creates a target to blame.
This is true especially if a mistake is made or it conflicts with a government agenda.
A recent example occurred during the trucker convoy where perceived mistakes were blown out of proportion by media. In some cases, fabricated issues were promoted by media and circulated as disinformation. These claims even made appearances at the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC).
Intelligence reports by the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC), which is part of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), said that some convoy supporters "advocated civil war," had "called for violence against prime minister Justin Trudeau, and said the protest should be 'used as Canada's 'January 6'."
The ITAC reports, which were seen by The Guardian, warned in late January that "extremists" were "likely involved" and the "potential for violence remained real."
— Timeline of the Canada convoy protest, Wikipedia
Possible risk mitigation:
A close relationship with the public to maintain positive public perception.
Transparent planning, execution and dispute resolution process.
A retained legal council.
Consider the distorted public perception of the Canadian trucker convoy.
OPS announced on Twitter that there was a “concerted effort” to flood 911 with "excessive calls to jam up Ottawa's emergency call system.
The OPS reported that the these nuisance calls—many of which came from the United States—were part of a efforts that were "ongoing throughout this demonstration" to swat-and-dox OPS "organizations and logistics."
The prank calls "endanger lives." These calls were tracked and police will "charge anyone deliberately interfering with emergencies.” OPS Chief Sloly said the 911 calls were considered to be "linked to the ongoing protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates."
— Timeline of the Canada convoy protest, Wikipedia
The original source for this statement is CTV News.
'Completely unacceptable': Ottawa police say 911 lines being purposely flooded.
We do not know if this actually happened or not.
This is one reason Wikipedia should not be trusted, because it contains biased framing that is intentionally distorted through public / private partnerships.
Government uses any means necessary to portray political adversaries as negative.
Integrity
There are 3 security risk categories:
Physical security.
Information security.
Organizational security.
“Bad actors” can infiltrate an organization to destabilize it or create liability scenarios and a negative public perception. A recent example is the Project Veritas board of directors that ousted James O’Keefe as CEO.
“I need to make clear that I have not resigned from the company that I founded. On February 10th, while I was on PTO mandated by the Project Veritas board of directors, the board had a meeting.
The minutes of the meeting were shared with me and I was stripped of my position as CEO and Chairman of the board of Project Veritas. I came to the PV office today to remove my personal belongings and share truth with our staff.”
— Update: James O’Keefe Removed As CEO of Project Veritas, Infowars
Security measures must be taken to prevent these scenarios. If the derailment disaster was the result of bad actors, then rest assured there is an incentive to disrupt and attack a publicly created response organization.
Concluding remarks
This type of organization is independent from government organizations.
In the event an external organization takes command of the situation, e.g., FEMA or EPA, ERO can shift its attention to monitoring and auditing the government while maintaining a communications channel with the public.
Some organizations are now slowly responding to the situation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Norfolk Southern on Tuesday to pay for the cleanup of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck and chemical release as federal regulators took charge of long-term recovery efforts and promised worried residents they won’t be forgotten.
— EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up toxic derailment, AP News
Establishing an ERO after the fact still has the benefits of holding these organizations to account through independence, auditing and public oversight.
Environmental assessments for other Ohio disasters have seen tragic setbacks.
Five people who were on their way to Ohio to respond to an explosion at a metal manufacturing plant earlier this week were killed in a plane crash Wednesday in Arkansas.
All five people have reportedly been confirmed dead, according to our affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati. They were part of a science consulting firm and expected to visit the explosion site near Cleveland.
— 5 confirmed dead after Ohio-bound plane crashes in Arkansas, WDTN News
Regardless of the severity or solutions for the disaster, an ERO is an effective publicly operated system to manage the situation. Due to its flexibility, ERO can be implemented at various scales with varying degrees of rigour.
The more people involved, the more risk, which requires rigour and structure.
It is time the public organizes itself and accepts that government no longer has our best interest in mind. There is no reason why citizens cannot use effective and proven methods to provide the same, if not better, results that government organizations are expected to deliver.
This idea is important, because it is the professional response the public expects and needs. It creates a symbol of hope, a system to restore trust and a workflow to minimize harm and restore damage.
That is why maintaining the integrity of the organization is critical.
Remember, the future is in our hands.
Get on your feet and make the future a good one.