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After a year of deliberation and research, On September 11, 2007, the FOCUS St. Louis Regional Disaster Preparedness Task Force released a report to the community assessing the region's state of preparedness and offering nearly 20 recommendations pointing the way to a safer, better prepared region. The report also includes compelling data regarding the likelihood of specific disasters for this region, the potential effects of these disasters, and research displaying the lack of synergy among our numerous governmental, private/business, communications, education, and emergency response systems.
Commenting on the work of this task force, Nick Gragnani, executive director of the St. Louis Area Regional Response System (STARRS) says, "This study is crucial in that it reminds us that disaster preparation needs to be a consistent part of our habits and routines. It's a matter of planning not just once, but of regularly re-visiting plans and adjusting them as needed."
Joe White, CEO of the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter adds, "Many of the lessons from this FOCUS St. Louis report apply not only to mega-disasters, but to smaller scale emergencies as well. One of the report's themes can't be stressed enough to civic leaders: Thinking and working cooperatively are essential to regional readiness. No municipality or neighborhood can prepare in a silo…"
The task force report shows us ways to be better prepared for disasters. We owe this to ourselves, our children and our communities. Gary Dollar, CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Louis said, "We can save untold lives and dollars by heeding just some of the recommendations of the FOCUS St. Louis disaster preparedness task force. The investment we need to make in both time and dollars is miniscule when you consider the potential savings in lives and money."
For more information on the work of the Disaster Preparedness Task Force, contact Policy Director John Wagner at 314-622-1250 x105 or johnw@focus-stl.org.
The Formation of the St. Louis Regional Disaster Preparedness Task Force
By spring of 2006, the Board of Directors of FOCUS St. Louis decided that the issue of disaster preparedness would be at the heart of its next task force initiative. FOCUS chose 30 task force members to represent a range of perspectives and skills from across the region. In September 2006, this group of experts began regular meetings. Barrett Toan, retired CEO of Express-Scripts, and Richard Mark, Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery at AmerenUE, served as the task force co-chairs.
The task force was charged with answering the following questions:
- How ready is the region for a major disaster?
- How do we ensure an effective communications process and a technological system that will disseminate region-wide information?
- Who will be in charge if a disaster crosses jurisdictions?
- Are we using the existing resources to the best of our ability? How should we allocate resources?
- How do we improve individual and family preparedness?
The questions were chosen to best harness the organizational strengths of FOCUS St. Louis and to keep the task force as productive as possible. Also, the task force did not want to duplicate work already being carried out by expert disaster preparedness organizations in the region such as the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter and the St. Louis Area Regional Response System (STARRS.)
Regional Disaster Preparedness Task Force Research
The Regional Disaster Preparedness Task Force handled examination of critical disaster readiness issues, crafted policy recommendations to address these issues, and is creating an implementation committee to take action.
Initially, the FOCUS St. Louis Regional Disaster Preparedness Task Force spent a considerable amount of time identifying the most relevant potential disaster events for the bi-state region. They researched the disasters’ key risk components and indicators of preparedness. The task force heard from panels of emergency professionals representing the St. Louis region, collected and analyzed data, and engaged in extensive deliberation.
Most deliberation was conducted in small work groups focusing on how specific sectors would be affected and respond to a disaster. The work groups then developed the recommendations for that sector. The work groups were:
- Transportation
- Utilities
- Public Safety
- Health Care
- Social Service
- Communications/Governance
- Business Interruption
The next step was a comparative evaluation of the various types of disasters. This step of comparative analysis involved phone interviews and a focus group discussion among the subjects of the phone interviews. Dr. Doug Owens, Professor of Medicine and Health Research and Policy Director at Stanford University, facilitated this discussion. Dr. Owens produced a summary of the various risks facing the region. The focus group members were:
- Joe White, Chief Executive Officer, American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter
- Patricia S. Thornton, Director of Human Resources, United Way of Greater St. Louis
- Roy J. Joachimstaler, Deputy Chief Bureau of Patrol Support, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
- Maggie Hales, Deputy Executive Director, East-West Gateway Council of Governments
- Jim Palmer, Geologist, Missouri Division of Geology and Local Survey
- William Brandes, Fire Chief, Creve Coeur Fire Department
- Gary Christman, Emergency Management Director, City of St. Louis
- Dr. Jeffrey Lowell, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine
- Mike Williams, Assistant Director, St. Louis County Health Department
In the spring of 2007, the task force came together to share work group and focus group outcomes and deliberate over the final recommendations of the task force. In June of 2007, the FOCUS St. Louis Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the task force recommendations.
For more information on the task force call 314-622-1250.