Guest on Talk Local, Rogers TV

This evening Darryl Culley, President of Emergency Management & Training Inc. will be a guest on Talk Local, Rogers TV along with Peter McGuinniss, Regional Disaster Coordinator for the Red Cross to talk about the earthquake in Haiti.

Darryl is honored to be invited to be a guest for his 4 appearance on this live call in television show. The last appearance was to discuss H1N1.

Darryl is looking forward to being joined by Peter, who has been spearheading fundraising for the Haiti earthquake recovery in Simcoe County and Muskoka District. The Red Cross gets 93% of its donations on the ground in Haiti and is the largest NGO relief responder in the world. More information on the Red Cross response to Haiti and other areas of need can be found at www.redcross.ca.

Watch for us at 9:00 pm EST on Rogers TV.

Hundreds volunteer to go to Haiti

As the images of devastation unfold over the Internet, on television and print media there is a great desire stirred within people to help.





Recently on the television news there was a story about a group of caring individuals volunteering to go to Haiti but not finding a way to get there. They talked about the people who were dying while they were waiting here for someone to fly them to the Caribbean island. Unfortunately it is not that easy.





Tens of thousands of personnel from dozens of countries around the world have arrived in Haiti to perform rescue, medical aid, provide food and water, re-establish communications networks, clear debris, re-establish a viable government, and start rebuilding.





The earthquake knocked the main airport out of service and closed the main shipping port. American air force personnel arrived to set up a portable radar and control centre. Hundreds of military and charter flights started to arrive immediately bringing highly trained urban search and rescue teams from the USA, Europe, and even Iceland. Medical teams were arriving from Canada, USA, Mexico, Europe, the United Nations. Various NGOs (non-government organizations) that have been operating in Haiti for many years such as the Red Cross, World Vision, Salvation Army and others were ramping up their response. Other experienced and equipped groups such as Global Medic, with significant experience in responding to disasters sent teams down.





With so many responders and an even greater need the area is divided up geographically with teams assigned specific neighbourhoods and communities to operate in. Travel is difficult with road blocked by debris and a lack of fuel for vehicles.





But there is a very important point: all of these teams are self sufficient - they bring their own food, water, accommodation (tents), rescue/medical equipment, communications, translators, security, transportation and even fuel.





One cannot just pack their suitcase, ask for a flight and expect a hotel to accommodate them when they get there. If you are not properly equipped, trained and self sufficient, you then become more of a burden than a help.





I recall a media story after Hurricane Katrina, where a well meaning and caring Canadian woman loaded the trunk of her car with blankets the day after the Hurricane and headed south. She was upset that she was stopped at the US border as they told her that her good intent wasn't sufficient, so she went to the media who gave her 5 minutes of fame.





If you are serious about making a commitment to respond large scale disaster then make a commitment to an organization who responds: Canadian Red Cross Disaster Relief, Global Medic (http://www.globalmedic.ca/), World Vision, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, etc. Find out what the prerequisites are, volunteer for the training and put the preparation in now.





What can you do right now? Donate!





Make a donation to an organization who is actively involved in the Haiti recovery. http://www.globalmedic.ca/, http://www.redcross.ca/, http://www.worldvision.ca/, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/,





Rebuilding Haiti will take many years. There will be a need for volunteers with construction experience, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, small engine repair, solar/wind power generation, etc.





A long term demand for nursing and medical assistance will continue for those who are recovering from injuries and in stabilizing the medical system again as several hospitals were destroyed.



There are many groups who operate orphanages, schools and community supports that will require volunteers.

Just because you can't go today doesn't mean you can't make a difference later. But start planning, training and preparing now.

Earthquakes - there are faults everywhere

Frequently when I am speaking about a HIRA process (Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis) I will mention the fact that the Ottawa river is on a fault line and that hundreds of very minor tremors occur every year. This should and does cause architects to design buildings with some ability to withstand a degree of earthquakes.

Attached is a link to an interesting story in the Toronto Star about faults.


http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/751748--our-fractured-planet-s-faults?bn=1



Photo is of the San Andreas Fault in California which caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which killed 3,000 people and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which resulted in 63 deaths.

Social Media - Real Time Reporting From Haiti

Terry Blace, a communications and media expert with Emergency Management & Training has been watching, like all of us, the devestation in Haiti. But one of the major changes, quickly identified by Terry, was how Twitter, Facebook, and "I" reports using cell phone cameras etc. have brought us to the scene quicker and without editing. Often very graphic pictures and stories have awakened the world to the desperate struggle for survival of many Haitians.

Terry has forwarded this CTV news article reinforcing his early observations.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100113/haiti_citizenjournalism_100113/20100113


Citizen journalism is changing the way we view events and the world.

Public Health Issues and Priorities for Haiti

The US Center for Disease Control has issued a short update on the public health issues and priorities for Haiti following the earthquake.


http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/healthconcerns_haiti.asp

Following the earthquake, most pressing public health concerns in Port-au-Prince and surrounding affected areas will include:

• Adequate quantity and quality of water
• Food security
• Appropriate shelter and protection from the elements
• Prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and vector-borne illnesses
• Provision of health services to prevent maternal and infant deaths
• Prevention of violence and further unintentional injury
• Treatment of kidney failure due to crush injuries
• Prevention of deaths from infected wounds
• Prevention and treatment of inflamed lung tissue caused by concrete dust

The CDC also note that dead bodies rarely spread disease and that epidemics are rarely caused by earthquake.

For more information check out the link above.

Impacts of H1N1 on Productivity

Statistics Canada is reporting that 1.5 Million people booked of sick in November 2009 as a result of H1N1 resulting in 29.5 Million hours of lost work time in Canada. Approximately 9% of workers booked off sick, averaging 20 hours of lost work time.

Employees with children living at home were off sick twice as much as employees without children. Employees with children under 12 had the highest absentism rates at 15%.

During the same time, 600,000 health care workers put in an additional 8.6 million work hours in November 2009 responding to the demands of H1N1.

More information is available at the Stats Canada website:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100115/dq100115c-eng.htm

The economic and financial impacts of H1N1 are signifant. If the influenza had been more serious the strain on the economy would have massive impacts on every Canadian. Are companies truly prepared?

Earthquake in Haiti

Our thoughts go out to the millions of people in Haiti affected by Wednesday's earthquake. At the moment the death toll is more than 50,000 and rising. Injuries and illness caused by the earthquake combined with tropical diseases, lack of clean water and sanitation systems, and a collapse of the hospitals may result in many more deaths in the days and weeks to come.

According to news reports 4 Canadians have been confirmed dead and several are still missing at this time.

Governments from around the world along with NGOs (non-government organizations such as the Red Cross, World Vision, and Global Medic) are responding to the suffering of this impoverished nation. Canada is mobilizing the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART), as well as additional medical teams and two navy ships; HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskin.

We would encourage donations through reputable agencies: www.redcross.ca, www.globalmedic.ca and www.worldvision.ca.

Unfortunately there are may unscrupulous people out there making it difficult to determine who is collecting for ligitimate relief and who are taking advantage of the outpouring of support. If you aren't sure, stick with a reputable agency.

News reports are being updated regularly at www.ctv.ca/news

Terrorism - closer than you might think

Attached is a link to an interesting article for the Toronto Star on potential terrorism links in Toronto.

"Five ethnic Somali men disappeared from Scarborough this fall, all friends believed recruited into Al-Shabab. Three are said by family associates to have since phoned home from Somalia."

"For Torontonians, al-Shabab recruitment presents another terrifying possibility: A fanatic returns to explode himself in a crowd."

"Or as RCMP Commissioner William Elliott put it in October: "The potential follow-on threat is Somali-Canadians who travel to Somalia to fight and then return, imbued with both extremist ideology and the skills necessary to translate it into direct action.""

For the full article go to:




http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/745524--fanatic-convert-to-terrorism-spent-year-in-toronto