Recovering from Catastrophic Events: The Need for Contingency Planning

摘要

Facility Managers' and Design professionals' knowledge of the built environment, use, operations, and vulnerabilities of buildings, give such professionals special insight as to the causes of damage, type of repairs and the accompanying human behavior factors associated with a natural or manmade disaster. To help their organizations and clients, facility managers and design professionals can make major contributions in support of Preparedness Planning using their existing knowledge base. Recent increases in national disasters — floods, fires, earthquakes, and manmade disasters have heightened awareness for potential damage from these events. Related research after the Northridge earthquake in California indicates preparedness contributes to faster recovery and operational continuation of businesses after a disaster. In recent earthquakes, landmark medical facilities in California have suffered major non-structural damage to their equipment and systems. This non-structural damage and lack of preparedness has shut down facilities for anywhere from a number of days to months. Most business owners are unaware of the extent of potential for damage to their facilities and the accompanying business interruption involved. A lack of understanding combined with fear both of the unknown and of how to proceed have resulted in a lack of preparation, which is the cause of failure or the extension of the recovery period and associated increased costs. How to proceed with Preparedness Planning, how to identify risks and hazards facing today's businesses as related to their facilities, what types of training are useful, and how to categorize and deal with risks rationally and not be swept up in a wave of hysteria, are some of the topics addressed in the following pages. There is also a need to recognize a component of human behavior and response, which is inherent in the aftermath of every disaster or stressful event. Not all individuals respond to these events in a rational and appropriate manner. Certain individuals are able to rise above the chaos and respond with calm and clear thinking that is necessary in using the few precious moments immediately after an event to their advantage. Finding these individuals and getting them trained and involved in recovery activities within a client business environment or design firm, will increase the chances of success and reduce the recovery period.