| DISASTER PREPARATION – BOSTON’S LIFE-SAVING DRILLS - Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association All but three of the more than 170 people injured by the bomb attack at the Boston Marathon survived, thanks to those who spent many days thinking about the unthinkable. It's a lesson for nonprofits and every other organization, each of which has its own unthinkables.
DISASTER PREPARATION – BOSTON’S LIFE-SAVING DRILLS
All but three of the more than 170 people injured by the bomb attack at the Boston Marathon survived, thanks to those who spent many days thinking about the unthinkable. It’s a lesson for nonprofits and every other organization, each of which has its own unthinkables.
Two years ago, the city’s police and fire departments, volunteer emergency medical services units, and hospitals engaged in extensive drills in how to respond in the event of multiple bombings. Doctors practiced triage, using mannequins as patients. Law enforcement and emergency responders practiced the logistics involved in transporting victims as quickly as possible for treatment.
When the attacks occurred, most victims were taken to the large emergency medical tent near the finish line within five minutes, and ambulances were on their way to area hospitals. It helped that there was a large concentration of medical personnel and equipment near the site, for the routine and expected care of runners. It also helped that the disaster occurred just before the 3 p.m. shift change at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and all the employees who were preparing to leave stayed instead. But if not for the preparation two years earlier, it is certain that more victims would have died. Trauma surgeons said several were within minutes of dying when they arrived at the hospitals.
“We moved fast,” was the concise understatement of Jim Hooley, chief of Boston Emergency Medical Services.
In your organization, have you brainstormed the unthinkable, and how you would respond? If not loss of life, what other losses are possible? Loss of a major source of funding? Loss of volunteers who are no longer happy in their work? Loss of reputation, because of someone’s action? We need to ask, “What could possibly go wrong?” and be ready to confront any answer.
Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association To learn more about our AL!VE Partner CIMA Gateway for AL!VE members – www.cimaworld.com/alive
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Published: 04/16/13 |