suggests a good place to start, at least in terms of natural disasters, is geography. For instance, Arizona doesn’t have to pre­pare for another hurricane, but Louisiana does. This may be obvious, but what is not so obvious, Dunn says, is that in ar­eas where natural upheavals might rea­sonably be expected, basic precautions often are not made.

If your facility is in an area where flash floods occur, is it below where high water level records have occurred before? If the facility is not safely above it, you’re go­ing to have to be prepared to sandbag it. And if the water can go above that, you’ll want storage that will float — vessels to contain food, medicine, and necessary equipment.

Dunn says that all utilities, electrical transformers, computers, telephones, etc. will be affected, which might necessitate the central stations for same being not in a basement but in a high waterproofed floor, or even a separate tower.

If you have a parking lot where all you’re employees put their cars, will they be flooded, he asks, indicating a high rise parking garage might be necessary to at least keep them from being ruined.

Forest fires, earthquakes, tornadoes — these will all vary from region to region, Dunn says. Each have different consider­ations. For tornadoes you may need safe rooms that people can evacuate to.

Different disasters may sometimes re­quire similar backup plans, Dunn says. For instance, contingency plans should be made for when the roads are out, for get­ting raw materials in and finished prod­ucts out, as well as getting employees to and from work. Snow and ice often might not be considered disasters, but as shown in the severe storms in various parts of the country this winter, many roads were knocked out. Disaster planning should take into consideration employees stuck in the facility until the weather clears, with provisions for food and housing.

Managers generally have a pretty good idea of the disasters that can occur within their facilities, whether from chemicals, gases, confined spaces or other hazards. In terms of terrorist threats, facilities can usu ally not do much more than tighten their ex­isting security measures, as well as follow the requirements and recommendations of the government.

In terms of all levels of government dis­aster preparedness, Dunn says, Every year they are getting better than they were be­fore. The local responders, fire and police departments as well as medical services are more trained, better equipped, with an improved ability to do their job.

Unfortunately, Dunn cannot be as complimentary about the private sector. “Local responders are there because they want to be,” Dunn says. ‘It’s either their career or what they have volunteered to do. But a lot of facility emergency re­sponse teams are often an afterthought. There may not be adequate training. And sometimes people can be forced by man­agement to be part of a team. They can see it as an added burden without any corresponding rewards.

Moreover, Dunn continues, whereas in government, once a disaster response program is implemented it tends to grad­ually improve. In

the private sector it’s often erratic, and changes, even within a single company, as management changes.

What we have seen happen is that a plant may be in an ex­cellent position one year with good funding and good training, and be very poor the following year because of a change of man­agement. We had one client who had a nine man confined space in-house team on site. They had the equipment and training and were proficient at the job. Two years later it was decided it was not needed and eliminated. Then new management came in and put in new equipment and training.

Sometimes the improved situation comes simply from new management, which is more safety conscious, Dunn says. Other times the improvements are galvanized by a disaster which could have and should have been prevented.

Dunn’s organization, in addition to offering training, also works on a contract basis for particular projects, when there are increased dangers of confined spaces or other situations. This allows managers to prepare for emergencies while keeping their workers on the job. But, from management’s point of view, this may be viewed as a good option, or simply another cost.

When asked how management can be persuaded as to the im­portance of good emergency preparedness, Dunn responds, “With the people we usually talk to — the safety manager, fire chief for the facility, or training coordinator, it’s usually not that difficult. But they have to convince their upper management. Sometimes they can use standards, and say this is required. But other times the bean counters get into it. It’s strictly a matter of dollars with them. They’ll play the odds and depend on the local authorities to handle anything that might occur. It always seems to go up and down.”

To move from the macro to the micro, Tom W. Cleveland, Jr., vice president of sales and marketing, Lifesaving Systems, Inc., Rockwell, GA, brings a much more focused perspective to dis­aster preparedness. “I’m in the airway management business,” Cleveland says. “Our purpose is to keep people breathing.”

Cleveland maintains that the recent focus on security, inter­vention, and detection is all to the good — if you can prevent the disaster from occurring. But if you don’t plan for an overall medical response, you can end up with a lot of dead people. You’ll have a whole lot of triage, trying to decide who is sav­able and who you let die. If you respond, what do you respond with, and, if you have only so much money, what do you equip yourself with?

Cleveland points out that most injuries short of death, give a little time, but loss of oxygen not much at all. A large scale ven­tilator that a respiratory therapist will use in a hospital is big, hard to move around, and costly, $40,000 to $70,000. Smaller, portable ventilators can cost $8,000 to $12,000 but there are also reuseable ventilators, second hand ones, and even dispos­ables at about $60. After all, you’re preparing for an event, not establishing a department within a hospital.

There are two scenarios, Cleveland explains. One is that you are bringing the injured out of the disaster area where the ventilator is waiting. But the other is when you have to take the oxygen to

him. The self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) similar to what firemen use can’t be pure oxygen or it would explode in a fire, so it has 21 percent oxygen or room air level.

A solution Cleveland offers here is called the oxylator, a de­vice which breathes for a patient at his own natural breathing rate. These cost $800 to $900. Oxylators are great, for they are small and can attach easily to a face mask.

Cleveland also offers a mass casualty oxygen manifold, which costs about $1,300, doesn’t require much training, and can dis­tribute oxygen to eight victims simultaneously. In Florida, it’s often used in nursing homes where people might have to be moved quickly, Cleveland says.

Jim Schatzle, president, Team Life, Inc., Colts Neck, NJ, also has a specific focus. “I think many times people prepare for large scale events, and rightly so. But you also have to prepare for the disaster that comes to one person, and not necessarily from an accident. He might have a heart attack or a diabetic emer­gency. I’ve been a paramedic and know it happens every day. You know you can call 911, but often it takes 10-12 minutes before the ambulance arrives, and you want to be prepared to do everything you can in that time period.”

Schatele offers a basic first aid course that is completed in a single day, often on a quarterly basis, with a customized focus depending on the company. Cost is $50 per person. A key piece of equipment to keep on hand, Schatzle says, is a defibillator, the automated machine, which shocks a stopped heart back to life. When someone has a heart attack, this device is easier to apply than other methods and takes much less training. It costs less than $2,000 and is becoming more popular in the work place.