After reading this article on the rescue efforts underway in New Zealand I want to just do the Network thing and go my window and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"
Needless deaths, people trapped, a mother dies with her baby in her arms. If that doesn't get your emotions running--what will? As people we only seem to care after the disaster event. Why is that? Can't we learn to care before something happens? We watch and listen in horror as events unfold before our eyes, 9/11, Katrina, Haiti, Chile, New Zealand...I don't have to ask when will it end because I know the answer--never! We watch in a detached state of mind and body. If we only looked around us we would see that there are hazards everywhere and we too are at risk and in danger.
Information is one ingredient in people knowing what to do before a disaster and motivation to do something with that information is what is missing in most circumstances. Earthquake mitigation can be done by all of us in our homes and places of work. Fire drills, drop, cover and hold drills can help people have the muscle memory they need during disasters to save their lives and the lives of others around them.
If we as emergency managers are not "Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!" then who will carry the message to the people and organizations who need to hear it? Get mad, get energized, do something today for your own family to make them better prepared for a disaster and then let's start talking about preparedness "all the time" not just when bad things happen. Our individual turns are coming when it will be us in the disaster bucket. Lets be able to look people in the eye after those events and tell them we did everything we possibly could to save lives.
OK, now get up, go to the window and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
