Lecture 1
Hurricane Katrina
1- Medical care facility
No electricity - medical equipment
No AC or sanitation
Evacuation = difficult
Many deaths
- Emmette Everett: paraplegic + heavy. He had to be carried to the roof but died → evidence of toxic drugs
Dr. Anna Pou: charged with homicide for euthanizing patients
2- Example of organizational failure
Communication = inadequate. Population was not properly informed
Failure to provide resources necessary for evacuation (buses, gasoline, lists of contacts for those who couldn't evacuate)
Personnel management issues: First responders didn’t show up for work (families to take care of)
- Solution: provide resources for first responders’ families and monitor where they are going
Failure to use federal resources (National Guard): they must be requested by the state but Louisiana was slow to request their help
3- Michael Brown
Chief executive of FEMA
Didn’t manage FEMA’s role very well in the aftermath of the hurricane
Not qualified so no effective leadership
4- Lessons
Organization matters!
Michael Brown: importance of recruitment and matching talents to jobs
Importance of communication
Importance of resource provision
Hierarchy needs to be effective
Importance of assigning responsibilities before tasks need performing