Fugate did what every emergency management expert in the country wants to do.
I know that because of what I study the words I say carry a different meaning than if they came from someone else so please know I don’t say the following lightly.
I know that because of what I study the words I say carry a different meaning than if they came from someone else so please know I don’t say the following lightly.
You need to understand how our emergency management system is structured, the capacity of this system, and the reality of the current situation to be able to say what we should do.
Emergency Managers are the ones who know this and their expertise is being ignored and talked over by people who, though they may mean well, do not understand the unprecedented complexities of this situation.
People have been trying to compare this to a historical event -- there isn't one.
Since the creation of the modern-day emergency management system there has never been a time where the entire system activated at once.
There is no precedent for what we need our EM system to do
Since the creation of the modern-day emergency management system there has never been a time where the entire system activated at once.
There is no precedent for what we need our EM system to do
The closest would be 9/11 but even then for the majority of the country, it was a state of readiness, not actual full-on response.
Every other time we have faced a disaster there have been other agencies from other states who can come in and back up the locals.
Every other time we have faced a disaster there have been other agencies from other states who can come in and back up the locals.
Let me say this clearly: every single emergency management agency in the country at all levels of gov't is responding at the exact same time.
These are not all fancy EM agencies like NYC. The majority are part-time EM's who double as the fire chief. Some are even volunteers.
These are not all fancy EM agencies like NYC. The majority are part-time EM's who double as the fire chief. Some are even volunteers.
Emergency managers say that disasters end & begin locally – but it’s what happens in the middle that matters most. That middle part, the part we’re just on the brink of arriving at, does not look good.
One reason: usually help comes from the outside in that middle part.
One reason: usually help comes from the outside in that middle part.
Can that happen in this situation?
We don't have extra emergency managers sitting around.
We're starting understaffed.
We're not just trying to flatten the curve for the healthcare system, we're trying to flatten the curve for our response system more broadly.
We don't have extra emergency managers sitting around.
We're starting understaffed.
We're not just trying to flatten the curve for the healthcare system, we're trying to flatten the curve for our response system more broadly.
Every single one of these agencies is looking at a different constituency with different needs, different risks, and different resources.
Masks are one problem among a thousand.
Masks are one problem among a thousand.
We do not have a safety net.
They do not have a safety net.
Craig is right.
Governors need to lead.
Every state IS different.
Do we need some kind of federal leadership, some kind of federal coordination to Andy's point. YES OF COURSE.
They do not have a safety net.
Craig is right.
Governors need to lead.
Every state IS different.
Do we need some kind of federal leadership, some kind of federal coordination to Andy's point. YES OF COURSE.
But is that going to happen? Seriously.
Do you actually think that this administration is going to rise to the occasion? Not give one better than usual speech. I mean actually LEAD a nation in a time of crisis?
They've told us who they are, believe them.
Do you actually think that this administration is going to rise to the occasion? Not give one better than usual speech. I mean actually LEAD a nation in a time of crisis?
They've told us who they are, believe them.
Any pandemic is scary but a pandemic in this administration is nauseating in cruelty and incompetence.
We are *weeks* behind where we should be in this response.
WEEKS
We are *weeks* behind where we should be in this response.
WEEKS
From an emergency management perspective, not a single hallmark of an effective response has been met in a timely or complete way.
There has not been coordination. There has not been communication. There has not been collaboration. There is no trust. Needs are not being met.
There has not been coordination. There has not been communication. There has not been collaboration. There is no trust. Needs are not being met.
In the past week I have heard from emergency managers in probably 25 different states and all levels of government. Many of them are furious. Many of them are scared. They are all frustrated. They are all working hard.
As I said earlier today, in the middle of a crisis you don't get the emergency management system you need, you get the one you've invested in.
We have not effectively invested in our emergency management system.
We have not effectively invested in our emergency management system.
Governments that do not function in non-crisis times do not all of a sudden begin to function in times of crisis.
There is no one in this administration riding in to save us.
This requires all of us to respond.
There is no one in this administration riding in to save us.
This requires all of us to respond.
This is not mass hysteria. This is not media hype.
We are not crashing the economy because CNN got bored.
We are being asked to make sacrifices -- some much more so than others all in the hope that it will save lives.
Because saving lives has to be what matters most.
We are not crashing the economy because CNN got bored.
We are being asked to make sacrifices -- some much more so than others all in the hope that it will save lives.
Because saving lives has to be what matters most.
Yes, you should be furious with the White House. They knew weeks and weeks ago this is where we were headed and did not do anywhere near enough.
They prevented testing.
They let this happen.
It never had to get to this point.
It shouldn’t have gotten to this point.
They prevented testing.
They let this happen.
It never had to get to this point.
It shouldn’t have gotten to this point.
There are turning points in any crisis when a decision could have been made that would change the course. At every point the White House went the wrong way.
I say White House intentionally because it is not just Trump. It is every single person there who has enabled him.
I say White House intentionally because it is not just Trump. It is every single person there who has enabled him.
The people who created the crisis are not going to fix the crisis.
So, yes, Fugate is right.
The governors are going to have to do more than they usually would in a crisis.
So, yes, Fugate is right.
The governors are going to have to do more than they usually would in a crisis.
Understand that many state-level governments are not set up to do this -- traditionally they are the middleman between local and federal.
Seriously, what is the alternative at this point?
Seriously, what is the alternative at this point?
This is in no way letting the federal government off the hook, this is making a decision about who does and does not have the capability to lead in a time of national, and global, crisis.
We need to focus on the operational components of this response or things will be worse.
We need to focus on the operational components of this response or things will be worse.
The disaster research tells us again and again that leadership matters in times of crisis.
That leadership does not always come from the people who sit at the head of the table or the oval office.
Leadership comes from the people who have courage, empathy, and intelligence.
That leadership does not always come from the people who sit at the head of the table or the oval office.
Leadership comes from the people who have courage, empathy, and intelligence.
So look around and find the people who are leading. You're not going to find them at Pennsylvania Ave but you will find them in your town hall. You may find them in your place of worship. You may find them in your local public health office.
Find them and help them.
Find them and help them.
Also: Please don’t mistake advocating for increased FEMA involvement for the belief that they will fix this.
They’re not built for it. If the 2017 hurricane season overwhelmed them than this obviously will.
What FEMA does have are resources and skills that have yet to be used.
They’re not built for it. If the 2017 hurricane season overwhelmed them than this obviously will.
What FEMA does have are resources and skills that have yet to be used.
Which leads us to this point that Fugate is making. If the federal government is incapable of leading than who is:
