[Tagging] Disaster response

[Greg Troxel]

Tom Pfeifer <t.pfeifer at computer.org> writes:

> There was a discussion recently, though I cannot find it, about 'civil
> defense'-like services, responding to major emergencies.
>
> They still lack an internationally suitable tag. There is an
> Australian attempt (emergency=ses_station) that gains some
> international interest, though it is an incomprehensible acronym for
> anybody else. Usage is still small enough for a better value.
>
> The result of the discussion was IIRC, that different countries have
> different organisational structures, and they are not always civil or
> governmental organisations (might be subordinated to military for
> example), or there might be several organisations in one country.
>
> Thus we need a tag that avoids to imply the organisational form.

All agreed.

> emergency=disaster_response
>
> comes to my mind, which is not used before and is neutral both in
> organisation and being volunteer or not. It focuses on the purpose.

Here I am starting to have trouble understanding what I would do in
various circumstances.

In the US:

  Emergency is an immediate threat to life or property.  Example:
  building fire, car crash, heart attack, robbery.  This includes a fire
  big enough that help from other towns is needed, or a riot at mall
  that needs other town's police, because that's normal and part of the
  plan.

  Disaster is a situation so large that the local emergency services
  cannot cope.  Generally ice storms or hurricances causing power
  failures, complete phone system failure, or severe flooding.

  There's a discipline of "emergency management".  Around me, each town
  has an official with the title "emergency manager", which is typically
  the same person as the fire chief, but not always.  Sometimes there is
  "Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)".  However, the job of
  "emergency manager" and the LEPC is not about emergencies.  It's
  instead about disasters; the committee discusses contingency plans to
  open shelters if the coming storm results in an extended power outage.

  Power companies have mutual aid plans for big outages.  If crews
  travel 100 miles to help, that isn't considered a disaster, just a
  normal bad storm.  When the Canadians come to help in Massachusetts,
  or the other way around, that's a disaster.  (I have seen a Quebec
  Hydro truck in Worcester, once.)

  Most (all?) states have an emergency management agency (civil defense,
  office of emergency management).  The purpose of this agency is not to
  provide direct support to individuals but to provide statewide
  coordination of resources.  They will for example find out where help
  is needed and tell the national guard to go to that place.   They may
  have some response trucks, but those are mostly communications support
  and mobile command centers to help coordinate.

  There is a Federal Emergency Management Agency, much like the state.

  Generally, if there are offices, they are for the long-term
  pre-planning.  If my town had a power outage, a shelter would open in
  a town building which is a regular community center, not primarily an
  emergency center.  The normal uses would be cancelled and a group of
  volunteers (who have no regular facilities) would set up and staff a
  shelter.

> The specific national service could be subtagged, such as
> disaster_response=australian_ses or disaster_response=thw or
> =technisches_hilfswerk in Germany. Properties, like civil or run by
> military or an NGO, having volunteers, etc, can be subtagged.

That's fine.

> The tag should only be used for stations actually providing support,
> having technical equipment etc, not for the offices, agencies,
> ministries that are purely organisational.

This is where I have trouble.  Having a functioning command and
communication structure is key in modern emergency management.  See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_Command_System
for an overview which will give you an idea of the thinking.   This
started in the US but seems to be spreading internationally.

So I (as a ham radio operator, knowing the Medical Reserve Corps people,
and having attended LEPC meetings as the Amateur Radio representative)
don't really see the "provide help" vs "preparation/training" as the
right conceptual dividing line.  One way to think about it is how would
we tag 10 buildings that each have 2 engines, a ladder and an ambulance
and a headquarters building with no equipment but the central
planning/training staff for a city fire department?  Arguably we should
be doing the same for amenity=emergency_management.

There are probably a few places that have caches of supplies that are
primarily for disasters.  Around me those places are also the offices
for the long-term planning activity of emergency management agencies.
My town's fire station has a trailer for the Medical Reserve Corps at
the fire station, but it's intended to be moved as needed and the fact
that it's tucked away in the back is just a tiny detail on what is a
fire station that deals with emergencies (not disasters) multiple times
per day.

Another thing to think about is the planned location of shelters, and to
tag places that are pre-designated as possible shelters.

Or perhaps you see emergency management as different from people ready
to provide direct assistance while operating at the leaves of the ICS.
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