Disaster Recovery News

The following is a video series related to emergency preparedness techniques that you can implement today.

Video 1: The Need to Be Prepared

Video 2: A 72-Hour Kit

Video 3: Reducing Risks

Video 4: Evacuation

Video 5: Religious leaders discuss the importance of emergency preparedness

Learn more about emergency preparedness at home.

More about emergency preparedness for your business.

In a recently settled class action lawsuit, Tenet Healthcare Corporation recently settled for $25 million. The number of individuals who participated in the lawsuit is unknown, but those in the class claimed that New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center lack of emergency preparedness caused an unreasonable amount of harm when 2005’s Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.

The Real Cost

An article by ProPublica states that there were almost 1,000 individuals in the hospitals, not counting hospital staff. Out of this population, 187 of the individuals were patients. When the disasters caused by Hurricane Katrina occurred, the backup generators in the hospital failed and help in the form of rescue helicopters did not arrive until two days after the natural disaster. The article reports that the hospital sought the help of the Coast Guard, National Guard, several government and private ambulance companies and FEMA, but the response was frenzied. In the end, rescue workers found 45 bodies at the Memorial Medical Center.

Nation-Wide Unpreparedness

Hurricane Katrina opened the eyes of several health care systems. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reported in May 2011 that out of all of the hospitals that participated in the 2009 National Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), only 76 percent of the hospitals met 90 percent of the all-hazards preparedness criteria. While this number is an improvement compared to 2005’s figures, only 85 percent of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the U.S. take advantage of and participate in the HPP.

What’s at Stake for Your Business?

Emergency preparedness and recovery is not just a topic medical centers need to consider, as all businesses are responsible for ensuring the well-being of those on their property if the unthinkable happens. Preparing for the worst can mean the difference between saving the lives or wishing you had taken the time to create an emergency disaster plan. If you are currently not prepared for a disaster, what would a devastating event cost you and your business?

Learn more about developing a plan for your business from the experts.

[Image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]

Thriving on matter that is moist, dead or decaying, mold can quickly turn a slightly wet document into an unsightly object thst you would not let your children approach. Mold is not an animal or a plant; it comes from the diverse and hearty fungi kingdom. In nature, mold is like a natural recycling system that helps break down decomposing organic matter like fallen leaves and timber. This zombie-like recycler, however, can do the same to your home and office when there is the slightest hint of moisture.

The Unwanted Guest

Invisible to the human eye, mold spores quickly travel through the air in hopes of finding moist or wet areas to call home and spread. You generally cannot see most molds until they begins to grow. With regular cleaning and sanitizing efforts, you can keep mold at bay around your windows and parts of a building that experience more moisture, like bathrooms or basements. An unexpected leak, burst pipe or a flood, however, can give mold the opportunity to run rampant throughout a building and destroy everything in its path, which could include your health if it produces mycotoxins.

When you experience water damage of any kind, take measures to dry out anything that got wet quickly and safely. If important documents, books or photographs experienced water damage, particularly if you run a business, it is best to call a document recovery specialist who can use the latest technologies to restore water-damaged items. Such items can include water-damaged blueprints, x-rays and large amounts of documents.

The first 48 to 72 hours after water or humidity damage occurs are the most crucial in salvaging the affected items. Talk to a disaster recovery specialist to learn about ways to prevent water and mold damage, as well as ways to take appropriate action after damage has occurred.

Learn about mold prevention.

[Image: Steven Kay]

During a disaster, one of your top enemies is panic. You can prevent feeling panicked when the unthinkable happens by creating an emergency plan for your home and business. By making an emergency plan, you can be ready to get to safety in a matter of minutes with the essential items you need.

Ways to Stay Panic-Free

• Plan a meeting place. With your family and/or employees, designate a meeting spot inside and outside of the home or office. For example, meeting spots can be the bathroom and the neighbor’s mailbox. These meeting spots should be the safest locations in and outside of a building.
• Establish escape routes. Plan at least two escape routes within a home or office and on the streets. Keep in mind that a road or an area of a building may be blocked during a disaster, so it is good to always have a backup route. Practice using these escapes routes on a regular basis so children or employees become overly familiar with them and are less likely to panic when they need to escape.
• Designate a contact person within your family or organization. This will come in handy if someone is separated from the group. Have family members or employees memorize the phone number and email of the designated contact person. It is also a good idea to designate an out-of-state contact in the event there are problems with the local telephone system.
• Print your emergency plan. Include the evacuation routes, important phone numbers and the location of important items you may want to retrieve after a disaster.
• Consider your essential items. When you need to get to a safe place, the last thing on your mind should be the documents or photos you left behind. Therefore, create digital copies of all your important documents and photos, regularly back them up on a flash or external hard drive and store them online. This way, it will be easier to restore damaged documents. Additionally, create a kit that contains cash, prescription medications, bandages, pain relievers, duct tape, flashlight, battery-powered radio and your printed emergency plan.
• Flag the items in your home or office. Sometimes during a disaster, you will have a chance to grab items of importance, such as photo albums, contracts and heirloom books. Mark the important items that you have time to grab before an evacuation with something that is easily identifiable. For example, you could stick a large reflective sticker on the spine of a book. For books and document holders that you do not want to ruin with a sticker, place a clear plastic cover around the outside covers of the book and place the sticker on the cover.
• Mark your calendar. Every six months, review your emergency plan, update the phone numbers in it and make sure all the supplies in your kit still work.

Learn more about developing a plan for your business.

[Image: Bill Bradford]

When the rains clear and you do the regular inspections and maintenance on your business, the last thing you want to find are several pools of water in your crawl space or around your foundation, rot or black mold on the floor and wet documents. Your may want to immediately replace your flooring, but what you must do first is address your drainage problem or you will have repeat water damage problems.

Building Inspections

If your building has a crawl space, inspect it at least twice a year for water entry, flooding or decay. It is also a good idea to have a pest control service inspect the building for signs of critters that can cause structural damage.

Gutter Placement

While conducting a building inspection, make sure the gutters remain directed at least six feet away from the foundation. However, if you have a sloping yard or the business is on a hillside, you may need to extend the gutter drain further. While a runoff drains in the ground may not be your ideal business accessory, you may need to install them just under the surface of the building’s landscaping to prevent pooling. Burying a French drain around the perimeter of your building’s foundation down to the footing is an effective and discrete way to prevent water damage, rot and mold.

Landscaping

Your business’ landscaping may also be to blame for bad drainage. Yards that slope towards a building, mulch, loose rocks, weeds and topsoil near a foundation can direct runoff water and rain towards that area with the help of gravity. If this is a problem you encounter, consider using a heavy clay soil that you compact and slope as your first layer of landscaping can help prevent water from traveling towards your business. Additionally, make sure that concrete walkways, patios and driveways, as well as those made from pavers, slope to ensure proper drainage.

Sump Pumps

If your business is too low for a gravity-drained system to draw water away from the building, you may need to install an exterior sump pump. This will help raise and direct the water to a location where gravity will help drain the water away and prevent flooding.

Learn more about mold and water damage prevention.

[image: bats22]