Posted on 01/17/2010 8:09:50 PM PST by blam
Why Is The Haiti Disaster Response So Screwed Up: Is Another Katrina Relief Effort In The Making?
Politics / Social Issues
Jan 17, 2010 - 04:50 AM
By: Danny Schechter
Every disaster plan is built to some degree around the idea of triage—deciding who can and cannot be saved. The worst cases are often separated and allowed to perish so that others who are considered more survivable can be treated.
There is a tragic triage underway in Haiti thanks to screw-ups on the part of the US and western response, and in part because of the objectively tough conditions in Haiti that blocked access and made the delivery of food, water and services difficult. But the planners should have known that!
Look at the TV coverage. “Saving Haiti” is the title CNN has given to its coverage. It shows us all the planes landing, and donations coming in and celebrity response on one hand, and then the problems/failures to actually deliver aid on the other.
Much of the coverage focuses on the upbeat--people being saved, although despite the frame which is about a compassionate America's response, the Haitian reality is only barelygetting through. It's not pretty.
Everyone wants to believe in the best intentions of all involved but five days after the quake, with so few being helped, we have to ask, how did this get so badly done?
It’s like Obama’s plan to stop foreclopsures through modifying loans. Great idea, but only a handful of homeowners have benefited. There is often a yawning gap between the idea and its execution.
So what happened? The short answer: it is too little and, in many cases, much of it, too late. A natural disaster has been compounded by another well-intentioned man-made one
Why? One global report I saw—sorry forget the publication, explained:
“United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the importance of the first 72 hours following the 12 January disaster. But already much of that crucial time has been spent attempting to assess the situation.
[snip]
You cannot plan a comprehensive response to an earthquake. A plan presumes certain action but the earth quake has no idea what your plan may be and so your plan must be to respond as best you can as the situation develops. And then, when your response is not sufficient to the task you simply..............blame Bush.
“Yep. This is how disasters play out. Nothing unusual here when society breaks down. This is why people should be prepared to bug out and/or survive on their own.”
Exactly. They’re called ‘disasters’ for a reason. It’s not like delivering groceries to the supermarket. Roads are impassable, there’s no power, and there wasn’t much organization before the earthquake to build upon.
One good piece of advice I’ve heard about disasters is to never become a refugee. Haitians have been ‘refugees-in-place’ for decades.
Because the situation on the ground is impossible?
ANYONE who has ever been involved in disaster planning and response will tell you that for a large area disaster like an earthquake or a hurricane, you are on your own for the first 72 hours. Period. And going into a place like Haiti, which at the best of times is a disaster in slow motion, it’s going to take WEEKS to get the situation under control. People have ridiculously high expectations for what can be done in a major disaster. In fact in the long run much of the “help” ends up devastating the area. Food aid knocks down prices and the local farmers get wiped out. “Temporary” housing becomes instant long term slums. Instead of letting the local population work through their disaster, a long term dependency on foreign aid develops.
They are 90% Christian ;-)
Right. Because you can magically mobilize an “invasion” instantly. It’s not like it takes weeks to months to prepare such an option.Transport, equipment, supplies, PEOPLE are just standing around ready to go on a moments notice./sarc
I think there was a team from Turkey which was mentioned in one of the stories of people being rescued from a collapsed building.
Didn't baseballs used to be sewn in Haiti? I don't think they are any more. That's why the economy there is in shambles.
.......Why does anybody think its screwed up?.....
They have the lawyerly mentality of Christ like perfection.
In the legal community, any action less than Christlike perfection gives room for imperfection and imperfection can only be remedied by money damages.
In a disaster relief situation the concept of Christ like perfection of action is liable for any number of criticisms for perceived imperfection. The cover your ass mentality is for leaders and the manufacture of critical words is for presstitutes.
Then there are the various actors on the ground. Like FReepers who pout and take personal any action critical of their personal effort, volunteers get very pissed when any perceived slight of their personal thought or action is made. People who regularly work disasters know all this and forge ahead with the task at hand and try not to get caught up in the petty whining of those who feel their personal effort is paramount to the success of the disaster recovery operations.
Rather than giving the money to professional fund raisers - crooked third world types, and "grief counselors at $200 an hour - why not just give the money directly to the people - and let them BUY services.
We license groups willing to go down and sell ( for a reasonable price ) medical care, food, clothing and shelter. I suspect the people of Haiti are more than capable of making choices in their best interest.
Face it, the socialist way isn't working...
The media will not want to put any blame on Obama but if there is a loud enough outcry from Haitians and those that know how badly he bungled the 48 hour rescue window they will not be able to stop it.
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