And Not a Drop to Drink: Water, a Test for Emergency Managers

Abstract

This article published in the June 2008 edition of the Homeland Security Affairs Journal, talks about the need for reform in the emergency response process for emergency management officials. More specifically, this article examines the bureaucratic process involved in delivering clean drinking water to disaster victims. The author argues that when a disaster is declared, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] evaluates the damage and determines what needs must be met. Between that determination and the actually delivery of supplies -- including clean water -- to disaster victims, the government requires a number of steps that, while necessary from a process standpoint, appear to inhibit the delivery of vital resources. Many of these steps are not necessary if we change the focus from the process to the victim and the responder at the point of service. Who really wants to argue that twenty steps are necessary to take care of water?