Nostalgia: Orange Alert: Reflection: Post Mortem; View from the Bridge: INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING REVIEW

(Ed. note: This is a follow up of the bridge incident in Mpls last week, as well as a reflection on process of all "orange alert" incidents. What it means for us.)

I only was acquainted with one "orange alert." It was a very dark afternoon about "3:20PM. Change of shift in the hospital. A "orange alert" was called. A trailer park had been hit in North Mpls and there were supposedly 15-20 injured. Heavy smoke inhalation. Tornados had ignited a fire. Sketchy info. Staff was alerted by page to stay.

In an "orange alert" all the usual routine stops and patients are tagged with numbers and they come through "triage" that determines priority.

The problem in this orange alert was that we had sketchy info on what the injuries were. Ambulances were on the way.

I was the administrative supervisor of admitting, but in a crisis, the triage took over everything. My job that night was to see if I could locate a next of kin of a man who was unconscious from smoke inhalation. I remember the feeling today. Searching through the smokey wallet. Looking for some info to trace who he was.

After the incident was all over----was the post mortem. The police, fire, and rescue as well as the medical staff met for a brief 20 minute postmortem----what happened, what could have done better, what was done well, done very quickly in sharp professional fashion. No blame. No resentment. I was impressed.

Last week at the bridge. When the collapse happened, we see the citizens of Minneapolis-----what did they do? Did they say "OH my ...." did they deny? No ---they engaged the situation and rushed to help the victims and the result was impressive. Yes the first responders did a great job. The response of the regular citizen was outstanding as well. Beyond blame and denial. Active and vigorous.

What does this mean for us? In crisis--professionals act with independent professional conduct, not blame and denial. After two incidents of flooding here in Evansville that have been termed "100 year events", I call for an INDEPENDENT ENGINEERING REVIEW. Without such an independent review, the cost to our community will be enormous. We need to know. We cannot afford not to know.