Planning for the worst?

September 1, 2005 10:07 PM

Tulane University Emergency Information This informational website -- almost a blog -- has replaced Tulane's regular home page, and I found it strangely compelling as it described the encroaching emergency day by day. It set me to thinking about institutional " crisis management plans" and programs in disaster management. Can you plan for a disaster with rational management science, or is it an illusion?
posted by realcountrymusic (16 comments total)

My first FPP . . . if anyone cares. /bows sheepishly
posted by realcountrymusic at 10:08 PM on September 1, 2005

Just FYI, I've heard that many colleges are accepting temporary transfer status for students from Tulane. An attorney in my mother's office had a daughter that was to start her freshman year at Tulane; both Rutgers and Columbia are offering this aide. Upshot of it all is that she got a free transfer to a better university closer to home. YMMV.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:06 AM on September 2, 2005

And even more randomly, a friend of mine discovered that, of all things, Tulane's payroll deposited August's paychecks into bank accounts this week.

Other Tulane/Loyola-related sites: Tulane University and Neighborhood Updates, Tulane Student Blog, Newcomb College Blog, Emergency Updates from Loyola University, Loyola New Orleans Blog.
posted by Katemonkey at 5:13 AM on September 2, 2005

I'm sure its been linked before, but WWL-TV's blog is updated constantly and has all the latest info.
posted by Mach5 at 5:35 AM on September 2, 2005

thanks for those links katemonkey
posted by realcountrymusic at 6:12 AM on September 2, 2005

of all things, Tulane's payroll deposited August's paychecks into bank accounts this week.

Fucking Christ you've gotta be shitting me.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:26 AM on September 2, 2005

Tulane's payroll deposited August's paychecks into bank accounts this week.

What does that even mean?
posted by smackfu at 8:06 AM on September 2, 2005

It means employees got paid by the automated payroll system based elsewhere (e.g. AccuCheck in Troy, NY).
posted by Pollomacho at 8:59 AM on September 2, 2005

Doesn't it also mean that the school cashed the checks of the students who mailed in their tuition?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:32 AM on September 2, 2005

Paying their employees despite the hurricane is a good thing. It has nothing to do with student's checks.
posted by smackfu at 9:41 AM on September 2, 2005

Oh... my apologies for the seething anger.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:54 AM on September 2, 2005

From the September 2, 10:30 a.m. update:

When possible, I’ve been trying to scan the student web blogs and am deeply touched beyond words by your support and passion.

That's amazing. I think maybe I really like the Tulane President (Google cache link).

On another topic, I'm starting to see Tulane T-shirts around the Syracuse campus. According to this morning's paper (not online), 300 students contacted the university to try to get one of the 15 spots we have left in the dorms.
posted by gleuschk at 10:34 AM on September 2, 2005

Shit, I was just grateful that they bothered to pay their employees.

I should've been clearer, I guess. Sorry.
posted by Katemonkey at 11:03 AM on September 2, 2005

No, Kate, it was my misunderstanding. It's incredible that they're still paying their employees.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:44 AM on September 2, 2005

In an attempt to answer part of your original question, yes, it is possible to plan. While I'm speaking as a private individual, I'm also a member of a volunteer state-wide emergency response team here in Illinois. A lot of our training that's specific for this team has to do with emergency/disaster operations, i.e. chain of command, setting up control for an incident, triage, etc. While I'm not claiming that I have any clue myself how this could have been handled better (the scope and scale of this is absolutely amazing), there's certainly ways in which the concept of how to approach mass casualty situations can be taught and taught well. What's particularly interesting is that you can take some of those principles and apply them to everyday logistical problems -- I run a student-run free clinic, and some of the concepts I've learned with respect to incident command are very helpful, even through our clinic is there for chronic conditions, not emergent situations or even acute illness.

There are some online courses FEMA offers that are free-of-charge, I believe. There are also many other places to learn about the topic, as was noted in the original question.
posted by navsaria at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2005

If I can call myself out . . . MeTA . How's that for meta?
posted by realcountrymusic at 10:56 AM on September 3, 2005