Thoughts on Transcribing, Rescue, Katrina, Red Cross

[bkdelong]

It's funny....I find myself of the same mind regarding the govt and soldiers to Iraq as I do about the govt and rescuers to Katrina. Love the rescuers, disappointed with the government. I'm happy we're there now, we're getting things done but....damn.

Too Little

I'm hearing Coast Guard pilots just saying we don't have enough resources - in St. Bernard Parish Hostel there were 20 people. By the time rescue could get there, 10 had passed on and the other 10 were on their way. President of another Parish was talking about their local emergency management coordinator whose mother was in a home for the elderly and kept calling her son. He kept saying, day after day, they're coming for you - they're coming for you. She and others drowned by Friday. Yet another pilot was heard to be grumbling about all the briefings FEMA and other officials have them in while they could be out saving lives.

And, yes, I will provide sources at some point. I rarely say something I cannot prove. Today has been a crazy day on the scanners. I spent about 6hrs playing pinch hitter for various channels so others could be relieved. Yesterday, I was limited in my ability to help due to Trillian's inability to handle so many channels at once. I'm now using mIRC.

Transcribing

It was a different experience switching between 2 channels of FEMA, the Astrodome, the National Guard, and the San Antonio Airport. I've grown quite attached to all the call signs I find myself typing over and over - Seahawk 40, Omaha 44, Bulldog, Fuel 1, Fuel 3, Sheriff Command Post, Windham command post, Pelican JOC. 1536 etc. These folks are working damn hard out there and taking breaks only when they can't work any longer. I hope someday I can connect the callsign with the name to buy them beers.

Lots of food and water drops, lots of pickups, lots of flights of refugees into texas, and we even heard a few gunshots and knew about the chopper crash before anyone else.

People keep asking me why we're doing this. Well, as you just heard....we're on the front lines. We hear about chopper crashes, gunshots, people being killed or found dead before most. Those of us transcribing are being monitored by a team of "summarizers" who then post salient news bits to several other IRC channels. Who is reading? Well, obviously Interdictor (interdictor) as he and DirectNIC setup this whole operation - so you're seeing a lot of this on his Weblog. Others? Media, folks with relief organizations, government agencies and those just concerned about our country linger in these channels awaiting news.

I'm also amazed at who is helping. Two of our most active "Ops Managers", Neovanglist & Technix are from Denmark and Amsterdamn respectively. They've worked 8 hour days online managing this. I hope next time I make it to Europe, I can connect with them.

Red Cross

I got an email from the Red Cross today. I'll be attending Boston training Tuesday afternoon to manage a team of....incoming volunteers. Guess they're interested in my conference and tradeshow experience. Hopefully they'll get to see and I'll get to use my intuition and drive that appears when something is very important to me...I hope I can help a lot more.

Thanks VERY MUCH to all of you who offered me rides, cars, plane tickets, and places to crash. Who knows...I may still use them. I know I've been out of touch and annoyingly absent from a lot of you but what I am doing right now is very important.

Worries

What scares me most is hearing how short we are on resources - my brother Jon (jdbryce) and his Blackhawk unit are still going to Iraq. Friends keep telling me to remember the hurricane season isn't over. Don't forget the large amount of earthquake activity in Southern California.

I really think we, the online and technology community, should take the goddamn time to combine all the "good things" coming out of Katrina because of our interest - Web of trust, housing and ride offers, self-sustaining, ad hoc wireless networks, ALL frequency scanner monitoring and immediate transcription, etc. We have power and can help even tho we're not there. We need to be prepared for the next disaster despite whether our government is or is not.

I hear rumblings about refugee vs evacuee. How about IDP? Internally Displaced Persons - here, in the US? Who woulda thunk.

Comments

[bbennett.livejournal.com]

chanel19 has done some of that - I'll send her the way of your blog in case she has some advice. That's an important role, BK - I'm glad you heard back from them!

[prettyveela.livejournal.com]

I think you are fantastic. <33333

[chanel19.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you'll be doing the LDV function, that's local disaster volunteers. That's very important because it assertains who can do what and puts them where they are most needed. I've done LDV work in Arlington and like it a lot. I'm at my best when I'm organizing. I get a little too emotional sometimes when dealing directly with clients. I find I'm better at working on the rear guard than on the front lines.