Collaboration Works

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Following encouragement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in early 2004, seven Pittsburgh business, university, civic and public organization leaders spent nearly a year developing a concept that would become the Pittsburgh Regional Business Coalition for Homeland Security. The coalition is dedicated to assisting Western Pennsylvania businesses in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural or man-made disasters.

“We came together and reached out to one another, says Dr. Loren Roth, chair of the Coalition Board. Very rarely does that happen in a metropolitan area, but the culture and business climate in Pittsburgh is such that a lunch discussion can evolve into a powerful mission.

Having grown from its founding member organizations, the coalition now has more than 35 members representing large, medium and small businesses, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the University of Pittsburgh, the region's emergency response organization (Region 13 Task Force), the region's primary economic development and quality of life organization (Allegheny Conference) and the local Red Cross Chapter.

Providing a resource to region businesses looking to improve their disaster planning, the coalition's initial program areas focus on communications, information, education and business resources. The coalition also represents the business community in the broader region disaster planning initiatives. Helping support the region's emergency response organization has also become a priority. During a disaster, the business community can provide important assets and subject experts to the emergency responders, while the business community looks to the region's emergency response organization to help them survive and recover.

“Neither the public or the private side alone can properly prepare, respond and recover,” says Mike Comiskey, the coalition's executive director. “Only by working together can the business community understand what it needs to do for itself and what it needs from others.”

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina highlighted many shortcomings in U.S. national and regional disaster response capabilities. “In many areas of the country, convincing regional leaders from the public and private sector to sit down in the same room to discuss emergency preparedness is often difficult, if not impossible,” says George Foresman, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Under Secretary for Preparedness. “Western Pennsylvania is 2-3 years ahead of other regions of the country in regional collaboration to prepare for either natural or man-made disaster.”

Essentially, the Coalition has become a communication link to the business community, as well as a feeder system into the process. “We work with region businesses to heighten attention to disaster preparedness issues,” Comiskey says. “We also serve to leverage projects from across the region for the broader application to the business community”.

One such project in the early implementation phase is the Strategic BioDefense project at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). This system will organize data from disparate sources in ways that allow responders to determine the best possible distribution plan for scarce medicine and supplies in a region, the most rational use of hospital beds and staff in the face of unprecedented numbers of patients and the extent of disease spread in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region.

It will also include a vital public information component through which critical information can be shared with the citizens of the region for coping with a disaster and its aftermath. Personal and business disaster preparedness information also will be available through a Web-based portal.

Fortunately for the Pittsburgh region, there has been a good relationship between the emergency response organizations and business. The coalition is building on that relationship to help identify specific programs of mutual benefit. One such program grew from the belief that the business community has many assets and subject experts that could be of significant benefit to emergency responders in time of disaster. Working with Region 13 Emergency Management, the coalition undertook an analysis of available systems that allow the cataloging of key resources and subject experts. These resources might include pumps, trucks and warehouse space and experts on subjects such as radioactive materials or dangerous chemicals. “Having these resources readily available to us during a disaster will be a tremendous benefit,” says Chief Bob Full of Region 13. “No longer will we have to rely on memory and relationships alone to know where critical assets and experts are.”

Regional collaboration is critical because many local programs and strategies have regional impacts and applicability. Smaller outlying areas just do not have the resources to duplicate the kind of equipment, training and resources available to larger metropolitan areas. Fortunately region 13, comprising 13 counties in South Western Pennsylvania, is a well established and cohesive region, particularly from an emergency response standpoint.

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