Progress Report Giegerich

I am investigating the emergency management industry which is companies that specialize in consulting and training building staff to ensure that they are well prepared to respond to most emergencies, should they occur. The industry went through some changes in 2006 when New York passed Local Law 26, which requires that all buildings 100 feet or taller prepare an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) that must be accepted by the Fire Department before its implementation. Prior to LL26, Local Law 5, which basically said that buildings must have fire drills every six months, proved insufficient in the 9/11 attacks and the need for better preparedness in the case of various emergencies was addressed.

Emergency management consultants and fire consultants help buildings create and practice their EAPs by assessing the needs of the building and what a sufficient EAP would include.

My highlights are my interviews.
I’ve interviewed Anita Ohm, and Walter Ulmer, of Remlu Inc., and gained insight into how training is led and the reasons why buildings look to private consultants for help with EAPs. I hope to get some color by attending Remlu’s tabletop session where Walter will work with a midtown building to decide on an effective EAP.
Walter gave some insight in the theory of emergency management and the methodology of what he does, which may help me discuss the effectiveness of training for events that probably will not happen. A problem that I have is that there is no solid way to measure if training works. Asking if people will be saved because of sufficient training would be like, as Walter put it, “like asking a therapist, will less people kill themselves because of your sessions?”

I hope that an interviewee I have yet to hear back from can shed some light on this or at least some statistics.

I’ve also interviewed Bob Pecora, of Quality Fire, a fire consultant company that has become an emergency consultant company to comply with LL26. Pecora explained how fire safety has grown and what the differences are in the training since LL26.

Kathleen Dunne, of Dunne and Markis consulting, is an architectural/structural consultant who told me a little bit about how that industry works. Her interview may serve as a side note but strays too far from emergency management for use on my story.

I am waiting to hear back from the communication director of the International Association of Emergency Managers, and from Captain Joe Evangelista, captain of the EAP team at NYFD. Dawn Shiley, the director of IAEM, I expect will be able to help me figure out how many businesses rose after 9/11 and how many are currently functioning in New York.

Captain Evangelista will hopefully be able to answer questions about how efficiently the city is enforcing acceptable EAPs, and also what is the difference between an EAP that is “accepted,” which is the requirement, or an EAP that is exceptional?

My story is going to be a report on one positive change that has occurred since 9/11, LL26. While employees working in hi-rises may not enjoy extra drills and information sessions that prepare them for something that most likely will never happen, if people in New York are thoroughly prepared for emergencies, if they do happen again then many lives could be saved. And it seems that many buildings are working with reputable consultants to have sufficient EAPs which means there is concrete evidence that at least one change since 9/11 has materialized into a positive way to deal with emergencies.

I am in the middle of research and interviews and think in a good place, especially once I attend a Remlu training session.