By Thomas Cullen
Missouri School of Journalism
Disasters are a time of chaos and uncertainty. To perhaps lessen this chaos for reporters, a panel of experts at Health Journalism 2009 in Seattle discussed how journalists might cover and survive disasters as well as understand the medical systems in place to handle them.
Eric Holdeman, port security director at the Port of Tacoma, talked about the importance of good relationships. He said that reporters might ask to participate in disaster drills alongside emergency personnel to learn who does what when a catastrophic event hits a community. Journalists should seek to build relationships with those who respond to disasters before one happens, Holdeman said.
John Verrico, media spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said that people turn to those they trust in disasters, and reporters are the trusted. To become better journalists in times of disaster, Verrico suggested reporters try to understand how disaster health care works.
One aspect of disaster health care is dealing with victims. Onora Lien, special projects manager for King County Healthcare Coalition, spoke about the multifaceted process of dealing with mass casualty situations. Throughout her talk, she provided information for journalists about the intricacies of caring for large numbers of victims and their families.
To clarify how a specific community might handle a disaster, Johnese Spisso, chief clinical operations officer for University of Washington Medicine, discussed the systems in place in Seattle's medical community.
Fundamentally, the panelists offered insight into the many wheels set in motion when a disaster strikes and how journalists can prepare for and understand what might happen should one hit their community.
