More on Haiti: Lessons Learned Part I

Clearly we have learned a few things.

1. When invading, whether militarily or on rescue missions, we need Port capacity. Assume in all operations that a Port will be needed. Assume that it has been destroyed, and assume that there are no other ports that will suffice to your needs of the mission. We need landing craft that can offload supplies and heavy equipment. We need heavy equipment that can be offloaded into a destroyed port and rebuild a working port, and we need to be able to deliver this to the site within ten (10) days from starting orders. Assume, for planning purposes, that there is no warning and no ramp-i[ to mission time. Something happens... and you need a port rebuilt suitable to handle three (3) freighters a day off loading... and further assume that the freighters were never designed to deal with a broken or inoperable Port.

2. Catastrophe Personnel Management: Survivors and decedents all need a few things: A name, a photograph of each hand and each foot, suitable for comparison with archival records. As an aside, imagine distribution of a spray to enable any standard web-cam or cellphone camera to gather enhanced-resolution images suitable for archive.

Also, a central collection authority for various automated and paper systems creating documentation of individual record-of-identity. This central collection authority needs to be on an Open Standard. All various systems need to be able to intercommunicate.

3. Extremely rapid implementation and DEPLOYMENT of distribution systems capable of reaching millions of persons is a primary concern. Water must be deployed at levels to maintain basic sustenance hydration within no more than three (3) days. Protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins must be deployed no later than seven (7) days. Carbohydrates should be distributed within five (5) days, protein within seven (7) days, vitamins in mid-term daily supplement packs at the ten (10) day term.

4. Medical personnel are of limited use unless supplied with modern medical technology. In Haiti 2010, the lead to follow is that of the Israelis. Within 60 hours they had deployed a hospital including modern imaging-systems, and 200 staff including a variety of surgeons, technicians, nurses, and logistical staff. This should become a world standard.

5. Short-to-mid-term housing for thousands or millions of displace or invading personnel are essential. Unexpected disasters or military maneuvers on an impromptu basis can occur at any time. In Haiti, excellent luck meant that a disaster of unparalleled proportions occurred during the dry season of an island notoriously susceptible to hurricanes. Impromptu shelters suitable to a subtropical winter (dry season) are easily assembled even from scrap cloth and salvage timber or light piping. Yet such shelter will be completely inadequate to a tropical summer (rainy season) or tropical fall (hurricane season).

6. Sanitation is a major concern even among healthy populations. Remember: in a dry environment, for each liter of water consumed by a human, approximately 4 liters are needed for personal hygeine and approximately 10 liters are needed to flush away excretory wastes. Deliberate concentration of human wastes can reduce requirements of water for sanitation, but only if the deliberate concentration of human wastes is intentional and well-designed.

More to come as more lessons are learned.