I was born in the middle of a 7.1 earthquake and so have always felt that I had some proprietary ownership of disaster in general. I managed in a variety of professional and personal roles during earthquakes, floods, range fires, tornadoes, typhoons, winter storms, and volcanic eruptions. I lived 35 miles away from Mt. St. Helens when she blew her top the first time. I live near a river that is wild and floods on a fairly regular basis. I live in the shadow of a nuclear site and a chemical weapons depot that are only a few miles from my front door. I experienced direct assault as an act of terrorism when I was in Asia in the 1971. A military guard set vicious guard dogs on me as we walked on a public beach . The soldiers were amused as the dogs bit through my boots. Later that same year I saw the aftermath of a plane that had been used as a weapon to fly into the home of a national leader. That one didn't ever make the news.
When my daughter died unexpectedly, followed within a couple of weeks by the sudden death of my mother, I was sure that I had more knowledge than many about surviving duress and disaster. I went back to work but how I managed those days was not the same as before. When I went to work as a trauma counselor directly following the attacks of September 11, 2001, I experienced more than anticipated. The dynamics and complications associated with disaster and terrorism were beyond even my amazing imagination . But I had my first trauma flashback as I recalled the horrifying day I was notified of my daughter's death, which was also on a September 11 th .
I was a well-trained professional with depth experiences in trauma management, disaster, Critical Incident Stress Management, Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services, Psychotraumatology, advanced degrees and lots of direct experience and I got to feel more and learn more! My learning curve for disasters includes knowing without a shadow of a doubt the following truths:
Disasters are sacred, because they hold places for miracles
Disasters are scary, because they are bigger than me
You can never learn enough to know everything to be perfectly prepared
You cannot really prepare for the unimaginable
You cannot control disasters, but you can manage the aftermath
Most Disasters are natural
Unnatural disasters create the exact same emotions as natural disasters
Disasters are only truly disastrous if you have no meaning in your life
Disasters are completely unpredictable
People are completely unpredictable
Life is amazing and fun and divine and odd and scary and miraculous and messy and painful and silly and wonderful and short, and disasters are part of life
I have a lot more to learn about disasters, and management, so stay tuned .