John Harpe
Except for a brief time near the Mojave Desert (where I happened upon a US Naval base out in the middle of nowhere), I have spent my entire life in the Pacific Northwest in close proximity to the Juan de Fuca geological plate. Circumstances have blessed me with many exposures to the vibrant, diverse and industrious lifestyles there. In addition to my Emergency and Hospital tenures, I participated at some point in its Agriculture, Retail, Service, Firewood Collection, Aquaculture, Lumber production, Moving Service, Family Entertainment, and Academic Industries to name a few. Enough to leave me awestruck by the capability of its People. I have even gotten to meet some history makers from there; a former US Ambassador/Honorary US Marine and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient as well the then serving Secretary of Defense.
On my second day of official Volunteer Fire training in Spokane Washington, Mt. St Helens erupted and my first call ever was a two-week FEMA Operation. Since that time, I have been given opportunities to participate in just about every level of Fire, EMS, Flight Medicine and Respiratory Therapy made available to me, eventually finding myself an Instructor in 3 out 4 of those disciplines. I was once instrumental in the ` of a permanent rural Advanced Life Support agency in Washington State. I have some 911 Dispatcher experience and served to facilitate the first Emergency Medical Dispatch education for Franklin County Washington. I was engaged in Fire Station Lieutenant duties on 9/11/01. Once on duty as a Paramedic, a public riot broke out that then evolved into a massive Law Enforcement execution. I have been aboard US Naval Ships performing Advanced Life Support skills as a member of a nearby Volunteer Fire Department and have performed Emergency Operations with Civilian and Military Aircraft. I have nearly perished in fire more than once. I have nearly perished in Rescues more than once. I have found myself assisting Police Officers in their control of unruly suspects and have put myself between potentially violent patients and Nurses. I have lost a lot of sleep trying to get my job done. I have assisted in Surgical Procedures exercising extreme biological precautions while also performing ER, NICU, CCU, Peds, Ortho, Oncology and General Medical Hospital duties. I have seen F 16’s mid air refuel while air transporting a poor girl who needed a new heart. I have a personal memory file of death and morbidity on an Industrial scale. I do not have a memory file of death and morbidity on a catastrophic scale and I don’t want one.
The potential for a Cascadia event was brought to our attention in the 1990’s but I didn’t appreciate the International implications at the time. With my past duties being only indirectly connected, my involvement in Emergency Management and Disaster Research all happened by accident. I had only participated in the periphery in my prior duties. That all changed as I neared retiring when I found myself contributing to the Virginia Mason Memorial Hospital Emergency Preparedness Committee. During one meeting, a supervisor performed one of the best Washington State Emergency Management Division Table Top presentations (worse case scenario) of the Cascadia Event of all time. This allowed me to realistically imagine the long lasting and heartbreaking process we could endure afterwards. He made me realize how tough it was going to be for our own National Guard to get to work because they would have to first dig themselves free. Then he gave me the following guidance:
“Now think outside the box and suggest anything to improve this outcome”.
With my background, I took that to mean something else. I had been asked to do the same in the past at moments of great duress from folks like my supervisor, and it was because we were all in a lot of trouble. I processed it like I had always done before and took it to mean an Order. A call to action. His request was immediately was added to my previous Standing Order of “Always do your duty, failure is not an option”.
During his presentation, I recall seeing a diagram of all the expected west side devastation in red on a Washington State map. Everything was in red….except for the waterways. Being a science geek, (I think of myself more as a life encyclopedia) and having multi coastal mariner heritage I had learned deep water vessels do not feel the effects of earthquake nor Tsunami. Realizing this I blurted out “If the Governor has an Army National Guard and an Air National Guard, why doesn’t the Governor have a Navy?”. (I later learned this is US Coast Guard jurisdiction, that’s how unnautical I am. I also later learned the Governor has one on the books). I think I also blurted something about storing Disaster Caches on the water.
Then he gave the same contemplative response that I’ve received from ever stakeholder who have since taken the time to listen. This would simply be the use of an infrastructure we in Washington State routinely count on a daily basis anyways that happens to be seismic resistant. This is indeed achievable here. It didn’t take long to also realize this is achievable in many parts of the world.
I walked away from that meeting realizing what my duty required now and knowing this would completely change my life. What I didn’t know was how I was going to do it. It’s taken over two years, but here we are together at last.
After a careful and vast peer review process since then, what has culminated has become this 2019 National Hazards Center Convergence Conference Poster Presentation. I figured that since I was here, I might as share a few other things regarding natural disasters that have been on my mind for over 35 years. It is hoped that any of the content on this web page can be of benefit to you somehow. Feel free to pick and choose.
Now the really awkward background on me. I’ve been arrested 3 times but never stayed long in jail and the experience has been my personal test of resiliency. I must admit, it is difficult to appear credible after that, but when he gave me that guidance he didn’t care. Again, like it or not we are all in this together. Thinking along these lines later made me realize that we may have to rely on Prison populations for help after a significant Pacific NW seismic event to the level that he described. In that scenario we would need everyone. Therefore, this web site will delve into my fatherly First Responder/Hospital care provider prospective on Pacific NW Societal groups somewhat as well. In the scenario he described, we will have to go Tribal after this disaster. Again, the views shared are based upon my experiences and impressions, I don’t have recognizable credentials in Sociology either.
