Director's Message

Sept. 8, 2006

To: All DHS employees

From: Bruce Goldberg, Director

"Whatever may be the issue we shall share one common danger, one safety."
~Virgil

With Hurricane Katrina now a year behind us and the five-year anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, approaching, this month -- which is National Emergency Preparedness Month -- is an appropriate time to reflect on the important role safety plays in people's lives, and the responsibility we at DHS have to contribute to Oregonians' personal and community safety. We now realize all too well the potential toll that can be taken by large-scale disasters such as floods and tsunamis, earthquakes, disease outbreaks, chemical spills, radiation leaks, and other natural and human-caused disasters. It is our responsibility at DHS to ensure the safety of our clients and to help plan the state's response.

We serve the state's most vulnerable and fragile residents. In the event of a large-scale disaster, we must be able to help locate, notify and evacuate a range of individuals who may require specialized medical care, language translation services, transportation assistance, and temporary housing for themselves, their families and their pets.

In consideration of these concerns, I recently asked Clyde Saiki, our deputy director for operations, and Dr. Susan Allan, who heads our Public Health Division, to convene a Special Population Task Force to bring all DHS divisions together to address all-hazard emergency preparedness issues. The task force will evaluate the needs of such groups as the frail elderly, medically fragile children, individuals with mental illness, people with limited English proficiency, and other groups we serve who will require special assistance in the event of a major disaster.

In addition, the Public Health Division continues to participate in planning exercises to prepare for a variety of scenarios ranging from a tsunami to chemical and radiation hazards to a pandemic flu outbreak. These preparation efforts include hundreds of partners throughout Oregon such as hospitals, county health departments, transportation and police agencies, emergency communication centers, the Oregon National Guard, the Red Cross, animal shelters, and other groups and organizations that will play critical roles in a large-scale emergency. The logistics are complex and require planning and practice to ensure that small process breakdowns don't disable the entire effort.

We also are embarking on risk assessment and business continuity planning throughout the department that will involve each and every work group and location. As a DHS employee, you will be part of that effort.

If we are going to serve Oregonians in an emergency, we must be able to do our jobs. That means we may need to work from alternative sites, maintain communications through cell phones and other wireless technology, protect the integrity of client data and the ability to provide clients with their benefits on schedule, and possibly even work in partnership with other agencies under an Incident Command Structure different from our normal reporting channels.

Your ability to understand and perform your role in a crisis situation will affect our agency's ability to ensure the safety of the many vulnerable populations we serve. You will have a role to play, whether you are providing front-line service delivery and incident response, or are serving a support function by keeping the office running in the background.

As these planning efforts role out through the agency, I encourage you to actively participate. We cannot serve Oregonians if we are not prepared.

To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us