Regional COAD closes, remains in county sights

Jana Mathia, Gazette Reporter | May 10, 20180

The Palouse Clearwater COAD voted to disband in April, but the county emergency management hopes to do something at the county level with the same intent.

COAD stands for Community Organizations Active in Disasters. According to the Red Cross, a COAD is a collection of community organizations which may be active in all phases of a disaster: preparation, response, recovery and mitigation. The COAD is made up of public, private, voluntary and nonprofit agencies and organizations. A COAD or VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) enhances the ability of all communities involved to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

The Palouse Clearwater COAD networked volunteers and organizations from the region so when a disaster struck, local people would be able to access a variety of relief organizations in one motion.

“Someone has to have the contact information,” said Fred Tribble, who was president of the program before it folded.

The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) was founded in 1971 after Hurricane Camille in 1969 and other disasters highlighted flaws in recovery and mitigation. Different organizations working without coordination were frequently duplicating or confusing to others. One example given by the Red Cross was two organizations would feed disaster victims, but in opposite corners which was inefficient.

“Whenever disaster strikes, it is very natural for community and faith-based service agencies to go into high gear to respond. However, it was found after Hurricane Camile in 1969 that response was often fragmented, incomplete and disorganized with unnecessary duplication of effort,” Red Cross information states.

“A COAD itself does not respond; it is simply a means to bring together voluntary and service agencies to identify resources available and plan to allot them effectively and efficiently in the event of a disaster.”

The Spokane County COAD includes all the health-based providers in that area, churches, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Avista and other corporations and businesses that have interest or a role to play in disaster preparation, response or recovery.

The Palouse Clearwater COAD had only recently changed from being a VOAD in an attempt to garner broader participation. As a VOAD, membership was limited to people from volunteer groups, so someone representing a government agency could not vote and such. The PCVOAD covered four counties in Washington and five counties in Idaho. But, even with the wider field of possible participation, only about six people consistently showed up to meetings of the approximately 140 who had signed up. At the end it was just Whitman, Latah and Nez Perce counties involved.

“The failure here, of the PCVOAD, is actually a pretty significant failure,” Tribble said.

The mission of the PCVOAD had been to reach out to all the counties in the region to build the network needed to deliver services and aid in times of a disaster. But the group never had the depth or strength needed to do that. Tribble attributed the lack of enthusiasm for the VOAD to an attitude that disasters do not happen here, so why worry and therefore not participate.

While the PCOAD may be disbanded, Whitman County Emergency Management plans to keep that network and communication open though its Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). According to Robin Cocking, emergency management deputy director, the COAD will be an on-going project for emergency management through LEPC which meets monthly and goes over different disaster preparation and recovery topics. The June 21 meeting will feature the Pullman Police Department demonstrating its new drone and talking about different ways to use it. Past meetings have gone over GIS mapping, behavioral health and how the county would respond in the event of a massive power outage.

Cocking added that, while the regional COAD did not work out, they learned a lot, especially regarding networking and assembling volunteers, and hope to resurrect it again at the county level. She encouraged people representing groups, churches, organizations or businesses that would be interested to attend the LEPC meetings, the next one being June 21 in Colfax.

“You can’t trust fire and law to do it all,” Tribble said, pointing out the jurisdiction and ability of local fire-fighters and law enforcement only go so far. Then it is up to the army of service organizations, religious groups and aid agencies to make a full recovery. A VOAD/COAD provides the structure for that army, so everyone is able to march in step and provide the most efficient help when disaster strikes.