ROMEOVILLE—In the aftermath of 9/11, public health experts nationwide moved to fine tune their skills in disaster management. Since then, hundreds of programs, from certificates for a six-week course to bachelor’s and master’s degrees, have cropped up in community colleges and universities from New York to Los Angeles.

And while people in the post-disaster mode tend to seek spiritual comfort from their parish community, at least one disaster manager is looking to utilize the parish’s familiarity with the neighborhood as part of a coordinated outreach method.

Benedictine University in Lisle is among many institutions that have invested energy into establishing a master’s level program. Heading this particular 5-year-old BU program is instructor Ted Hogan, a public health consultant whose list of clients includes the Will County Emergency Management Agency in Joliet. Last month Hogan, an industrial/environmental expert from Lemont, Ill., prepared a five-page report, suggesting potential ways to respond to the March detection of toxic tritium in Braidwood. The discovery of seepage from the Exelon Corp.-owned nuclear plant left residents up in arms over potential ramifications due to their exposure to a hazardous chemical.

The impact of any disaster on the public, psychologically and sociologically, is an issue that demands respect and understanding, he said. Hogan believes it is appropriate for a Catholic university to take the lead in plans for community involvement in disaster management. He is seeking church-designated volunteers to serve as agents willing to check on facilities and institutions that cater to the elderly or vulnerable populations. Although his plan is yet in its infancy, the disaster manager said he has faith in the willingness of trained volunteers to facilitate in matters that might call for a move to safer quarters within an existing structure or even evacuation all together. The former head of safety for Commonwealth Edison Corp., Hogan said his approach places the safety of people at the top of the priority list.

“We want to make sure that each institution knows how to respond,” a practice that entails the assignment of certain tasks, such as closing doors to prevent the spread of flames or collecting medical supplies.

In the year since Hurricane Katrina struck along the Gulf Coast, disaster management specialists are paying more attention to the importance of assisting the physically fragile or vulnerable groups within the general population, Hogan said. In New Orleans, the fallout from the lack of supplies for diabetics and the like was a lesson that disaster managers don’t plan to repeat, he stressed.

As for the role of church, he intends to geographically match parish volunteers with facilities and to coordinate preparedness training for all parties involved. Because each community is unique, Hogan said, it’s critical to include residents in any overall disaster management plan. Community members are most familiar with the area in which they live and are aware of the nursing homes and medical care facilities located there.

Hogan said an academic program in disaster management with the goal of a bachelor’s degree and beyond is perfectly plausible. It wasn’t until the 9/11 terrorists attacks that institutional leaders recognized the necessity to prepare for disasters of mammoth proportions. What observers learned in the weeks after the twin towers crumbled to the ground was the necessity for a cohesive community health stance, a response to the potential for infection and lingering contamination, clean-up and stabilization.

First responders, police and firefighters along with Red Cross and Salvation Army volunteers, are trained to cope with the immediacy of the situation, while disaster management experts are the ones responsible for the broader implications of a calamity, he said. “Our role is in helping to prevent disasters and management of the long-term consequences of crises.”

At the core of disaster management is the ability to maintain communications, said Hogan. It begins with the establishment of a prearranged headquarters for communications, which is essential for first-responders and long-term coordinators alike, he said. For the sake of efficiency when it comes to assisting the affected population, coordinators make provisions to maintain communications when traditional avenues—telephones and computers—are out of service. Walkie-talkies and short-wave radios have served as reliable sources.

A matter that’s equally as important as alerting the public is learning how to broach the topic of crisis, he added. “How to communicate the idea of risk” entails an understanding of an individual’s or a group’s reaction to crises.

Whether the circumstance prompts a flight response or an impulse to empty supermarket shelves, a coordinated response is essential. Bill Ferguson, manager for the Will County Emergency Management Agency, said regardless of the circumstance—a derailed train carrying toxic chemicals, a tornado or terrorist attack at one of the two nearby nuclear facilities in Morris and Braidwood—the evacuation process follows protocol. The department is prepared on multiple levels to respond to situations that call to task an effort for the overall benefit of the general public.

The director of the center of public preparedness for the American Medical Association in Chicago, Dr. James James, said institutions within the medical field have coordinated their efforts as well. With the help of trained disaster managers, the AMA has become part of the system for disaster response. “We like to think about disaster management as the time when the local community no longer has the capacity to meet the patient load.”

Since 9/11, a database has been established to ensure that the medical response teams that show up at crisis circumstances have been requested for their specific expertise. For instance, he said, while well-meaning doctors and nurses have been known to take it upon themselves to rush to the scene of a crisis, their presence merely gets in the way of first-responders. “We want to make sure that if the call is for orthopedic surgeons” that an appropriate team of physician volunteers is dispatched, according to James.

“The heart and soul of disaster response is trying to do the most for the most people. We try to provide as much relief as possible,” said James.