Photo: George W. Foresman

As Under Secretary of Preparedness for DHS, Mr. Foresman is committed to integrating people with disabilities into the nation's preparedness efforts. In addition, Mr. Foresman believes that people with disabilities, their families, and the organizations that serve them should be partners in the emergency management process itself.

During a recent speaking engagement, you spoke of a "Preparedness Revolution." Can you share what your vision of this revolution is and how people with disabilities fit into this concept?

With the advent of the steam engine, electricity, etc., many specific occurrences and inventions came into being. As a society we collectively harnessed these industrial advancements and our way of life was revolutionized—thus propelling the Industrial Revolution. Now in the 21st Century, we have faced key incidents that are changing the way we handle emergencies and disasters. When you think about Y2k, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and even the corporate collapse of Enron (and how this incident has forced corporate America to change the means by which it manages financial and operational risk), we are experiencing many independently significant incidents. However, If we choose to harness the experience gained as a result of these incidents collectively, we are in an ideal position to create the Preparedness Revolution. Akin to the signifi cance of the Industrial Revolution, I believe that the Preparedness Revolution has equal potential to change life as we know it. It will carry us forward into the 21st Century as a societal/geopolitical country that will enable us to look forward as we manage risk, as opposed to looking backward as we evaluate our reactions to the last incident and/or threat. Along the same lines, if we harness the incidents affecting the disability community collectively as well, we can ensure this community is completely enveloped within the Preparedness Revolution.

The Preparedness Revolution will touch all of us—with or without disabilities. We are working diligently to take into account the needs of people with disabilities and/or those with special needs in the context of day-to-day preparedness operations, as well as to emergencies and disasters. As we work to make emergency preparedness seamless and inclusive for people with disabilities through our efforts to synchronize all preparedness efforts, I feel confident the Preparedness Revolution will revolutionize disability preparedness.

From being a first responder to a senior emergency management official, you have a broad background in the world of emergency management. Based upon this experience, do you have any thoughts on what emergency management officials can do assist people with disabilities?

Having had an uncle with multiple sclerosis who used a wheelchair and being a first responder who assisted people with disabilities, I have personally seen the challenges that members of the disability community face in their day-to-day lives. When volunteering as a fire fighter, I recall one specific call to a house fire where the resident was in a wheelchair and was trapped on the second floor. The experience of being in a house that is on fire is scary enough, but being in a wheelchair in a burning house adds an additional layer of fear. In fact, I remember thinking she was probably less worried about the fire than she was about being removed from her wheelchair and carried down a ladder over our shoulders to safety. This serves as a vivid reminder for me of the unique challenges people with disabilities face when confronted with an emergency or disaster. The bottom line is this community is the most vulnerable population in our society, and the government should keep this demographic in mind when planning, preparing, mitigating and responding to risk.

Do you think that people with disabilities are being more effectively considered in today's emergency preparedness planning efforts?

Well, factoring the needs of the disability community with regard to emergency preparedness is not a new subject. We talked about the necessity for planning for the disability populations after Hurricane Andrew; we talked about the necessity for planning for the disability community after the North Ridge Earthquake; and we talked about the necessity for planning for the disability community after the Midwest fl oods. I can list many more examples of distinct discussions regarding disability preparedness. We have seen many reoccurring themes that arise from after action reviews, and the necessity to plan for people with disabilities is certainly one of these reoccurring themes. Although there has been some incremental progress on this topic, we have not been able to approach this issue holistically. In my role as the Under Secretary of Preparedness, I am responsible for synchronizing this nation's preparedness efforts. While we have accelerated the preparedness of the government, private sector and the average mainstream American citizen, we need to spend some time and effort considering those who depend upon us the most and assist this community in their preparedness efforts. The good news is that I believe that all of these incidents have resulted in a united platform for the Preparedness Revolution of which I just spoke, and really drives home the imperative for addressing these issues.

Given the similarity of the lessons accumulated on how people with disabilities have been affected by emergencies of the past, and now with the severity in which the disability community and the elderly were impacted from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, do you foresee these lessons turning into policy that yields tangible, positive results?

I think the results were already on the horizon prior to Hurricane Katrina, but Katrina basically added a series of exclamation points underscoring the national imperative for disability preparedness. I also would like to add that I do not think that this has been through malice of absence; it's just simply that there have been a lot of competing priorities that were being addressed. Now, the disability community at large has the opportunity to engage in a way that is meaningful. I would also like to point out that prior to 9/11, there really was not a lot of money available for emergency management and preparedness efforts. In fact, the grand total of all emergency management funding in the late 1990s to the early 2000s was less than $175 million dollars in total. Today it is literally 100 times that dollar amount: $1.7 billion. So, there is a lot more we can do with regard to disability preparedness today than ever before and I think we are in a prime environment to see the Preparedness Revolution really come to life.

Were there any disability initiatives you undertook while serving as the Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for Commonwealth Preparedness of which you are particularly proud?

Having had the opportunity to work with former Lt. Governor John Hager, who paid particular attention to the disability community, I was a part of several disability-focused initiatives of which I am quite proud. These initiatives include the work we did through Secure Virginia Panel and the Virginia Corps to always include a disability component.

One initiative in particular I would like to share, though, was our involvement in the National Capital Region's Conference on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities. This was a three day conference where the Governors of Maryland and Virginia and the Mayor of the District of Columbia worked with leaders from the disability community to bring together high-level authorities from emergency management, disability communities, government agencies, and private business and service, advocacy and care networks. When we planned this conference, we were hoping to get several hundred registrants. In actuality, more than 400 people participated. In fact, the conference was standing room only and we even had to turn away people at the door. When we planned the conference, we thought there was definite interest, but what we found was a fervent desire for disability preparedness. As a result of this desire and our commitment to driving actionable results, this conference was not merely a forum for discussion, but rather a platform to garner tangible, worthwhile action plans for the disability community. For this, I am particularly proud.

How is the DHS Preparedness Directorate incorporating people with disabilities into its mission?

The role of the Preparedness Directorate is to be the Department's integrator and synchronizer of preparedness; not the owner of every activity, but the entity that is responsible for making sure all the various components fit together collectively with regard to preparedness. Because we play this role, we are in an ideal position to drive all of the various components of DHS to consider people with disabilities within the scope of their relative roles and responsibilities. We work to make certain that people with disabilities are a part of the mainstream thought pattern in all decision and policy making, and ensure that this community is not an afterthought.

Lastly, is there a specific message you want to deliver to the disability community?

Yes, I have three main messages I would like to share: First: We are not merely documenting the lessons of the past—we are learning the lessons of the past. While we have spent a lot of time documenting post disaster activities, lessons documented are not lessons learned. As it relates to the disability community, the lessons we have accumulated as a result of Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, the northeast blackout, and a host of other emergencies and disasters will be translated into tangible guidance and doctrine that will be used at the federal level to share with the state and local level.

Second: We are all at a busy time, but those who are in the disability community should proactively engage emergency managers and become as involved as possible in emergency preparedness initiatives. It is important for the disability community to share their perspectives and to collaborate with emergency planners to help improve emergency preparedness for all of us.

Third and most importantly: The federal government is working to do all it can to be prepared for emergencies and disasters, but it can not guarantee that 100 percent of us are risk free 100 percent of the time. Our greatest weapon against the tragedies of Mother Nature, terrorism, or random accidents is citizen education and individual preparedness. Our job at the federal level is to provide the tools to the community — and the responsibility of the U.S. citizen is to use these tools to make a plan, build a kit, and be informed.

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