On 6/18/07, Carrie Fager <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I agree with what Ginny stated works well for isolated/singular events.
> For regional events, I have to respectfully disagree.  I realize that
> most disasters are not regional, nor on par with what Katrina and Rita
> did to Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.  However, when a disaster is
> regional, the distinction will likely prove short-sighted.  Before
> Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I would agree that if the records could be
> found elsewhere they were not vital.  After experiencing Katrina and
> Rita, I think the need for businesses, the public and individual
> governmental agencies to be a bit more self-reliant is critical.



While you may think you're not agreeing with Ginny, if you've read the
Standard and her book, you'll find that you are DEFINITELY in agreement.

Let me preface what I'm going to say here with there is NO DISRESPECT
INTENDED to those who suffered through Katrina and Rita, or any businesses,
public agencies, or individuals who have yet to, and may never recover from
their catastrophic losses.  However, a failure to plan is a plan to fail,
and there were SERIOUS opportunities for "Lessons Learned" to come out of
these events.

The guidance provided in the previously mentioned documents is that every
organization (and it can be also be applied to individuals) needs to
evaluate the potential risks of the primary location they do business in,
and establish a business continuity plan and vital records protection
program suited to the risks.  That means, if you do business in an area that
has previously, (or is projected to) potentially suffer a Category V
hurricane, and could in the course of a season experience multiple events,
possibly dovetailing into one another, then your plan/program should have a
copy of all of your vital records far enough away from the primary location
to ensure their continuity of operations in the event of a catastrophe.

This can be done by planned dispersal of copies to multiple locations,
whether these are electronic images or hard copies, or it can be done by
other means.  Many public agencies have their "use copies" on microfilm of
personal vital records for citizens (birth, death, property, etc.) and the
copies generated to satisfy requests for this information come from this
microfilm.  In those cases, there is little if any need to have the original
record copies that were used to generate the microfilm in the same or a
similar location. To ensure proper protection, they should be stored in a
location far enough away from the primary operations center to ensure they
are protected from any possible catastrophe that could impact the primary
location.   And yes, this results in an extra cost to be able to gain access
to those originals when they are needed, but it also guarantees they will be
there.

I live in "earthquake country", and our reference points for previous events
include things such as the Great Quake of 1906 in San Francisco, the Loma
Prieta Quake in 1989, and the 1994 Northridge Quake... these all caused some
pretty major damage and while there aren't loads of cases where there were
voluminous losses of records, access to records was seriously impacted in
all of these events.   The bad thing about earthquakes is they aren't
predictable, and there's no "season" for them... the good thing is, for the
most part, you know where the fault lines are and more importantly, where
they aren't.  So, it's a bit easier to choose locations to store your vital
records to ensure access after a catastrophic event... in fact, the greatest
challenge is ensuring you'll be able to get there from where you are.  Our
"rule of thumb"  is 40 miles away from the primary business location, in a
distance away from any known active fault lines.

For the first couple of months after Katrina, the average wait for a
> duplicate vehicle title was about 4 weeks (over 350,000 vehicles were
> flooded during the storms).    Yes, deeds can be found elsewhere.  But
> if you need it in order to rebuild, secure loans, or file claims and the
> wait time to get it from the governmental office is closer to 6 months
> (because their employees are gone & the records are in another state
> being recovered), the wait for businesses could be the difference
> between survival and extinction (especially for small businesses).
> Louisiana State University Economic Development Division did a survey of
> the businesses in New Orleans and surrounding areas a year after the
> storm.  In New Orleans, 42% of the businesses with 5 or fewer employees
> failed within the first year after the storms.  Overall the number were
> 27% for New Orleans, 13% for Plaquemines Parish (southeast of New
> Orleans) and 54% for St. Bernard Parish (next parish to the east from
> New Orleans).


And these numbers should serve as a call to action for businesses that DID
survive and/or were able to recover.  But the information being shared in
various articles and by word of mouth doesn't indicate that anyone took what
happened to heart very much when it comes to securing copies of their
records and doing something to ensure this doesn't happen to them again.
Unfortunately what happens most of the time is people become vigilant for a
few months, then they become complacent.  Here in CA, sales of "earthquake
readiness kits" goes up astronomically immediately following an event, but
they die off rapidly soon after.

And it's a lot more than buying a $100 kit of first aid, a radio,
flashlight, water, food and batteries required when it comes to a business
survival, or saving a home, but it isn't too much more when it comes to
securing your personal vital records.  Individuals can use a sort of
"planned dispersal program" and make secondary copies, or if they have
access to a computer and scanner, scanned images of these records, and send
them to a friend or family member that lives outside of the area to hold for
them.  Businesses can do something similar, and many have, done SOMETHING,
but some stories indicate they may need to be a bit more diligent than they
have been so far.  Simply to send them isn't enough... you need to know
WHERE they are going,  HOW they get where they're going, and HOW they are
protected when they get there..

After what I have seen for the last twenty two months, my personal
> definition of vital record would be any records that I MUST have
> (regardless of dispersal elsewhere) in order to resume core operations
> and assist with recovery efforts within 1-2 weeks.


I don't think anyone would disagree about this with you for personal
records, and as you mentioned earlier, I don't think anyone would disagree
that the place to store them isn't a bank safe deposit box, or a public
storage facility anywhere in your local area.  And my personal
recommendation is NOT to rely on a bank safety deposit box for anything
beyond protection form theft anyway... what many people fail to realize is
in the event of a power loss, a bank can't open their safe. In the event of
a flood, they may suffere the same physical damage as you do in your home...
and they can't open their safe.  In the event of a fire, a bank vault is
made of concrete, which is porous and when water is applied to concrete,
steam is produced, which will damage anything paper, or any media stored
inside...not to mention the potential for heat damage.

Your comment about not relying on others dispersal to protect your
information isn't all wrong... but the comments earlier in this thread were
directed at businesses and or public offices having the ability to gain
access to records that were damaged by accessing them in other agencies they
were filed with... and providing these agencies are far enough away, and
didn't suffer similar damages, it IS A VIABLE alternative.

Again, not to blame anyone for not doing enough, but I think we've ALL SEEN
that while the Gulf Coast IS RECOVERING, I don't think public agencies have
done enough to ensure this same thing doesn't happen again.  Money is a real
issue, so is policy, so is technology... policy needs to be changed,
technology needs to be introduced, and money needs to be available to ensure
this catasdtrophic loss of public records DOES NOT happen again.

Larry


-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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