Crisis Management lessons learned from the Covid-19 Pandemic

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Crisis Management lessons learned from the Covid-19
Pandemic
By Claude Sajous
April 24,2020
The coronavirus thatbegan in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 has grown
into a global pandemic that has affected 210 countries. As of the date and time of
this writing 2,753,592 people have been infected with the coronavirus and
192,324 peoplehavedied fromit.
In the United States, there have been 887,993 people infected with the
coronavirus and 50,318 individuals have died as the resultof the coronavirus. It
is a highly contagious and infectious disease with the potential to greatly affect

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the pulmonary systemof people. Ithas been determined from the medical
community that those who are mostaffected arepeople with underlying health
conditions. Three of the moreprominent underlying health conditions are: 1) high
blood pressure; 2) obesity; and 3) diabetes.
The toll on humanity has been horrific. The pandemic has yet to be conquered.
There is yet no known vaccineto cure this disease. Countries the world over have
mobilized to fight, slow the spread, and mitigate the effect of this terrible
pandemic. The battle continues. However, we are optimistic that eventually the
scientific community will develop a vaccine to cure Covid-19.
Notwithstanding the on-going battle and the desperate search for a cure, we
must - - without question or doubt - - make certain that we do not waste this
pandemic in terms of lessons learned.
Too much pain has been inflicted. Too many human beings have perished. Too
many families are grieving. We cannot - - and will not - - allow this pandemic to
pass away withoutdeep reflection and a firm resolveto make note of, fully digest,
and disseminate the lessons that this pandemic has taught us.
We - - be it as an individual, a family, a community, an organization or even a
nation - - must emerge fromthis experience as wiser, stronger, better informed
and far more agile in terms of preparedness in handling any other crisis that may
come our way.
What are the lessons that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us?
I believe there are 7 key lessons we can take away.
I will list them firstand then expound on each one by one to further elaborate.
LESSONS LEARNED FROMCOVID-19
1. Know the state of one’s house (metaphorically)
2. Early mobilization
3. Forward deploy
4. HONESTY is the best policy
5. Practice continuous improvement

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6. Everyonematters
7. Always ask, “Whatif”
Let us look at these one by one.
1. Know the state of your house
As we all know, ignoranceis very costly. We mustbe knowledgeable about the
state of our affairs - - be it as an individual, family, or organization. We mustknow
our strengths and wherewe are vulnerable. Priorities mustbe set in advance. Our
focus mustbe on whatwe mustdo first then on whatwe would like to do. Critical
resources thatwe rely on must be constantly reviewed for any impacts that
would adversely affect their availability.
As an individual, are you facing health issues? Whatactions can be taken to
address the rootcause before a crisis happens? Quite often lifestyle changes are
required. An individual must partner with their health care provider in order to be
part of the solution. We cannotafford to be spectators. Wemust be honest with
ourselves when it comes to finances and habits. Substantialeffort mustbe
broughtto bear for one to learn to live within one’s means and be always
prepared for an emergency. We mustwake up and understand that things
happen and thereforeanticipate and preparefor chaos beforeit happens.
As a family, do we know who are mostvulnerable? Do we care? Whatcan I do to
guard the mostvulnerable members and minimize the possibility that I may
inadvertently harmthe mostvulnerable ones in my family due to carelessness
and neglect? Conscience decision making and being daily cognizantof my actions
must be the rule and not the exception. We mustthink before we act. Impulsive
living can be very detrimental. We mustalways maintain our presenceof mind.
This requires sober living. Being a good neighbor begins at home.
As an organization, are our current policies, procedures, and the vital
technologies that we rely on up to date? Are there contingency plans for critical
resources thatwe rely on? How agile is the organization with respectto
responding to change? Does everyone know their role and responsibilities? Is the

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organization able to disseminate vital information to everyonequickly and
effectively? Is the organization able to perceive threats while they are still at a
distance and take proactivesteps to handle these threats or, are we only focused
on the current operations at hand? This is where geo-political trends and analysis
comes into play and must serveas a beacon guiding the ship forward. Thebetter
knowledgewe have of the currentstate of affairs the better we will be in shoring
up the areas that need help and the better we will be in making informed
decisions quickly and effectively.
2. Early mobilization
I will use an example to illustrate this point. As the coronavirus crisis was
unfolding in Wuhan, China in the month of January, I was daily and intently
following the news as it was being reported. I could not help but think that
something BIG was happening in Wuhan given the drastic and unparalleled
measures the governmentof China was taking in responseto the spread of the
virus. This clearly was no ordinary FLUvirus! This was clear to me as daylight. Was
this not apparent to all? As a result, back in January I took action and started
looking for wherecan I purchasemasks. I had no idea whatan N95 respiratory
mask was, butI quickly found out given the plethora of news reporting that was
going on. The N95 mask became a household word. I started by looking in my
local pharmacies. I saw somecheap masks, butI wanted ones that were good. I
then went online and found whatI was looking for on Amazon and I placed an
order. Ittook about 10 days to two weeks to arrive. However, I finally got my
mask in early February - - even though I did not need them at that moment.
However, the point is I was not going to wait for a crisis to arrive on my doorstep.
Why did not every hospitalin America, every major city Mayor in America, every
Governor in Americaand even the Federal Governmentnot take action back in
January given the devastation on the population of Wuhan that was being caused
by the coronavirus? Why did they wait until March to cry out that there was a
dearth of masks? Notonly that, but that most of the mask used by Hospitals were
made in China. The delay in the time it took for a concerted mobilization effort
was very costly in terms of lives lost. This is the United States of America. Itwas
not a lack of capability that caused the shortagebut a lack of early mobilization

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and foresight. If there is one thing I credit China for is that the governmentof
China made EVERYONE wear a mask. Of course, all the doctors, nurses, lab
technicians and all those who worked in a hospital as well as all the paramedics
and EMT workers woremasks. Butthe Chinese governmentwent further, they
required everyonein Wuhan to wear a mask.
The lesson we must learn is, do not wait until the stormis at your doorstep. See
the threat fromafar and begin to mobilize to take preemptive action.
3. Forwarddeploy
The best way to illustrate this is to look at what the US Military has done in two
quite different theaters of operations. After the Russians had taken over Crimea
the Pentagon decided it was time to strengthen their position in Eastern Europe
in the event they were called to defend their allies. To that end the Pentagon
decided to forward deploy battle tanks, strategic stockpiles of weapons and
ammunition to Eastern Europe even though technically the country was not at
war. They werenot going to wait. The Pentagon wanted to have readily
deployable assets in the event they were needed. There would be no time to wait
for these critical assets to await shipment fromthe mainland.
On another front, the Pentagon for many years havehad troops on the ground in
South Korea in case the war of words with North Korea ever turned hot. In
addition, there are critical US Marine resources in Okinawa, Japan, as well as
assets in Guam. These are forward deployed resources that can be quickly
mobilized into action should they ever be needed.
Well, as the pandemic was being played out, firstin Wuhan, China, then in South
Korea, and then in Europe, it was - - in my opinion - - the moment to forward
deploy critical resources such as masks, PPE(PersonalProtectiveEquipment),
ventilators to all the hot spots on an immediate basis, time being of the essence.
In fact, the time to forward deploy critical resources should havebeen done
before any region in the country became hot.
Having done so would have allowed all the frontline healthcare workers to be
properly equipped as they battled this horrific disease. Think of the paramedics
and EMT workers who werein the trenches of this war and face to face with

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many who wereliterally dying before their eyes. As for the paramedics, they were
the firstones that administered intubation of patients who needed a ventilator in
order to breath properly. This is a very invasiveprocedurethat greatly endangers
the health of a paramedic and thereforewho direly needed the necessary PPE.
Going forward, letus never forget to Forward Deploy when it comes to critical
resources and by so doing we can savelives.
4. Honesty is the best policy
Itis evident to all by now that China was not truthfulin stating the statistics
regarding the number of people who wereinfected and the number of people
who died as a result of the coronavirus. I think this is now patently obvious to the
world. These statistics that they published were fabricated. However, these
numbers adversely affected the preparedness of the rest of the world against the
coronavirus. As a member of the coronavirus task forcein the US stated, had they
had better data they would have been able to make better informed decisions.
I will juststate that had the truth been told fromthe onset; many lives would
have been saved. The world over would have realized the extreme seriousness
and the extreme lethality of the virus and would most likely have undergone
greater mobilization and much sooner to fight and mitigate the spread of the
coronavirus.
Knowledgeof the truth is essential in dealing with any crisis.
5. Practice continuous improvement
Why wait for a crisis? Arethere any critical procedures, methods, run books and
technologies that an organization or governmentis depending on? Are these
being reviewed periodically for improvement and relevance and effectiveness?
There should be a review process by design and mandated to happen to ensure
availability and effectiveness in the event these procedures, methods, run books
and technologies are called on during a time of crisis.
6. Everyone matters

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We all know the enormous role and the herculean effort exerted by our frontline
workers. However,thetruth be told that in order to flatten the curve and actually
reduce the spread of the virus weneed the help of EVERYBODY. This is were social
distancing comes into play and wherewearing a face covering comes into play.
We all mustplay our part and exercise personaldiscipline in conducting our daily
lives.
Everyonematters and everyone plays a part in the battle againstthis invisible and
vicious disease. In a crisis, although the roles will vary drastically, however
everyonecan play a part in alleviating the crisis. Let no one be overlooked. We
are all in this together.
7. Always ask, “What if”
If there is one thing that amazes me is the conflicting advicethat came from
severalorganizations as well as medical experts regarding the use of face masks
or face coverings. Theseare individuals who are experts in their fields. However,
as politically incorrect as it may be, whatif they are wrong? I for one firmly
believe that the advice to wear a face covering should have been given much
earlier than it was. I believe that the WHO was wrong in the initial advice given
and the world would havebeen better off and fewer people would have died if
many more people werewearing a face covering. Nevertheless, this is now
hindsight.
Going forward, do notbe afraid to ask, “What If the experts are wrong?” Weneed
to balance the advice fromexperts with common sense. It would not have hurtif
everyonehad worn a face mask or face covering from a much earlier date and the
authorities should have erred on the side of caution. Prudence has its place.