Hawaii Lava Emergency is a Learning Opportunity for Utilities

As of the time of this post (May 11, 2018), Hawaii’s Big Island is continuing to get hammered by a relentless onslaught of earthquakes and lava from Kilauea, the most active volcano on the island.  The lava has been advancing at a decent clip, enveloping cars and homes in the process, which has triggered evacuation protocols.  Acid rain, avalanches, falling ash, and noxious gasses also represent some additional – and extremely unusual – risks for the local residents.

Silver Lining of the Kilauea Lava Emergency

What Hawaii is going through is no picnic, and I feel bad for anyone who’s had their life disrupted by this catastrophic event. The only possible silver lining in something like this is that it can help us learn.

I have no doubt that my friends at HECO will use this event to figure out better ways to defend against, and prepare for, future volcanic events.

For all other utilities, the lava emergency serves as proof positive that no scenario is too extreme to include in emergency exercises and drills.  It also serves as a reminder that we need to be prepared for a wide variety of worst case scenarios, no matter how unlikely they may be.  In thinking about the Hawaii crisis, a brainstorm session might reveal some additional preparedness tactics that were previously not considered, such as:

• Documenting a process to ensure an ample supply of face masks or gas masks to protect crews from inhaling toxic gasses in the event of a volcanic eruption, bioterrorism attack, or nuclear meltdown-induced radioactive emission.
• Documenting a process to ensure an ample supply of burn-resistant gear when working in areas near lava or forest fires.
• Developing a process to immediately research, create and distribute safety information to field workers when extremely unusual emergencies occur.

The point is, the crux of emergency preparedness is to prepare for the unexpected, and extremely rare events are the epitome of unexpected.

So, use the Hawaii lava emergency as motivation, and brainstorm to identify as many highly unusual events like those described above as you can think of, check the emergency plan to see if there are any gaps relative to the identified highly unusual events, and develop and document protocols and processes as appropriate to plug the gaps.

Sooner or later, you’ll be glad you did!