OUR VIEWS: Compassion in wake of quake

It's been one month since the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually Earthquake thundered through South Sound, rattling nerves and disrupting our lives.

Some observations:

-We are a compassionate community.

As soon as the ground stopped shaking at 10:55 a.m., the immediate concern of South Sound residents was the safety and well-being of co- workers, neighbors, friends and family members.

Acts of kindness abounded, whether it was taking an injured neighbor to the hospital for treatment or helping a business owner clear away the debris.

We saw the real heart of this community in the wake of the quake.

-Our public servants performed extremely well. Police officers and firefighters prioritized calls for assistance. Intercity Transit had every bus on the road within the hour, providing free transportation to riders.

Emergency command centers were in operation almost immediately with quick assessments of sewer and water systems and other essential services.

The Red Cross shelter was open by early afternoon.

Building inspectors had unsafe buildings tagged right away. There was some miscommunication in the days following the earthquake about which buildings were off-limits and which were back in operation. That communication breakdown needs to be corrected before the next emergency.

-Some 9-1-1 calls were unnecessary.

Residents who called 9-1-1 to report the earthquake risked the lives of their neighbors by unnecessarily tying up telephone lines.

Emergency dispatch operators were extremely busy sending emergency personnel to fires, gas leaks and other emergency situations.

Yet call after call came from frazzled South Sound residents simply reporting the earthquake.

Emergency dispatchers ask that residents call 9-1-1 only when they have a true emergency.

That's a lesson for everyday use of the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system, as well as during a natural disaster.

-School after school has been lauded for following emergency procedures, for evacuating students quickly and reuniting them with worried parents.

Students were kept out of their classrooms the day after the earthquake to make certain their safety was not jeopardized.

-Many businesses and state agencies are redrafting their emergency response systems.

Most people dived for cover and quickly left the building after the shaking stopped -- just as they were trained to do.

South Sound residents said they were surprised, however, that the telephone system couldn't handle the flood of calls.

Many office and home phones were useless. Many cellphones didn't work, either. Yet people were able to communicate via Internet links.

It's clear that emergency plans must be recast to factor in communication difficulties.

As homeowners fix toppled chimneys and make other repairs, as merchants get back on their feet and as customers return to downtown Olympia businesses, we can give thanks that we are a resilient community and that we are counting our losses in battered buildings and rattled nerves and not lost lives.

We have much to be thankful for.

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