Feature: Managing emergencies
by Ryan McCombs
Ryan McCombs is trying to avoid going insane during quarantine by creating a routine of reading, writing, and exercising.
As an Emergency Management Consultant, Cristine McCombs’ typical workday is usually filled with lots of conference calls, presentations, and emails. When the world entered into a pandemic that it was criminally under prepared for, work became hectic. “We are constantly both preparing for what our client needs at the moment but also what our client’s next big need is going to be,” she said.
McCombs carried on with her long and crazy workdays even after being diagnosed with bronchitis, pneumonia, and Flu B. She continued to call into conference calls, even though she had to constantly mute herself during long coughing fits. Oftentimes, her face would turn bright red while she talked over stifled coughing fits.
Even when her body was too sore to continue the everyday activities that she holds dear like walking her dog or doing yoga, she still continued to field calls from across the country. “We all have to step it up. This is a national public health emergency and I’m an emergency manager. This is what I do,” she said.
McCombs works for Hagerty Consulting, a group that has 18 years of experience in working with government agencies. The provided support to New York during Hurricane Sandy and to California during the wildfires, for example. Currently, Hagerty is helping states across the country deal with the COIVD-19 outbreak, most notably, New York.
“Covid-19 frightens me as an emergency manager, because all emergencies before this had a beginning and end, but with Covid-19, we don’t see a clear beginning or a clear end,” she said. “It’s frightening dealing with Covid-19 while simultaneously planning for things like hurricane season. The things we have been doing for decades, do not work in the world we currently exist in. That frightens me.”
Though sometimes she barely has time to ever catch her breath, McCombs says that this is what she signed up for. “We find ourselves in a frantic but organized and effective state of readiness, we have to.”
