The Bick Group

Attendees:

Arnold, Richard	Disaster Recovery Journal	Koehn, Ken	SBC Services, Inc.
Bathon, Anna	Bank of America	Kriegshauser, Herman	The Salvation Army
Bender, Jay	J. G. Bender & Associates	Larson, Dan	MobileLynx
Bick, Frank	The Bick Group	Mass, Mindy	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Bowker, Kim	MasterCard International	McDonald, Pat	Fundamentals, Inc.
Bozada, Rick	Enterprise Rent-A-Car	Mitchell, Jim	Consultant
Caraffu, Lisa	Hawthorn Children’s Hospital	Neuf, Charles	Mid.Tec Inc.
Chesson, Jehu	MasterCard International	Niederer, Randy	Inflow, Inc.
Davis, Steve	The Bick Group	Paddock, Milan	Business Continuity Planning, Inc.
Dolgin, Harlan	WellPoint Health Network	Pearce, Ed	First Bank
Drury, Kelly	MasterCard International	Roeseler, Thomas	Bank of America
Flanigan, Susan	Consultant	Schepers, David	Ameren
Gliane, Al	Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.	Seals, Jon	Disaster Recovery Journal
Gonzalez, Carolyn	MasterCard International	Smith, Steve	St. Louis Community College
G’Sell, David	GE Commercial Distribution Finance	Spears, Keith	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Gustafson, Robert	Maritz, Inc.	Stauber, Maureen	MasterCard International
Hoffmann, III, James	Recall Total Information Management	Williams, Michael	St. Louis County Dept. of Health
Joyce, Jeff	MO Higher Education Loan Authority	Woodcock, Gary	Midrange Computer Solutions, Inc.

The regular General Membership Meeting of the MidAmerica Contingency Planning Forum was held on Thursday, April 17, 2003, at The Bick Group, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

President Emeritus Tom Roeseler welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions by all were made around the room. He thanked Frank Bick, Steve Davis and The Bick Group for their hospitality in providing the refreshments and hosting the meeting. Tom commented the group was interested in meeting sites, presentation topics, and speakers for future meetings. If anyone has suggestions for any of these items, please contact one of the Board members.

Minutes from the February and March meetings had been distributed electronically earlier this week. Mr. Roeseler commented that anyone with questions regarding the minutes should contact Secretary Bathon.

Program Director Harlan Dolgin reviewed the current program status of upcoming meetings. The May meeting topic will be on the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Organization and the partnership that Union Pacific has developed. He also touched on the topics for the meetings through the rest of the year.

Tom mentioned there were still outstanding membership renewals and encouraged all members to ensure their membership status was brought current.

The MCPF website is up and available for viewing at www.brookstech.net/mcpf/. Meeting documentation and announcements, membership information, Board contact numbers, and other relevant information will be available through this site. Please visit the site and provide feedback to any of the Board members.

Under New Business, it was commented that several areas were offering CERT (Community Emergency Response Training) classes and they are available to the public. Chesterfield is offering the classes and information can be obtained at their website at http://www.chesterfield.mo.us/site/home.jsp?page=pd_programs. Everyone was encouraged to check with their local municipalities to see if these programs were being offered as well.

Tom Roeseler mentioned the upcoming SEMA/MEPA conference, beginning Monday, 4/21. This is a great networking opportunity for business continuity professionals in the Missouri area. Attendance is estimated to be over 700 and has been increasing each year. A conference flyer was made available to the attendees for their review.

The Fall 2003 DRJ conference was mentioned and a pamphlet was distributed. Starting this year, the Fall conference will be held in San Diego and is scheduled for September 21-24. Information is available at www.drj.com.

DRI International is offering the classes toward certification at Washington University. The next round of classes is scheduled starting Monday, 4/21. Anyone interested in attending may visit the site at www.drii.org for additional information.

MasterCard representatives distributed a flyer regarding an upcoming seminar – Business Continuity Management Forum for Financial Institutions to be held July 29-31, 2003. This seminar is designed to be an interactive session for participants to communicate with leading industry experts while focusing on the specific needs and challenges financial institutions face. Additional information and registration can be obtained at www.regweb.com/mastercard/bcf.

There being no additional new business, the meeting then moved to the featured presentation – The Psychology of Disasters. Program Director Dolgin introduced the featured presenter, Ms Susan Flanigan, an independent consultant, and reviewed her biography with the group.

Susan is a consultant, writer, facilitator, trainer and speaker specializing in business continuity programs and the human services aspects of emergencies and disasters for both the public and the private sector. As she reviewed her presentation, she relayed stories she had witnessed first-hand or heard about from individuals directly involved in emergency situations. She has been involved in the mental health response programs related to the Great Floods of ’93, the Columbine High School shootings, and the Oklahoma City bombing. Highlights of her presentation include:

Ø We need to pay attention to mental health issues related to emergencies as research strongly supports it, it impacts the bottom line, and save everyone grief. FEMA has provided crisis counseling services for over 20 years.

Ø The primary focus is to understand the psychological impacts and human reactions to disasters and to ensure that your organization understands and protects its most valuable assets – your co-workers and colleagues.

Ø Phases of disasters go from pre-disaster through to reconstruction and range from short-term to long-term.

Ø Education can help alleviate some reactions to situations, i.e. anthrax, bioterrorism.

Ø A dozen psychological factors that affect the mental health of those impacted were reviewed

Ø Some cognitive reactions to emergency situations include trouble concentrating or remembering things, difficulty making decisions, preoccupation with the event, recurring dreams or nightmares, and questioning spiritual beliefs.

Ø Affective, behavioral, and physical reactions were presented and reviewed.

Ø Several key concepts of disaster psychology were discussed.

Ø Terrorism is different in that it wins only if you respond to it in the way the terrorist wants you to. The fate of the terrorist act can be controlled by your reaction.

Ø There can be two types of traumas related to disasters … individual and collective.

Ø We need to understand the challenges faced when responding to a disaster situation. These include the environment, decisions, problem solving, situations, requirements, and success of responders/leaders.

Ø Several factors that cause stress were reviewed.

Ø In additional to physical preparedness for our businesses, we need to include psychological preparedness.

Ø Several things we, as associates and continuity professionals, can do were listed.

Ø Lessons learned from past events were discussed.

Susan provided some internet links were additional related information may be retrieved and reviewed. Questions were fielded by Susan. Harlan Dolgin commented an additional site to visit is www.ready.gov, which includes information on creating family plans, Homeland Security information, and other related information. A copy of Susan’s presentation can be obtained by contacting Secretary Bathon or visiting our website at www.brookstech.net/mcpf/.

The next General Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2003, beginning at 3:00 p.m. The topic will be Critical Infrastructure Assurance Organization with Carl Brooks of Union Pacific discussing the partnership UP had formed with CIAO. Location will be at Union Pacific Technologies in Clayton.

There being no additional business, the meeting adjourned at 4:15 pm.

Recorded by: Anna M. Bathon, CBCP

MCPF Secretary

Office: 314-466-3509

Fax: 314-466-3939

Email: anna.bathon@bankofamerica.com

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