ACROSS Our PRESS DESK......

Sam Cahan, PE                          

Local Member Returns From Disaster Response

I am happy to report that San Diego Chapter member Lee Klein, American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), returned home from rigorous humanitarian duties at the Hurricane Katrina disaster area. As part of FEMA’s command staff in the hierarchy of Incident Command, Ms. Klein served as a member of the Safety Cadre with the responsibility of FEMA’s Occupational Safety and Health program implementation.
Her team was the first in to monitor the safety of first responders and FEMA’s disaster
assistance employees. These tasks included personal protective equipment utilization,
conducting safety training and similar ongoing functions. Regarding the hurricane tragedy, she noted, “The pictures you see on TV are a vignette, and cannot compare to viewing the scenes in person. It is overwhelming and difficult to describe.” Ms Klein traveled from Starkville, MS with its almost 10,000 evacuees from LA, MS and AL to Biloxi and Gulfport where there is “nothing left.” Ms. Klein will present an overview of her Gulf disaster experiences at the November 1st Chapter meeting. Ms. Klein has served as a former official with the California Occupational and Health Administration. She
has extensive experience and training in emergency action planning, occupational
safety and related fields. She currently serves as the Chapter’s Government Affairs Chair.