Huh?

One of the benefits, maybe the only benefit, of having an endless list of difficult-if-not-impossible workplace problems is that there is much to write about. And, if you're unimpressed by the challenges that you might have anticipated, I can always find one that will mess with your mind. Say, for example...

Today we had a disaster planning meeting in anticipation of an upcoming statewide disaster "exercise" that will bring a very large number of complex casualties to Kayenta. I know it involves both natural and man-made badness and many, many victims. So, among the many considerations is what to do with the dead. No problem, you say, just implement the pre-existing mass casualty plan for handling many dead: temporary morgue, some cold storage, you know, the usual...

Well, no plan here. The traditional Navajo have a very different view of death, and the dead, than exists in the world outside. It's a long story, but included in the belief system is that there should be minimal contact with the dead, and that structures previously occupied by the dead should be abandoned (a challenge for a health care facility where people do die). Furthermore, it is believed that there is great power in the spoken word and that, regardless of the intent, speaking about death is likely to bring it on.

Planning ahead to handle a disaster as well as possible, even with the intent of saving lives and enhancing harmonious well-being, is viewed by some as a bewitching likely to cause great harm.

So, it's an ideal setting for disaster planning. Sometimes because of the individuals involved, but perhaps more because the individuals involved wish to respect the views of the community, there has been no in-depth discussion of this topic, and certainly no resolution. So, at the meeting, the Incident Commander was happy to see a white guy in my seat and said, "we'll see what the ER comes up with". No problem, good as done...

He's actually a delightful, sharp, and funny guy who, rumor has it, is also a medicine man. I spent almost an hour after the meeting getting some private cultural schooling from him. He is very committed to traditional ideals, but has as his job the coordination of disaster response. My sense is that he finds it pretty hurtful to be considered an instrument of death by some.

I asked about using the abandoned, derelict BIA school buildings as a temporary morgue, but apparently one of the reasons they are abandoned is that the lead paint lead abatement program was too expensive, so lead toxicity may rule that option out. Just another day at the office...

We had the biggest laugh over his description of some of the plans previously suggested by white people. These included storing bodies in the refrigeration units of local restaurants and schools. Out here, I'm thinking this would be a poor marketing strategy for the restaurants and would be unlikely to help with school attendance.

The death plan was only one of several new adventures today, but it's a hard to top that, so I'll sign off.