Cases

Two Emergency Projects and PMs$*$

Jack R$.$ Meredith

The following cases contrast the situations of two people who were suddenly and unexpectedly appointed as project managers for an emergency disaster in their area. One was the superintendent of track operations for New York City Transit Authority and the other was a marketing manager for Mississippi Power in Gulfport, Mississippi. The cases involve physical danger, cultural issues, minimal time to plan, high motivation, communication difficulties, extreme stress, hundreds of stakeholders including local citizens and suddenly assembled project teams, and, fortunately, managerial competence, style, and leadership.

AP Images$/$Emile Wamsteker

A worker looks at the wreckage of a subway car following a derailment.

Street

Street

Street

Station platform

Cabinet

Building$-$

Compression room$-$

Station platform

E $16$th

E$.17$th

E$.18$th

Legend: Placement of derailed trains

$1$A Car # $1440$

$1$B

Car # $1440$

$2$

$4$

Car # $1437$

Car # $1436$

Car # $1439$

a ur

Car# $1434$

Car # $1432$

Car # $1431$

$9$

Car # $1433$

$10$ Car # $1438$

$14$th Street $-$ Union Square Derailment The Wreckmaster for a New York Subway Accident At $12$:$16$ a$.$m$.,$ in late August, a $10-$car subway train on the Lexington Line beneath New York City jumped the track and crashed in the subway tunnel. Damage was massive$-$

$$five cars

were derailed, one was cut in half, another bent in two, possibly $150$ persons injured, four dead. The train ripped out the steel$-$girder support columns used to hold up the tunnel ceiling, as well as the street above which immediately sunk a half inch.

Two tracks and a third rail had been ripped out, and two signal sets, two switches, and an air compressor room destroyed.

When such an emergency occurs, the New York City Transit Authority $($NYCTA$)$ immediately appoints a project master, called a "Wreckmaster," to oversee the handling of the disaster rescue and repair activities and make sure that operations are returned to a safe condition as soon as possible. In this case, the goal was to have the subway back to normal operation by Tuesday morning rush hour, September $3,$ after the $3-$day holiday weekend. Such disasters are typically handled in eight phases:

Phase $1$: Respond to injury$-$Get people out of danger, provide

needed medical care, remove bodies, and ensure that no victims remain in the debris.

Phase $2$: Secure the area$-$Simultaneously with phase $1,$ elimi$-$

nate other threats to life and property by disconnecting power, providing emergency lighting and ventilation, stopping other trains from entering the area, and keeping nonrelevant pedestrian and vehicular traffic out.

Phase $3$: Initiate

command

facilities Concurrent

with

phases $1$ and $2,$ set up and activate a command and coordination structure for all emergency activities.

Phase $4$: Remove debris$-$Collect and remove the elements

and debris of the accident which would hinder rescue, cleanup, or repair.

Phase $5$: Remove damaged equipment$-$Use cranes, cutting torches, and other equipment to remove the large, major equipment.

Phase $6$: Facility repair$-$Repair the facilities as quickly as possible for continuing and normal use.

Phase $7$: Test$-$Make certain that all facilities are fully operational and safe by testing under the watchful eye of engineering, operations, and safety.

Phase $8$: Cleanup$-$Clean the premises to the best possible

state to permit normal operations.

Sources: S$.$ Nacco, $"$PM in Crisis Management at NYCTA:

Recovering from a Major Subway Accident," PM Network, Vol. $6$; and D$.$ Cauchon, "The Little Company that Could," USA Today, $2005.$

The crash was heard at NYCTA's Union Square District $4,$ and about $40$ transit police officers ran to assist passengers at the smoke$-$filled scene. Soon, officers from District $2,$ the Fire Department, and the Office of Emergency Management joined them. The Fire Department brought fans to help clear the smoke and steel cable to rope the wreckage to the support pillars so they could reach people still in the train cars without the roof caving in on them. Buses were dispatched to transport people to hospitals,

Cases $115$

and the Red Cross provided food and drink for the injured.

Some rescuers fainted from heat exhaustion as the temperature climbed to over $110\backslash$deg F in the tunnel, and two dozen police and fire workers were treated for injuries and smoke inhalation. Transit police officer Emanuel Bowser was riding the train when it crashed but helped people get off for more than $4$ hours after the crash even though he had a broken arm and fingers himself.

After learning about the crash, NYCTA appointed Lawrence Gamache, general superintendent of track operations, as Wreckmaster. Gamache set up team captains to coordinate activities throughout each phase of the disaster operations. A command center was established at a nearby subway station to direct and coordinate the operations. Gamache formulated a mental flow chart of how work needed to proceed. Each task had to be analyzed to determine what tasks had to precede it and what tasks could be conduct