By Scott Swinton
Prioritization vs. Triage W
hat differentiates prioritization from triage? A disaster. Whether it be a train wreck or a toddler re-sorting the bottom shelves of the refrigerator, disasters demand decisive action; but action isn't enough. Triage is a need hierarchy established to determine how to act and sort out who or what is in the most urgent need of assistance. As I recall from my First Responder training, the “need” levels break down under some broad categories (These apply best to human lives – but there is some crossover to cabbages, yogurt and strawberry vinaigrette): 1. Those likely to live – whatever the treatment 2. Those unlikely to live – whatever the treatment 3. Those for whom immediate treatment will significantly affect their likelihood of continuing to live As you can imagine, those in category 3 get all the attention. But, triage is not prioritization. While triage is necessary following a train wreck or refrigerator disembowelment, might it not be good to also maintain the tracks and crossing signals and set refrigerator door “expectations” for the older kids? Maintenance, protocols and training will grow out of priorities. Prioritization should help prevent emergencies which demand a triage response.
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Vision Fall/Winter 2017 | www.cacm.org
But you manage an HOA, not an emergency room or the Norfolk Southern Railroad. How does this apply to the carpet in the community clubhouse or the townhouse roofs? Good question. The life of a community’s siding, carpet or roof shingles cannot compare to human life, but your decisions about carpet, siding and shingles do affect human lives. What are those decisions currently being based on – a prioritization of future needs or triage of the various existing crises? Quality reserve studies and strategic planning - are prioritization. Poor planning and inadequate reserves - will become triage. With that being said, it’s only fair to recognize that, like a first responder arriving at a train wreck, you might be in triage mode as an innocent. The previous board of directors, manager or management company may have run the locomotive off the rails, and now you have decisions to make. If you live in or manage a CID built before the year 2000 (and even some built since the millennium) you are among a growing cohort of Californians likely to be addressing deferred maintenance. You know what this looks like – sagging decks, rotting trim and siding, lifted sidewalk sections and collapsed French drains. So, with the goal of avoiding triage situations, let’s explore what prioritization might look like for HOA Maintenance.
