Disaster and emergencies Management

Disaster and emergencies Management

Emergency Management

Disaster and emergencies are unprecedented events that may occur in any city, town, or country at large. Most of the catastrophes leave the affected areas destroyed. The effects of the hazards at time may take ages for the city to recover. Some of the tragedies that may occur are fires, floods, flash floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe winter storms, explosions, earthquakes, and technological emergencies. Every city, town, or country usually has a team or department that deals with disasters and emergency management. Such departments have the role of creating planning groups to analyze the capability the department possesses, the extent of the destruction. The groups also come up with plans to recover from the disasters and implement them.

Planning teams

In case of an emergency, there should be a person or a group responsible for developing an emergency management plan. Therefore a group should be selected to make decisions that will be used in the recovery from the emergency.

Team Forming

The team’s members should come from all functional areas such that others will be active members, and others will be offering advice. The size of the teams depends on the operations, requirements, and resources (FEMA, 1993). Groups are essential since they provide a broader perspective, enhance the planning process, and saves on time that could have been used in the planning process.

Establish Authority

Authority is what creates the line between members and leaders. When the authority has been established, cooperation becomes. Therefore the planning group can come up with the appropriate steps crucial in developing a plan. The authority line should not be made so strict and harsh since the free flow of ideas may be hindered.

Issue a Mission Statement

A mission statement purpose usually is to explain the purpose of the plan and show the authority and structure that the teams will use. The mission stamen is handed to the team leaders to share with the members of the groups (FEMA, 1993). Through the mission statement, the commitment of the teams to emergency management is affirmed.

Establish a Schedule and Budget

The purpose of the budget is to cover the expenses that may be used in the development process. On the other hand, the schedules’ purpose is to affirm timelines and deadlines to the planning process. Through that, the teams can prioritize the essential plans.

Analyzing Capabilities and Hazards

At this point, the planning teams gather information relating to the capabilities the department has to handle the emergencies. Apart from that, the planning teams to analyze the potential hazards that the city, town, or country may face in the future and if they have the necessary tools to handle the emergencies or disaster (FEMA, 1993).

The analysis is done on internal plans such as evacuation plans, outside groups such as firefighters and police departments, regulations, and codes such as occupational safety and health regulation. They also analyze equipment, personnel, insurance carriers. Historical analysis is done to determine the threats that the city or town is prone to, such as earthquakes or floods.

Develop the Plan

A plan developed should address all the concerns of any emergency. It should stipulate how such disasters should be handled, who to deploy, and the resources required. A good plan should have an overview explaining the purpose of the program, the authorities and duties of the personnel. The strategy describes how emergencies should be approached by the use of communication, control, protection, and community outreach (NIMS ND). A reliable plan should entail the procedure to be used when approaching the emergency and which people should respond first. A good strategy when developed should also take into consideration the resources to be used in emergencies

Once the plan is developed, it should be distributed among the department employees and outside organizations involved in emergency management (Ready, 2012). The program is revised to identify the challenges and what should be prioritized. Once the revision has been done, and the plan has been approved, it is ready for implementation.

Implementing the Plan

A plan is implemented in three ways in a town or any organization. The first step is making the planning part of the organization’s culture. Integration can happen in the following ways, building awareness of the plan, testing the procedures in the strategy, involving all departments in the program, and involving the community in the emergency plan ( Mancino, 2013). The second step is conducting training to the employees so that they are conversant with the requirements in times of emergencies. Here training decision are done like who will train the other and who will be trained. The drill and exercises of the plan are also done to ensure to ascertain the flaws in the program. The last step involves evaluation; here, the identification of deficiencies in the program and how to control can be employed is examined (FEMA, 1993). All these are to ensure the emergency plans are flawless so that they do not fail during the actual disasters.

Conclusion

Emergency management is a process that is crucial during disasters. The process involves the recruitment of planning teams that oversee the emergency management process. The team takes into consideration the capabilities the organization has and the hazards they can face. From that, a plan is developed on how disasters can be curbed. Eventually, the plan is implemented and made the organization’s culture.

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (1993). Emergency management guide for business and industry. Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/business/guide/bizindst.pdf

Mancino, M. (2013). One town’s story: A journey to recovery [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyQZrUF-u6U

Ready. Gov. (2012). Emergency Response Plan. Retrieved March 17, 2020, from https://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/emergency

The National Incident Management System (NIMS.) Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nims/NIMSFactSheet.pdf