Emergency Management

Emergency Management

Introduction

Emergency management can be defined as the organization and how resources and responsibilities are managed to help deal with all human disasters. Many regions of the world have been affected by some disastrous events which destroy property and even kill people living in those areas. Emergency management is, therefore, an essential aspect that nations have to adopt to help mitigate the effects of the disasters that happen. In this paper, we will look at the various changes that have occurred in emergency management over the last 50 years. We will also look at the brief mitigations that have been adopted to help protect citizens from adverse effects of the disasters.

Discussion

Over the last fifty years, emergency management has changed in various ways, including how they are managed, the composition of employees, and ways of reacting to emergencies in case they arise. In the past, the emergency team composed of men in most cases, but as time went on and crises happening, women started to join the team in an attempt to help the victims. Women have taken an active role in helping people affected by disasters like hurricanes and fire outbreaks (Waugh 2015).  The people who were the majority at first in the field of emergency were veterans and responders, but as time passed, there has been an education on those individuals that undertake activities in the emergency departments. Training to allow those participating in the department to have the required skills to help various victims of the disasters.

The emergency department has grown to include the use of technology in its activities, including the use of the internet and other ways of transferring information from one place to another. Technology has also enabled the emergency management team to respond quickly in times of disasters as well as mitigate the occurrence of disasters. The use of sirens and fire codes have helped prevent the effects of the disasters on the lives of the people. Individuals can be warned early enough before a disaster occurs and this helps reduce the number of victims.

The lessons learned from the major disasters like hurricane Katrina include the level of preparedness that is needed to manage the effects of a disaster. Being well prepared for any disaster gives an organization confidence when dealing with a disaster as they will know exactly the steps to take in helping the victims. Also another lesson is that in an event of a disaster is that there are possibilities of disruptions of communications (Sylves 2019).  In this re4gard an organization can come up with alternative ways of ensuring that they can be communicate within the areas that have been affected by the disaster. Alternative ways of communication are very critical for the rescue of the people in the disaster. Another lesson learned is that in the process of recovery, people are very key and are the first to be considered to recover them. Those undertaking rescue missions should focus on establishing the number of people affected and if there are any that have not been recovered. Another lesson is that there is destruction of financial institutions in the affected areas and for that there is need for an alternative way of getting finances for the people affected.

The improvements that have been made include leadership change where by individuals who have qualifications in the field of emergency management, are given an opportunity to lead such departments. Another improvement is the use of cellphones and the web in relaying information to various stakeholders regarding the effects of the disaster (Waugh 2015).  The web can also be used to solicit support from the general public to help victims. The cell phones helps to warn people of the possibilities of a disaster occurring as well as sending text messages to people by those affected by the disaster. Another improvement is early resource allocation whereby FEMA were given authority by the congress to distribute resources to affected areas rather than wait for the approval of the council of governors. Also the recognition of community views when it comes to disaster management was another improvement after the hurricane Katrina. Community was considered as partners in the emergency management rather than seeing them as subordinate.

The emergency management has been affected by early events like hurricane Katrina. The destruction of communication channels affected the team in that they were unable to relay in formation to people. Destruction of roads as well affected the delivery of services by the department. These disasters at times makes the management teams to incur more cost when trying to help the victims. The mitigation and preparedness that have change include early assessment of the risks that may occur (Phillips et al., 2016).  The information required in case of an emergency should be made available quickly to the people. The procedures for dealing with emergency are being updated frequently to ensure that resources available van deal with the situation at hand. The area I live that is Houston was affected by Harvey which destroyed many parts of the region.

The progression towards federal involvement in disaster management has taken new ways. The governments form policies that help people living in areas prone to disasters. Federal government provides most of the resources needed by the victims of a disaster. The participants in disaster management include: the nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross who have the right to provide aid to the people affected by any disaster around the world (Canton 2019).  The local government is another participant in the emergency management. State government and federal government as well play a vital role when it comes to emergency management. They provide resources as well as research on the possible ways of mitigating occurrence of a disaster. In the last 50 years, many nations concentrated on managing effects of floods which was seen to happen frequently. Policies were developed by nations to ensure that people are protected from floods by moving them from flood prone areas. This was the era when nations started to form disaster management departments and also the Red Cross played a vital role in helping victims of the disaster.

In conclusion, disaster management is a key area that nations need to put more emphasizes on to reduce the risks associated with it. Emergency management should comprise of people who have qualifications in dealing with disasters. Resources have to be allocated by governments to facilitate research so that losses can be minimized in times of disasters. Technology should also be adopted to increase efficiency in rendering services during disasters and also to forecast the possibility of disasters happening in certain areas which are prone to these dangers.

References

Canton, L. G. (2019). Emergency management: Concepts and strategies for effective programs. John Wiley & Sons.

Phillips, B., Neal, D. M., & Webb, G. (2016). Introduction to emergency management. CRC Press.

Sylves, R. T. (2019). Disaster policy and politics: Emergency management and homeland security. CQ Press.

Waugh, W. L. (2015). Living with Hazards, Dealing with Disasters: An Introduction to Emergency Management: An Introduction to Emergency Management. Routledge.