Everything about Disaster Relief totally explained
Emergency management (or
disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a discipline that involves preparing for disaster before it happens, disaster response (for example emergency
evacuation,
quarantine,
mass decontamination, etc.), as well as supporting, and rebuilding
society after
natural or
human-made disasters have occurred. In general, any Emergency management is the continuous process by which all individuals, groups, and communities manage in an effort to avoid or ameliorate the impact of disasters resulting from the hazards. Actions taken depend in part on perceptions of
risk of those exposed. Effective emergency management relies on thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement. Activities at each level (individual, group, community) affect the other levels. It is common to place the responsibility for governmental emergency management with the institutions for
civil defense or within the conventional structure of the
emergency services. In the private sector, emergency management is sometimes referred to as
business continuity planning.
Emergency Management is one of a number of terms which, since the end of the
Cold War, have largely replaced
Civil defense, whose original focus was protecting civilians from military attack. Modern thinking focuses on a more general intent to protect the civilian population in times of peace as well as in times of war. Another current term,
Civil Protection is widely used within the
European Union and refers to government-approved systems and resources whose task is to protect the civilian population, primarily in the event of natural and human-made disasters. Within EU countries the term
Crisis Management emphasises the political and security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the immediate needs of the civilian population. The academic trend is towards using the more comprehensive term
disaster risk reduction, particularly for emergency management in a development management context.
Phases and professional activities
The nature of emergency management is highly dependent on economic and social conditions local to the emergency, or disaster. This is true to the extent that some disaster relief experts such as
Fred Cuny have noted that in a sense the only real disasters are economic. Experts, such as Cuny, have long noted that the cycle of emergency management must include long-term work on infrastructure, public awareness, and even human justice issues. This is particularly important in developing nations.
The process of emergency management involves four phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
Mitigation
Mitigation efforts attempt to prevent hazards from developing into disasters altogether, or to reduce the effects of disasters when they occur. The mitigation phase differs from the other phases because it focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk. Emergency plan rehearsal is essential to achieve optimal output with limited resources. In the response phase, medical assets will be used in accordance with the appropriate
triage of the affected victims.
Where required,
search and rescue efforts commence at an early stage. Depending on injuries sustained by the victim, outside temperature, and victim access to air and water, the vast majority of those affected by a disaster will die within 72 hours after impact.
Individuals are often compelled to volunteer directly after a disaster. Volunteers can be both a help and a hindrance to emergency management and other relief agencies.
Recovery
The aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the response phase in its focus; recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed.
Response
The response phase of an emergency may commence with
search and rescue but in all cases the focus will quickly turn to fulfilling the basic
humanitarian needs of the affected population. This assistance may be provided by national or international agencies and organisations. Effective coordination of disaster assistance is often crucial, particularly when many organisations respond and
local emergency management agency (LEMA) capacity has been exceeded by the demand or diminished by the disaster itself.
On a personal level the response can take the shape either of a
home confinement or an
evacuation. In a home confinement a family would be prepared to fend for themselves in their home for many days without any form of outside support. In an
evacuation, a family leaves the area by
automobile (or other mode of
transportation) taking with them the maximum amount of supplies they can carry, possibly including a tent for shelter. If mechanical transportation isn't available, evacuation on foot would ideally include carrying at least three days of supplies and rain-tight bedding, a
tarpaulin and a bedroll of blankets being the minimum.
Recovery
The recovery phase starts after the immediate threat to human life has subsided. During reconstruction it's recommended to consider the location or construction material of the property.
The most extreme home confinement scenarios include war,
famine and severe
epidemics and may last a year or more. Then recovery will take place inside the home. Planners for these events usually buy
bulk foods and appropriate storage and preparation equipment, and eat the food as part of normal life. A simple balanced diet can be constructed from
vitamin pills,
whole-meal wheat, beans,
dried milk, corn, and
cooking oil. One should add vegetables, fruits, spices and meats, both prepared and fresh-gardened, when possible.
As a profession
Emergency managers are trained in a wide variety of disciplines that support them through out the emergency life-cycle. Professional emergency managers can focus on government and community preparedness (Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Planning), or private business preparedness (
Business Continuity Management Planning). Training is provided by local, state, federal and private organizations and ranges from public information and media relations to high-level incident command and tactical skills such as studying a terrorist bombing site or controlling an emergency scene.
In the past, the field of emergency management has been populated mostly by people with a military or first responder background. Currently, the population in the field has become more diverse, with many experts coming from a variety of backgrounds and having no military or first responder history at all. Educational opportunities are increasing for those seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees in emergency management or a related field.
Professional certifications such as
Certified Emergency Manager (CEM)
and Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) are becoming more common as the need for high professional standards is recognized by the emergency management community, especially in the United States.
Tools
In recent years the continuity feature of emergency management has resulted in a new concept,
Emergency Management Information Systems (EMIS). For continuity and interoperability between emergency management stakeholders, EMIS supports the emergency management process by providing an infrastructure that integrates emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement and by utilizing the management of all related resources (including human and other resources) for all four phases of emergencies.
Within other professions
Practitioners emergency management (disaster preparedness) come from an increasing variety of backgrounds as the field matures. Professionals from memory institutions (for example, museums, historical societies, libraries, and archives) are dedicated to preserving cultural heritage—objects and records contained in their collections. This has been a major component within these fields, but now there's a heightened awareness following the events on 9/11 and the hurricanes in 2005.
To increase the opportunity for a successful recovery of valuable records, a well-established and thoroughly tested plan must be developed. This task requires the cooperation of a well-organized committee led by an experienced chairperson. Professional associations schedule regular workshops and hold focus sessions at annual conferences to keep individuals up to date with tools and resources in practice.
Tools
The joint efforts of professional associations and cultural heritage institutions have resulted in the development of tools to assist professionals in preparing disaster and recovery plans. The tools are available to users as well as templates created by existing libraries and archives that can be helpful to a committee preparing a disaster plan or updating an existing plan.
dPlan, The Online Disaster Planning Tool, developed in partnership between the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) and Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is free and fairly simple to use. Users log-in to complete the comprehensive interactive form, the information is saved and stored, then, a hardcopy (PDF file) can be printed. The hardcopy should be readily available in case of emergency.
With dPlan, there are seven sections including: Institutional Information; Prevention; Response and Recovery; Supplies and Services; Scope and Goals; Staff Training; Distribution, Review and Updating. It doesn't have to be completed in one sitting. The Data Collection Form can be printed in advance and the template can be filled in by hand before entering the data online. Or, it's possible to enter the data online and save it along the way. The 129-page document may seem daunting, but will prove to be invaluable. To reduce the amount of time needed to complete the form, check boxes and pull-down menus are provided. A scale of 1 to 4 is (one being serious risk and four not a risk at all) is used to measure conditions. The scale forces the user to make a choice resulting in a more effective reading. dPlan offers consistency in plans through vocabulary and format, yet an upload file feature allows for flexibility—necessary attachments and/or appendices may be added to supplement the plan.
The Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel is another useful tool. It was produced by the Heritage Emergency National Task Force on Emergency Response. The design of the waterproof, hand-held tool provides essential information in an easy to read format. The two-sided disc outlines action steps and salvage steps for emergency situations, including a section on electronic records. It is also available in Spanish.
The Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance Website. is a Website created by
Michigan State University Libraries, the Center for Great Lakes Culture and the California Preservation Program. It is possible to search resources based on individual needs. Pull down menus filter results and an export feature makes it possible to download the data to an (CSV) Excel document. The document may contain company names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and URL addresses for the corresponding service, supplier, or expert on file. It is also possible to submit resource as well as view sample plans from this Website.
There are workbooks from libraries and archives with published disaster plans. Many can be found online, but only two will be named at this time. The first one is New York University Library’s
Disaster Plan Workbook. A committee of ten works in partnership with the Library’s Preservation Department to administer the plan. It contains seven chapters with forms, priorities and procedures along with a table of contents, appendices—divided into six sections—and index. "Instructions in the workbook provide undamaging salvage methods for all types of library materials, including a list of supplies needed for each. Consultants, specialists, hardware stores and staff telephone trees are listed." The workbook is displayed using HTML for navigation between the pages by clicking. It isn't possible to type into the pages of the Workbook, but the pages may be printed and customized with pertinent information of the library or archive using this format.
Western New York Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Manual for Libraries and Archives is available for download as a PDF document. This manual provides a number of worksheets to be completed by the user. It contains a glossary of terms to ensure those involved in the planning and executing process are speaking the same language. A section on "Protection" lists emergency supplies; decisions to make when assembling in-house disaster response teams; and types of alarms and systems to warn against smoke and fire. Salvaging techniques and rehabilitation are also covered extensively. It isn't limited to paper materials but also includes film, magnetic and digital media.
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