Catastrophic Incident Analysis

The Government Accountability Office has pointed out that the important practice of effective risk management is a challenge for the Congress and the administration. Risk management is a strategic process of helping policymakers to make decisions about assessing risk, and having limited allocating resources in taking actions under conditions of uncertainty (GAO, 2008). However, with the policymakers recognizing the risk management, it helps them to make informed decisions, while Congress and the administration have charged federal agencies to use a risk-based move to prioritize resource investments. In addition, the federal agencies often do not have enough comprehensive risk management strategies that merge well with the program, budget, and investment decisions (GAO, 2008). Between combing the approach of risk management, the process of decision-making is very difficult for any organization. In addition, it has been reported that the GAO says it is particularly difficult for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be given its diverse set of responsibilities. Homeland Security is responsible though for all hazards in the homeland security risk from natural disasters, industrial, and terrorist attacks. Experts have provided the history of natural disasters with the extensive historical data used to assess risks (GAO, 2008).

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for “consolidating existing federal government response plans into a single, coordinated national response plan.” (GAO Reports. 2007.) The Homeland Security Act of 2002 allows them to handle all sorts of disasters from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. DHS also “Operates the Federal

In day to day operations, uncertainties do occur. Henceforth it would be important to have a contingent and well detailed disaster preparedness plan and procedures. Healthcare systems, on a day to day basis, are faced with emergencies in form of disasters. As a result, majority of medical centers have well-structured exit plans in the event of a disaster occurring("Hospital Disaster Preparedness: Your Guide to Getting Started - Emergency Preparedness", 2011). However, this essay will aim at interviewing one of the top disaster preparedness staffat the Houston Methodist Hospital. In the interview, I will seek to identify the top three disasters that the Houston Methodist Hospital is prepared for. Similarly, in the interview, I would seek to identify the top lessons learnt from disaster preparedness at the hospitals.As it concludes it would summarize the findings with regards to the interview stated below. Below is an excerpt from the interview to answer the two aforementioned questions.

September 11, 2001 is commonly thought of as the next major disaster in the United States. So I prefer to choose this real incident. The event that shook the world like a thunderstorm, thousands of people died in the terrorist attacks they did not resemble the catastrophic disasters previously discussed. Unlike all of the natural disasters previously detailed, the attacks in New York City and Washington, DC did not completely overwhelm the emergency response capabilities of entire regions. The attacks caused brief mass confusion and overwhelmed individual emergency response agencies but did not paralyze the entire emergency response network. The primary first responders were the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD. While federal officials participated in rescue operations and helped provide security after the attacks, the immediate rescue efforts were orchestrated by local responders. The local response networks were overwhelmed and resources were strained, but there was no system-wide breakdown in organization or authority. Nonetheless, emergency responders encountered many of the same problems that responders experience during catastrophic disasters. Communication systems

An event that has the ability to affect multiple areas, covering many jurisdictions and creating a complete shutdown of services require outside attention and assistance. The local resources tend to be overwhelmed during these situations (Caruson, MacManus, September 2008). Not only with recovery operations in their areas of responsibilities, but with their own personal recovery

While we do not have historical record of all of the natural hazards that have impacted the United States, we do know that for multitudes of years, the United States has been hit by many natural hazards – hurricane, tornado, drought, wildfire, flood and earthquake, to name a few. As each of these natural hazards occur, multiple issues arise – relative to the core components of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Yet, even with prior knowledge from years past and the destructive events that have occurred, we as a nation continue to struggle with natural hazards that more often than not become natural disasters. For too long it seems as if we have settled in to a rhythm of responding, attempting to recover, rebuilding and then repeating the cycle as another natural hazard strikes.

Emergency disaster situations can be defined in three ways accidental, natural, or wilful. An accidental disaster refers to an event which is totally unexpected such as a house fire started by an electrical fault. Similarly, an illustration of a natural disaster would be the recent earthquakes which took place in Christchurch, NZ between September 2010 and February 2011 that resulted in devastating and far reaching consequences for the country. Foremost in many minds when recollecting a wilful disaster would be the terror attacks of 9.11 in the USA. A disaster of this magnitude has never been experienced during peace time in our lifetime. This essay will examine three different aspects of rescue management procedure where reports detailing disaster and emergency response must be studied to understand and improve our handling of rescue operations.

The overwhelming extent of disruption and destruction at all levels of emergency management, and all levels of government particularly during the preparedness and response phases, made Hurricane Katrina a catastrophe. Prior to the 2005 hurricane, the National Response System underwent restructuring which produced both intended and unintended outcomes, which later on, became apparent during the response to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the National Incident Management System structure implied, but did not define, an information flow that would ensure a common situational awareness at all levels of the distributed decision network. As a result, this lead to a communication breakdown between the federal, state, and local government and prevented

This report below is a concerning the overall DHS program prioritization which will address the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which is a directorate under the DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which become part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of DHS. This report could have not been prepared without gathering background information concerning the following area hazard/threats, hazard identification and risk analysis, terrorist laws and analyzing and quantifying risk DHS. All of which led to findings and recommendation for the DHS to evaluate and prioritize their programs

The Government Accountability Office has pointed out that the important practice of effective risk management is a challenge for the Congress and the administration. Risk management is a strategic process in helping policymakers to make decisions about assessing risk, and having limited allocating resources in taking action under conditions of uncertainty (GAO, 2008). However, with the policymakers recognizing the risk management, it helps them to make informed decisions, while Congress and the administration have charged federal agencies to use a risk-based move to prioritize resource investments. In addition, the federal agencies often do not have enough comprehensive risk management strategies that merge well with the program, budget, and investment decisions (GAO, 2008). Between combing the approach of risk management, the process of decision-making is very difficult for any organization. In addition, it has been reported that the GAO says it is particularly difficult for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be given its diverse set of responsibilities. Homeland Security is responsible though for all hazards in the homeland security risk from natural disasters, industrial, and terrorist attacks. Experts have provided the history of natural disasters with the extensive historical data used to assess risks (GAO, 2008).

The Department of Homeland Security Enterprise identifies an enormous value in risk management. This is because its core role is to investigate and hold up every single operation done by the particular department. The process assists in the prevention, protection, mitigation and response to, as well as recovery from the risks to the Nation. So as to identify the effectiveness of the risk management process, the DHS must collaborate with their allies within the enterprise. Another role of the department is to set up an incorporated risk management through the generation of safety, security, and resilience across the domains. This takes place through the collaborative efforts to put off violence and boost security, safety, and efficient management of the national

City, state, and federal emergency management personnel across the United States encounter threats and hazards daily. Those threats and hazards can vary in intensity between low and high levels of danger with different severities of impacts on the citizens in affected areas. Sometimes threat and hazards can be detected before they strike. Those early warning periods allow emergency managers to enact preventive measures or prepare responsive plans and resources in order to stop or lessen the impacts of the threats and hazards on the community. In order to assist city and state emergency agencies with creating the foundations to draft, plan, and execute preventive and responsive emergency plans, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.)

As preparedness is the foundation to the National Preparedness System (NPS), the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the common approach for managing incidents with concepts that provide for flexible but standardized sets of incident management practices; and provides the template for the management of incidents and operations in support of “all five National Planning Frameworks”. (FEMA NIMS 2015). The NIMS established the standardization of incident management protocols and procedures that all Federal, State, and local responders should use to conduct and coordinate response actions. Furthermore, the NIMS sets forth a “core set of doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology and organizational processes to enable effective, efficient,

The basic research question is that there is a relationship between intoxication, chronic alcohol use, and violent behavior. Another research question that is stated in the article is if this relationship is a causal relationship or if it is actually spurious. Other hypotheses made on adolescents were stated later on in the article. The first one is that the relationship between drinking (prevalence and frequency) and engaging in violence while sober is weaker than the relationship between drinking and violence. The second hypothesis is that the relationship between quantity of drinking and engaging in violence while sober is weaker than the relationship between quantity of drinking and violence and the relationship between quantity of drinking and violence while drinking. The third hypothesis is that adolescents who have a history of prior violence are more

Responding to a man-made or a natural disaster presents dangers and difficulties to first responders, and involved agencies, whether they are local, state or federal agencies. The difficulties in responding to these critical incidents make having a plan essential to successfully respond to, and manage the outcome of a critical incident. The United States government has established a national plan called the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS is comprised of 6 components which help local, state and federal agencies respond to, control and manage a critical incident, whether it be man-made or a natural disaster. Communications and information management are the most important aspects of NIMS, to assist the involved agencies