Disaster And Emergency Management

Every year, there are approximately 150,000 deaths and 200 million people affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises (Thomas, 2003). Natural disasters alone, which include various occurrences, cause substantial disruptions such as the temporary displacement of more than five million people. According to the Fritz institute, statistics show that uprooted people from humanitarian crises such as civil conflict and war is greater, with an average of 13 million refugees and 20 million internally displaced people each year. As the biggest worldwide participants in the relief effort in the global community, disaster relief organizations are the forerunners of the help supplied to people affected by catastrophic events.

Editor’s Note: This Chapter is the continuation of an adaptation of a state plan for disaster preparation and response. In total, the original chapter comprises Chapters 1, 14, 16-18.

The differing needs of a vulnerable population have to be addressed in order to alleviate issues that were noted after Katrina. In particular, the needs which are known prior to a disaster, such as evacuation for the infirmed, elderly, impoverished, and those who lack the means to evacuate. The Department of Homeland Security represented a solution to addressing these needs via a three phase response: “pre-event planning and preparation, the event, and recovery” (Dept. Homeland Security, 2008). It has been widely studied that residents of a vulnerable community may be impacted more severely and are disproportionately affected than those with means following a disaster. Assessing how to prepare for each of the phases represents an issue for emergency managers especially when it comes to those who lack the means to prepare for themselves. Quickly rebuilding homes in a devastated area won’t help a community when a disaster strikes again. Platt stated that “disasters offer a window of opportunity to strengthen communities”, via “construction and change land uses to prevent a recurrence of a disaster”. (Platt, 1998) It also can be argued that following a disastrous event, this is when a true opportunity arises, by providing an opportunity to work through solving the societal issues that are the basis for a vulnerable populous via comprehensive political reforms and

In this module, I have learned thus far that it takes multiple units from Emergency Management divisions and also public service divisions to fully handle a disaster. In this writing assignment, I will be discussing about Journalism and how it is can effect the outcome of a major event, such as a disaster. Journalism in today's society is crucial for the public and also for the teams that are activated to handle such terrible events or disasters. It has come a long way today with the invention of I-phone's, internet, social media and also news media. Without media coverage and new advanced technology about hurricanes, disasters, or event events that may harm our nation would be indescribable to innocent people in our nation. Take September 11th 2001 for an example. The media coverage

Emergency Management and Homeland Security have both been subjects of interest to me due to my certificate in International Studies. During my studies, I focused on Homeland Security and volunteering in medical related fields. Engaging in courses, such as National Security and Terrorism, allowed me to better understand how our government handles situations that can cause various outcomes for our country and its safety. Although it seems like a logical concept, it is truly amazing how planning and preparing are key elements in preventing a catastrophe. Volunteering in a hospital has shown me how important Emergency Management is; there are several items to take into consideration when thinking about scenarios concerning such a large and complex

Emergency management faces many challenges in today’s modern society. In the years prior to 9/11 emergency management was primarily focused on natural disasters. That has since changed; we now face a diverse variety of risks and hazards on a constant basis. As we continue to grow in population current and newer have compounded into more problems that emergency planner must face and find solutions for.

Data obtained by assessing social vulnerability must be implemented within each phase of the emergency management process; mitigation, response, and recovery. First, to effectively respond and recover from incidents emergency management agencies must concentrate on the mitigation phase to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. This is achieved through a thorough hazard/vulnerability analysis (HVA). This type of analysis assesses the risk of physical, economic, and social vulnerability within all communities of a given jurisdiction (Lindell et al., 2006, p. 165). Additionally, the basis of the HVA allows emergency managers to effectively plan for disaster by creating pre-planned responses to disasters (rather than improvised response) and staging resources to locations with the highest probability of risk; ultimately contributing to the mitigation and response phases.

This paper examines a case study about the transfer of knowledge between preparedness and emergency response as conducted by Kerstin Erikkson of Lund, Sweden University. Erikkson (2009) conducted the case study by analyzing emergency response following Gudrun, a storm with hurricane force wind gusts that struck the South of Sweden in January 2005. This disaster caused significant damage to the region 's critical infrastructure, such as roadways, railways, telecommunications systems, and electrical power supply. The storm also resulted in power outages for roughly three-quarters of a

He has the Interregional Civil Security Operational Co-ordination Centre (COZ) at his disposal in fulfilling this task.

In less than two decades, social media has revolutionized modern communication and information sharing. What began as a simple form of social networking has turned into innumerable platforms for people around the globe to share ideas, create and share businesses, promote brands, read news from various sources, as well as share and find vast amounts of information, among many other uses. Thus, with a few clicks of a button, people are now able to interact with someone on the other side of the world. The capabilities created through social media’s many uses have forever changed global politics, business, and interpersonal communication.

Introduction. On 06 January 2005, a cargo train carrying a massive amount of chlorine spilled in Graniteville, South Carolina creating panic and indeed chaos to both citizens and emergency managers on how to properly respond to the hazardous materials released from the train wreckage. The people of the small rural town of Graniteville located just outside of Aiken, South Carolina, where caught in their sleep when Freight train 192 traveling approximately 47 mph struck other consignments spilling a dangerous amount of chlorine gas into the atmosphere. As a result of this disaster, 5,400 individuals were evacuated from their homes whiling causing nine deaths. The magnitude of such disaster was one that would change any town or city forever.

Often the idea of Health Information Adoption (HIT) is considered for larger clinics, hospitals, and physician offices only; but the smaller Community Health Clinics (CHC) play a major role in a communities capabilities for both emergency preparedness and disaster response efforts. HIT is making its way into more and more healthcare organizations and the benefits are clearly seen with improved patient safety, organizational efficiency, and patient satisfaction in healthcare. These are just a handful of the benefits of HIT adoption.

In a new form of protection and communication, social media is the main thing that everything is using in today’s times. Marketing employees have positions as titled as social media directors. Companies have people watching and monitoring everything that happens with their social media reputation all hours of the day everyday. Young people are seeing the power of social media everyday with teachers demonstrating how fast a picture can be shared across the world. Social media is relatively new and could possibly open many gates for communication. This depends heavily on who is publishing information and news on social media. If news spreads fast on social media, then the use of it can be used for emergencies. If many people are

Risk for disasters is a part of life; emergency situations occur more frequently than many people believe. A wise person plans for the worse, and hopes for the best. After a disaster, how well a community can recover will depend largely on how well they prepared in advance. Risk management includes identifying any potential risks to a community and proactively planning to minimize the threat. Proactive organization of resources and people to respond to emergencies can mean the difference between a community’s ability to regroup and recover, and the loss of life. To better

On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.