Eth305 Unit 4 Paper

Undoubtedly, the American Red Cross has done many wonders over the course of its existence. Whether it is providing relief from disasters, aiding the less fortunate nationally and internationally or saving lives with their blood program, the Red Cross has always been there to help the world become a safer place to live in. Most recently, this organization has had a strong impact in the recovery of “Superstorm” Sandy and Hurricane Isaac, providing food and water, multiple shelters for people that have lost their homes and even counseling during such a devastating time (“Top 20 Accomplishments”).

The first would be to educate people on how to understand, respond, adapt and recover from disasters (Flynn, 2011). If the community members work together during an incident, it could help free up the first responders to conduct alternative task (Flynn, 2011). Small businesses could band together to help each other during catastrophes by putting plans into place like lending a work force or resources during times of need (Flynn, 2011). Communities could also help by planning on efforts to come together and providing support to those affected by unforeseen circumstances by supplying food, water, shelter, and countless other ways.

Two specific areas of concern are noted in the majority of studies conducted. The first area of concern was that there was not a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities or organizational leaders (Haddow et al., 2014, p. 322). Since this event this has been an area that has shown considerable improvement. This has been accomplished through the use of NIMS and collaborative efforts of first responder leaders to craft an all hazards model of response. By doing both of these things, partner agencies are better able to fold into the rescue

The disaster which hit the Maricopa County in the State of Arizona in September 2014 was a major disaster that necessitated the community preparedness for leading successful response and a prompt recovery. Besides emergency managers, many officials and the private are involved in the processes. Some of these stakeholders are public health, public safety, and municipal officials. Collaboration is needed for getting all those involved in the processes to interact accordingly. This paper addresses the major collaboration strengths between emergency responders, public health, public safety, and municipal officials to deliver accurate response and recovery during the event, the main weaknesses of the collaboration among all those that were involved in the efforts, and recommendations for improving the collaboration between the stakeholders.

Since 2010, the American Red Cross (ARC) annual expenditures on domestic relief services have been between $250 million and $400 million with majority of the donations coming from private donors. Additionally as of 2015, approximately 90% of the Red Cross workforce during disasters were comprised of volunteers. 2014 the Red Cross saw an enormous influx of expenditures as a result of Hurricane Sandy. This national disasters tested the overall efficiency of the Red Cross Operations since the Hurricane Katrina debacle. One of the significant issues raised by the society was the lagged response time of the ARC. One the reasons for this delay was due to the uncertain of the responsibilities between the ARC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA response to disastrous incident have improve drastically from the beginning of time. After each incident, organizations such as FEMA learned from previous incidents in what steps to take when it comes to dealing with Natural Disasters incidents. After Hurricane Sandy incident, “Communities are building back stronger and becoming more resilient for the future through collaborative partnerships between state, local and federal agencies” (N.D., 2015). Due to past Natural Disaster the government and other organizations had learned that it is best to come together and work as a team to provide assistance to those who were victims of the Natural Disaster incident. Since there were many organizations and they all had a different obligation. A

Disasters are human made or natural and occur sudden and unexpected. As disasters cannot be prevented, government has to be prepared for any emergency situation. According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2014), there are four stages in the disaster management: Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2014, p 250), public health professionals study disaster effects on populations while American Red Cross work with local and other communities in preparedness, response and recovery phase of disaster.

Regardless of their causes, disasters invoke human reactions in the context of social institution, small communities or long-term care facilities. The attempt to reestablish the social order of the culture after a disaster requires anticipation and collaborative planning prior to any disaster. Planning is acquired through government officials and scientists in an attempt to avoid future

There have been times when government agencies have not been able to assist those in need during an event, and if the public is aware of the needs of the community they may be able to contribute and assist during disaster. Having the community involved in preparedness is essential in the “success in achieving resilience and national preparedness” (DHS 2013).

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) describes the National Planning Frameworks, which contains preparedness missions for the whole community (individuals, families, businesses, all types of community organizations, non-profit groups, media outlets, academies, and all levels of government including state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal partners, (FEMA 2015), as a way to foster a shared understanding of the roles and responsibilities from the first responders to the Federal government and the White House; all of which results in a more secure and resilient nation. It is everyone’s job in a community to ensure preparedness to keep the Nation safe from harm, and resilient when struck by hazards, such as pandemics, natural

The community has a great deal of influence on the area’s values, including the appropriate methods of delivering care to survivors and living victims (Alexander 1993). Moreover, the business community’s ability to restart operation can change the perspective of the public as they can either see the entire locality being handicapped by the incident or their ability to recover and function effectively as a whole. Thus, when the general public experiences panic, the experience can further be applied to economic behavior connected with the operations of businesses (Alexander 1993).

FEMA is, however, a ‘response’ group rather than a prevention group. What we are advocating here is that a committee is formed to specifically target the poor and provide them with preventive knowledge against disasters. Thus, this committee might be formed under the funding of the local government or even under FEMA, but must be a separate and independent entity that can focus on its own function. The committee is to be composed of both educators and experts in the field of disaster preparedness and it will create a program by which people living under the poverty line can participate with very minimal cost (or ideally free of charge). The goal is not to ‘provide’ the preparedness equipment, the goal is that after engaging in the program, participants will now know what to do and what to have in order to become more resilient. In order to reach as many people as possible, the same task force shall work effectively advertising the program around the town or city they are working in. Finally, the relationship between the committee and their ‘graduated’ participants must not end with the program. Continuous updating of information and useful practices must occur in order to ensure that people had the best information at

The paramount goal of disaster management activities is to reduce, as much as possible, the degree to which a community’s condition is worsened by a disaster relative to its pre-disaster condition. If a disaster strikes it important to know what to do or were to find the information if do not know. First responders who are well-prepared will have the peace of mind to focus on the task at hand if well prepared and trained. First responders can also serve as role models for other members of the community, leading by example to encourage preparedness. First responders can encourage their communities to make family plans and to be informed about the types of emergencies and disasters. Law enforcement should look to do training such as the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) which offers self-paced courses free-of-charge courses [Department of Homeland Security. (2017)]. Planning and being prepared for a terrorist attack provides the structure and mechanisms for national level policy and operational coordination and provides emergency managers, the understanding, the knowledge, and the steps to prepare, counter and respond to a terrorist attack. It more importantly helps to instill confidence and cohesion within

Historically, the United States has been one of the few Western societies to be secluded from major international conflict within domestic borders. As terrorism, a problem that seems to be borderless, natural disasters, and unconventional warfare continue to rise the citizens of the United States have begun to see its effects firsthand. This devastation has prompted a change in management of incidents that is affecting the traditional roles that agencies play in response efforts to mitigate the situation. Agencies with major responsibilities to disaster response have begun to examine other Democratic Western Countries to discuss, as well as collaborate on possible improvements. One country that departments are creating collaborative

The first step in the emergency process as stated in the introduction is to form a collaborative planning team that will take the emergency situation head on. The team must understand emergency planning as well as the ability to collaborate on an intellectual level with other team members. Each member must have the same goal as well as objective. These objectives include providing safety for people, property as well as facilities. The members must be comprehensive, which includes provisions to assess the severity of potential hazard. The team will then move on to take steps to eliminating the disaster or problem. In conclusion, the collaborative planning team must understand the four fundamental theories of disasters. This serves to develop the most effective plan or process for disaster relief. The four fundamental theories of disasters include acts of fate or God, acts of nature or natural disasters, joint effects of nature and society and social constructions.