First Respondent Responsibilities

When the airplanes flew into the Twin Towers on 9/11 in New York, there was chaos and confusion throughout New York and the entire country. The events following the Boston Marathon Bombing were full of confusion and stress. However, in both events, first responders were there to aid in whatever way they were able. First responders, like those that responded to 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing, rely heavily on proper communication to do their job properly. While communication has advanced in the past years, there are always more ways for communication amongst first responders to be advanced. Response efforts need to flow smoothly and efficiently, and communication aids greatly in those efforts. The events following a terrorist attack,

Interoperable communication is paramount in emergency response just like communication in the Military’s Chain of Command, between teacher and student aspect or the information that needs to be addressed in work and relationship’s. As we can see with the response to Hurricane Katrina that over 500 organizations took part in, nobody was prepared to coordinate mass entities to work together and that’s what led to the failures of so many trying to accomplish the same goal which led to the failure on all fronts of the government. The main focus of the response phase was evacuation, delivering critical supplies like food, water and medicine. Recovering bodies and providing mortuary services, conducting medical services, restoring public safety-because let’s face it, on top of all the destruction and lives lost-certain types of people think it’s fair game to loot and cause more violence instead of helping one another. Restoring communications and

Approaching and following major catastrophic events, it is crucial to have communication plans set in place for the community. Communication during disasters helps to spread information regarding evacuation, weather, and recovery (Guion et al, 25). It is important for rescue teams to be able to locate those in the community who cannot be found during a catastrophic event, however, with communication networks not working, this could be hard. During Hurricane Katrina, communication networks had stopped working due to high winds and power outages. This made it hard for individuals who were lost to be located, and hard for the government to coordinate the response needed (Comfort and Haase, 2). As stated by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study, “over 1.7 million” individuals living on the Gulf had lost power during Hurricane Katrina (Waple, 6). Different systems of communication let the community know of ways to become prepared when it comes to taking shelter and evacuation. Due to the poor preparation for Hurricane Katrina, the government learned lessons on communication strategies that would better inform the community on weather and evacuation plans for Hurricane Sandy.

A disaster, man-made or natural, is defined as any type of incidence that causes destruction, death, or damage that impacts the capability of the community to respond to using accessible resources (Nies & McEwen, 2015). For this week’s discussion post, I will describe the role and responsibilities of the nurse in relation to a disaster. I will also explain how my community is prepared to deal with a natural disaster, including protocols or guidelines that are in place.

Hi Karn, I agree communication is crucial in disaster management. As nursing professional we must be careful that our communication is clear, especially in disaster situation. However, you mention all individual must understand and be aware of emergency warnings. Moreover, all community should have a disaster plan, and every resident should be aware of these plans. Disaster management is crucial, since it will entail working in cooperation with multiple entities and individuals.

In this week in the Disaster Management lecture and seminar course we discussed and reviewed over the class in which we discussed the overview of what topics were gone over in class and how learning this information can be used in our everyday lives as citizens in a society. In this course we discussed the overall importance the role of emergency management is in not just our everyday lives but for everyday preparation for a disaster of any kind to strike. In the course Professor Urby expressed great knowledge on the subject of Emergency Management and how the use of emergency management in one’s life may end up saving themselves. He expressed many examples and some little anecdotes for us as students to remember and never forget. In the course

The mission of disaster communications is to deliver timely and accurate information to the public. Therefore, it is essential that this information is disseminated across all four phases of emergency management. Effective communications to the public require emergency management professionals to create partnerships with the media to be successful in providing this information throughout the four phases (Haddow. G & Haddow. K, 2009).

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA are in charge of handling emergencies throughout the United States. These emergencies can be natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Their purpose is to make sure that the response is efficient and effective during the emergency. The ICS delegates it’s resources and the responsibility is accounted for by all in charge of their specific areas. Below is a fictional example of a natural disaster and how the response should be handled. The phrases and terminology that is used has been designed to make sure that the emergency system is understood and carried out by all involved. Words like; command, management, resources, communications, and accountability

Emergencies and disasters are traumatic in the field of health care. However, proper preparation and planning before such disaster play a significant role in ensuring smooth handling of the situation that results in less anxiety. The key to achieving such status in a medical setup is communication. Effective communication under the circumstances can define the difference between repositioning a patient at the right time and failure to have the right size of the labor force to operate normally. This paper focuses on the insights and tips on creating functioning communication plans in the health care industry during the crisis.

Disasters as we know it comes on suddenly without warning, it can happen anywhere, anytime or at any hour. In order to regain control of an event is to be prepared at all times. Often, danger occurs, leaving many lives unprepared for catastrophes or misfortunes. As a Health Care Administrator of a hospital it is important to be prepared at all times, not only is it a duty, but it is the job of the Administrator to ensure the safety of its patients at all times. Therefore, it is the Administrator’s duty to ensure their team is prepared at all times for any and all disasters. Being prepared for each and every incident that arises saves that many more lives.

During crisis, communication will always set the tone of public understanding as well as response to devastating events. At this time there will be competing dynamics operating in transmitting news to a broader public. In crisis, management of information tend to be critical for the authorities who are responsible for the action as well as the organization seeking to inform the public on what is on the ground.

The response to any emergency is considered to be very critical and therefore should be as efficient as possible. In the healthcare sector, responses to situations are counted by the seconds. From natural disasters to epidemics, the only chance left to respond to any of this occurrence could only be counted in seconds. That means life is either saved or lost in a matter of seconds. Putting in place certain responses to these unexpected occurrences, such as crises management communication plan, help save lives and arrest crises from aggravating. Failure to have crises management communication plan is considered by many commentators to be a crisis in itself. Accepted medical care is highly dependent on effective communication between healthcare providers and the patients; among healthcare providers and the outside world. The characteristics of crises make it necessary for prior planning and effective communication among stakeholders in the health sector (Klaene and Sanders, 2006; Ronen, 2006).

The scene of a major emergency or disaster may appear chaotic and disorganized, with early responders and supplies moving about with no visible direction or coordination. However, each individual usually has a specific duty or role which they are assigned, and their efforts play a critical part in the initial response phase after an event takes place. Successful response includes proper management as well as having an appropriate number of trained actors and supplies involved at the right time. Too few or too many can lead to further complications during the recovery stage.

Over the past few decades, the significance, magnitude and consequence of risk management and communication have been brought before the world over and over again in a number of situations related to health, terrorist activities, natural disasters etc. When one turns the pages of history, it is rather obvious that lack of planning and absence of resources due to unpreparedness makes it difficult for the concerned authorities to manage an emergency or epidemic a problematic and traumatic task. The chaotic situations can turn out to be more nerve-racking and tense when preparations are not made before hand (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2002).

Major emergencies, disasters when they occur they don't discriminate nor do they respect national borders and they never occur at the times when we are ready. The level of suffering caused by these events is enormous and many a times he aspects of people's lives in one way or another are affected. This can be in terms of health, security, access to basics necessities like food, water and so forth. In this regard therefore it's important to have emergency plans in place so that the affected people and their properties can be mitigated, and response to disaster can be coordinated effectively and efficiently in timely manner when disasters and other calamities strike (Cara McMillan, 1998).