Emergency Management - Research Paper Example

Emergency Management Affiliation Emergency Management Introduction Emergency management is a crucial factor when it comes to ensuring the safety of our communities. It has been a critical element in any government and organization that is concerned about the state of the personnel attached to it and the body itself. My research interview with Langley AFB Fire Chief can clearly illustrate the importance attached to emergency management by many organizations. The illustration is seen by considering the many steps that are put to ensure the risk management process is successful so that little harm is caused to the affected parties when emergencies occur. The paper is a summary of the interview I had, discussing the mission, structure, challenges and future of emergency management in our community. In the interview, I was keen to enquire about the purpose of this emergency management system. Through this, I wanted to know how the entire process is beneficial or of gain to the managers of the emergency situation. The benefits included stuff such as creating a good reputation for the body in charge or having financial gains through carrying out of the whole process involving various activities. In the interview, I also looked at the structure of the emergency operations that are being used for the mission to be accomplished efficiently. Finally, my discussion also touched on the communication system employed by the Base EOC. It was crucial to look into the communication system adapted here since many emergency management bodies are faced with a significant challenge of miscommunication between the risk managers and the parties being assisted in the scenario (Haddow & Bullock, 2013). The mission of the Base emergency management is to direct and deploy assets to mitigate risk. It is clearly indicated from this mission that the Base EOC is only aimed at making sure that risks are adequately mitigated through directing and deploying of available assets. In the process, they use various resources that includes; professional personnel, the various tools used in the emergency such as fire extinguishers and water, transportation materials, active communication channels, and the support from the relevant authorities (Hughes, 2012). The resources mentioned here are crucial for the emergency management process to be effective both in the short run and long run. It is due to this that most managers consider them to be assets in their organization which come to help in the management of the risk. However, the availability of such assets is not always guaranteed for every organization that is in charge of controlling emerging situations in our society. Therefore, it was crucial that we consider if these valuable resources are available to the Base EOC. Consideration of the availability of these assets can help in determining if the Base emergency management is going to achieve its mission of mitigating risks through deploying of assets in the affected regions. Still on the consideration of how effective it can be for the Base EOC to achieve its mission, I took note of the availability of a sound media check. The system ensured only filtered details from the Base reached the public. Despite the fact that every measure taken by this body is aimed at ensuring the emerging risks are well managed, it is important that some information on how various actions will be conducted remain confidential. It is crucial that the unit continued with the secrecy since they are the ones to ensure solutions are generated to mitigate the crisis (Turner, 2014). Therefore, it can be concluded that the Base EOC has good management that is capable of meeting the target. Various phases of the emergency management systems Every organization or institution does have some structure of work within their systems so that they can achieve their objectives and goals. A real coordinated unit ensures efficiency. Hence, to a fire department such as the AFB Fire, they must formulate appropriate management guidelines since their inefficiencies may result in massive losses both in lives and property. Thus, from our interview, Langley clearly demonstrates how the various stages are grouped and the key objectives each entails. The first phase is the planning stages. At this point, the related units in charge of managing of various calamities are organized and given the directives of how rescue processes are to be conducted (Haddow, & Bullock, 2013). A lot of communication is usually made in this stage. The emergency management team has to collaborate with the local authorities of various regions for them to have a clear understanding of the area that is affected. Therefore, calls and messages have to be sent to the field for the emergency managers to be informed about what they will be handling or how to go about the crisis. The other phase in the emergency structure is the response stage. It is a point where the emergency team is usually active trying to have the hazard that has occurred under the control. The main activities undertaken in this phase include the necessary search in the area and rescuing of the affected people (Paquette & Yates, 2011). Fire calamities can sometimes be severe to the extent of death and massive losses. Therefore, the emergency always has safety as their top priority. The rescue process goes to the extent of making sure the affected population has the necessary humanitarian needs. At this phase, communications are usually made to the Local Emergency Management Agencies. The reason for this collaboration is because it is these agencies that are well informed about their local areas of operation. Hence, it becomes easier to manage the emergencies when they are involved. The next stage of the emergency management structure is the recovery phase. At the recovery level, the risk management team is tasked with ensuring the affected region is back to the normal condition it was before the hazard occurred. The phase comes in hand after the necessary immediate responses have been made, and the immediate threat is also completely neutralized. Actions that can be undertaken in this stage include building of infrastructure that was destroyed, constructing homes for the affected people, and provision of routine health services that were in the region initially. All the activities by the emergency team in this stage should aim at making the people feel they are back to the level they had been before the hazard occurred (Haddow & Bullock, 2013). Collaboration with the local authorities is also crucial at this level since the local bodies are informed about how individual facilities can be provided for their people. The final phase in the emergency management process is the mitigation stage. At this level, the risk management team seeks to reduce the possibility of the occurrence future calamities. Once a hazard has affected a region, and it is advisable that the relevant authorities find various ways of ensuring the risks are eliminated entirely or reduced (Turner,2014). And, as they say, “prevention is always better than cure." There are some mitigation measures that the emergency management teams take to help the society reduce the probability of such hazards from reoccurring in the community. The mitigation responses vary with the type of risk that is to be put under control. The efforts are the one that determine the extent to which the process of managing these issues can be useful. One of the ways through which mitigation of risks can be done is through relocation of infrastructure in the region being faced with the challenge (Haddow & Bullock, 2013). The vital infrastructure used by the people has to be relocated where it cannot be destroyed by the calamity again. For example, if a region has been affected by floods, the emergency control team has to consider the possible alternatives for the damaged infrastructure. Transport connections are necessary since the people in charge of offering services to the community need to connect easily to them. In the case of an earthquake, the best mitigation measure would be to install shock valves into the ground in these regions affected by the hazard. The valves are to play a significant role in reducing the probability of the earthquakes affecting the areas (Haddow & Bullock, 2013). For a place where the hazard is constant blackouts, it would be advisable for generators to be put on the region. The generators will be useful in ensuring the affected areas remain lit even when the power blackouts run for longer hours. Challenges faced by the emergency departments Every emergency management body is likely to be confronted with challenging situations. Some of these challenges may be the cause of an emergency management program to fail. Hence, it is an indication that it is important that the management of emergencies should be adequately analyzed to ensure the possible challenges are avoided or controlled (Hughes,2012). When I had my research in the Base emergency management, I noticed that there are some serious challenges that the people in charge of this management body are being tested. One of the significant setbacks is lack of effective communication channel. There is no proper communication between the relevant parties that are affected by the occurrence of these risks and those involved with handling the situations. The challenge is illustrated by the fact that the memorandum of understanding between the Base emergency management and external communities is due to lack of some element of good communication. When the two parties cannot communicate effectively, it becomes impossible for these affected communities to comprehend what they are being told to follow. Thus, it creates problems when the emergency management team is trying to reach the affected areas. Hence, lack of a coordinated communication is a major problem that is experienced by the Base EOC. In communication coordination, the department also uses not up to date technology. As such, the rate of the information flow is significantly reduced. For instance, in some areas where risks occur, they may be either in remote or network inadequacy. Hence, the communication flow is hindered that makes the units in the field and from the office not to be satisfactorily coordinated. As long, us information flow is inhibited, transporting of various materials and moving workforce to the affected regions becomes complicated (Hughes, 2012). Thus, it may result in more casualties that could have been avoided. In the interview, it is demonstrated that the language used by the civilians and the military is so different that it becomes hard for the emergency management team to be effective in coordinating the two ends. Language provides for understanding and meaning to the various categories involved in the emergency responses. The moment population cannot communicate effectively due to a language barrier, generating ideas and solutions may be as a result of the cause of the incidence is quite hard. Hence, the emergency management system must find ways of understanding if they are to incorporate the locals in the solution to the problem. For the Base risk management group, the issue of communication is the main challenge. However, there are numerous other problems that any risk and emergency management teams will face. (Bullock & Haddow, 2012). One of such problems is due to lack of all the required resources. Sometimes these resources are usually available but in an inadequate capacity. Therefore, they still cannot be useful to the management of the emerging issues that the society is being faced with in their daily operations. The resources needed for such activities include the skills and professionalism of managing emergencies, the evaluation tools, and a good channel of communication between the affected people and the rescue team (Bullock,& Haddow, 2012). These form part of the most valuable resources that enable proper management of emergencies in our communities. When a team tasked with managing issues lacks most of these factors, it becomes impossible for the rescue team to be helpful. Thus, every person that was found in the region of emergency is prone to casualty. Another possible problem that can hinder risk managers from achieving their goal of ensuring the spread of any risk is the remoteness of the area being affected. Taking an example of a region that is not well connected with road networks and communication channels, it becomes hard to manage risks in such areas. When a place is remote, it is usually hard for the emergency management team to reach the place that has been affected easily without wasting a lot of time (Paquette & Yates,2011). When the communication channels in the area are not well coordinated due to the areas remoteness, it also becomes hard for the community to reach the rescue team on time. The problem is also felt from the side of the emergency management team. Without a proper effective communication due to the remoteness of an area, the rescue teams cannot identify the exact situation of the emerging issue they are trying to manage. The issue of low population density in some areas is another challenge that emergency managers are likely to face when trying to put in control the risks in the society. A low population density would mean that the people in the area are settled in a scattered pattern. This pattern is one that has the members of the society living in dispersed locations. The distance between one home and another is usually big. A person has to travel long hours to cover the significant range from one home to another. It is a major challenge when some services are to be administered to people living in this kind of population. Hence, anybody mandated to control situations under such scenarios finds it hard to deliver the services. (Hughes, 2012). Some of the emergencies that are administered by the Department Some hazards that are common to these emergency rescue teams to manage are hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. The hurricanes and tornadoes are heard of in areas that are close to oceans and seas that experience heavy storms. The floods are experienced in areas that are fond of receiving rain for long hours. The hazard of fire breakouts is not restricted to a particular field. However, they are mostly experienced in the urban areas and places that have a lot of factories (Turner,2014). The Base emergency management is concerned with controlling such calamities when they occur so that they do not affect the people to a significant extent. The issues of global warming and climate change are also part of the factors pushing the emergency management organizations to the wall. For instance, one effect of global warming is torrential rains that cause floods in various places (Bullock,& Haddow, 2012). Therefore, the risk control teams are tasked with managing such hazards frequently. Climate change has also affected the pattern of farming in many parts of the world. The regions that have not adapted to the greenhouse farming are adversely affected by this issue. Such are the areas that experience famine due to the climate change. Conclusion The future of emergency management depends mostly on the technological advancements that we correspond to our world today. Many people are now adapting the use of devices that make communication easier. Such devices can be useful in making the response of rescue teams active. The improved technologies such as smoke detectors are also a sign of improved management of emergencies in the future. However, more advancement can be useful in ensuring the people are not affected so much by the hazards. References Bullock, J., & Haddow, G. (2012). Homeland Security: The Essentials. Oxford: Butterworth -Heinemann. Haddow, G., & Bullock, J. (2013). Introduction to emergency management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Hughes, A. (2012). The evolving role of the public information officer: An examination of social media in emergency management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 9(1) , 2-6. Paquette, S., & Yates, D. (2011). Emergency Knowledge Management and Social Media Technologies: A case study of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake. International Journal of Information Management, 31(1) , 6-13. Turner, R. (2014). The Handbook of Project-Based Management. New York: McGraw-hill. Read More