Elements and Standards Learning Tool - Book Report/Review Example

Elements and Standards Learning Tool Introduction Emergency management is also recognized as disaster management. It is a particular function usually executed by managers with the intention of dealing with hazards and consequences of any particular disaster. It must be mentioned that the aspect of disaster management is not an approach that eliminates a particular disaster but it only acts as a precautionary measure to deal with such uncertain issue. Disaster can be a result of both natural as well as human conducts. Natural disasters can be in the form of earthquake, hurricanes, storm and Tsunami. On the other hand, disasters are caused owing to human conduct include fire, business damage as well as crime and terrorism among others. It is quite evident to mention that such disasters have significant effect on the wellbeing of the people, infrastructure and the overall social stability. It will also be worth mentioning that such disasters are hardly predictable, as they are uncertain in almost all the scenarios. In this context, it can be identified that such disasters could not be eliminated. It is at least possible to deal with the negative impact and after-effects of the same in an effective manner, so that the extent of the loss occurring from such scenario can be minimized to the least possible extent. Subsequently, the role of emergency management comes into existence. In usual scenario, emergency planning prevents the adverse situations from occurring with the help of pre-determined plans and actions. It involves predicting any sort of natural or human disasters on the basis of the past and the present trends and likewise, plans are developed in order to deal with the probable outcome of the same. In general, the process of emergency management may include identifying the risk, evaluating the risk, responding to the risk with optimum use of the resource, proper monitoring of the implementation process of the measures and reviewing the outcomes in the ultimate stage of the process among others. This systematic approach is deemed to act effectively in dealing with uncertain emergencies (Farazmand, 2001). Contextually, this particular essay presents an elaborative understanding about the aspect of emergency management and the implications associated with it. The paper will also intend to highlight the planning process and other associated factors of emergency management in four different components, so that a comprehensive understanding could be gathered. Component 1 This particular component mainly includes presenting, analyzing and evaluating the basic questions, emergency managers may ask while executing the planning process for emergency management. The component will also intend to include the elements that are usually taken into consideration while planning for emergency management of any particular project. These questions will probably help emergency management team to develop effective plans that can be used to mitigate after effects of any particular disasters. Essential Questions It must be motioned that while forming a plan for emergency management, the management team or an emergency manager should ask himself/herself few questions relevant to the incident that took place. It has also been comprehended that such questions generally differs in accordance with the type and the extent of incident that took place. However, there are certain specific questions, which are commonly asked by emergency managers in most of the situations of disasters. These questions include the Location of Incident and the type of disasters. Both these questions directly affect the approach of the emergency management team and a manager to execute his/her planning for mitigating the negative impact of the disaster on the lives of the people and infrastructure among others. It will be worth mentioning that the effectiveness of the planning of an emergency manager is directly dependent on the level, quality and quality of data that were gathered with the assistance of these asked questions. The importance of these questions is further determined with the help of 8 elements of critical thinking, which are highlighted in detail hereunder. 8 Elements of Critical Thinking The eight elements of critical thinking is a particular framework that is being used to analyze the significance of any particular decision or thinking. The eight elements with this particular framework usually include point of view of the thinking, purpose of the thinking, the importance of the issue for the thinking, the importance of the data gathered for the asked question, interpretation of the data gathered, concepts applied to understand the data gathered, assumptions undertaken and implications as well as consequences of the thinking among others. This particular framework can further be used to evaluate the identified mandatory questions that are being asked by emergency managers while planning for any emergency management. Few of the general questions asked by emergency managers include the location of the incident and type of disasters. Location of the Incident While planning for emergency management for any particular disaster, the first and foremost question that is usually asked by managers or emergency planners is to gain a good understanding about where the incident has taken place. To get a better understanding of the significance of this particular aspect, the 8 elements framework for critical understanding can be implemented. Notably, the first element is the purpose of asking the question. The question relevant to the location of the incident signifies that the emergency planner will plan the mitigation measures based upon the structure of the location. It is believed that natural disaster can harm the lives of people or any infrastructure based upon the location they are being situated. For example, if any natural or artificial disaster strikes a crowded place within the city or any other area, it is expected to harm a considerable number of people while on the other hand, when the same happens at a less crowded place, the impact may be marginal to an extent. Thus, it is apparent that understanding the location of the incident is quite a purposeful question asked from the end of the emergency managers. Subsequent element is with regard to the clarity of the question asked. The question relevant to the enquiry of the location is quite clear and precise. It simply asks about where the incident has taken place, so that measures of rectification could be undertaken accordingly. Clear and accurate answers to this question will ensure a positive impact on the overall planning process. The next element includes gaining insight about the information required to answer the identified question. To get an appropriate answer for the question, the emergency managers can take the assistance of live news sources for getting appropriate set of information, which can further be used to devise the plan. Subsequent element of the analysis includes inferences. Contextually, the information acquired by the emergency managers will be interpreted in a clear and concise manner, so that the plans developed from the same are effective and reliable to a greater extent. The next element includes concepts and hypothesis that are designed to make sense of the thinking process. The question can be considered sensible with regard to the assumption that when emergency planners are aware of the situation of a particular location after any particular disaster, they deemed to emerge with better effective plans. The next level includes the assumptions that are taken in order to ensure better decision making or planning. For this particular question, the emergency management team will need to depict the probable impact that any particular incident can have on people or infrastructure. The next include the aspect of implications of the question. Contextually, it can be noted that the implication of the question asked will be in a positive manner, as it is expected to make disaster mitigation strategies more specific and accurate. The eighth and last element include personal point of view of a particular situation or question. In this regard, for the identified question it can be mentioned that understanding about the location of the incident is important in the case of disasters management, as it will avail brief information about the scenario that took place in any particular area (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2013). Type of Incident This is also one of the most frequent questions that are being asked by emergency managers to emerge with the plans of mitigating any particular incident. This question can be comprehended effectively with the help of the 8 elements of critical thinking approach. The first relates with the purpose of the asking this particular question. The purpose of understanding the type of incident that has taken place is to design the planning of emergency management based upon the severity and nature of the incident that took place. The second element relate with the aspect of the main issues of the question. In this regard, it has been comprehended that the question is usually asked with the intention of understanding how the incident can affect the surrounding area and the lives of the people in and around, so that better emergency management plans can be developed. In the third element, data and facts are gathered to respond to this particular question. To understand the type and nature of the incident occurred, the emergency manager may refer to news source for getting the most accurate information about the type of incident occurred to initiate a better recovery campaign. The next element relates to the interpretation of the incident. The question relevant to the type of incident is mainly inferred in the form of the extent up to which a particular incident can damage the surrounding environment. As per the subsequent element of critical thinking, the sensibility of the question can be signified from the aspect that it will provide a brief overview of the type of incident or disaster occurred and likewise, measures needs to be taken. For example, measures to be taken for an incident of flood and an incident caused of fire would be different and hence, the measures for the same would differ accordingly. The impact of the incident portrayed as per the question can be assumed on the basis of the past trends and thus, the recovery measures will need to be planned. The consequences of the asked question can be positive manner as better and effective planning can be ensured from the information gained from it (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2013). Component 2 Sequence 1 (Nuclear Attack in a City) Cascading Sequence of Nuclear Attacks to a City Impact Analysis In a nuclear attack in a city by the terrorist group, there are certain consequences of threats that take place in the process. This is evident from the fact of nuclear attack in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in March 25, 1945 during the 2nd World War. The nuclear device that is used in the attack is the ‘Atomic Bomb’. The first evidence of the attack is observed in a sudden blast by the terrorist group in a crowded city. The attack with the nuclear weapons is highly threatening. People do not get any scope of evacuating from the targeted spot. This is because the targeted spot is very wide and even though if people get the prior knowledge of the nuclear attack through the help of certain Intelligent Agencies of the nation, but still it is not feasible to evacuate all the people from the particular city within the limited time (Poolos, 2008). The subsequent threat that is observed in the process is shaking of the grounds and massive dust from the blast. The buildings, roads and other infrastructure of the two cities got a strong vicious shake from the effect of the blast. This has resulted to a threat for the entire city. Moreover, the nation is identified to be under an emergency situation. People are scared of the repeated attack, which may bring threat to their life (Poolos, 2008). The reason behind a nuclear attack to a city is generally due to the international discrepancies. This is evident from the atomic attack to the two cities of Japan namely, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The reason behind the attack was the International differences among several countries, which had led to a world war. It is evident that America was against the nation Japan and in order to defeat the later, the atomic bomb attack was performed (Poolos, 2008). Consequently, the threat that arrived is the most painful and destructive. Most of the people lost their life while the others have serious damage to their health. People of the region who were highly injured by the attack got serious damage to their body organs. This has resulted into life-long physically challenged to those affected people. The infrastructure of the region was completely collapsed with the effect of the nuclear attack. Almost all the people of the region lost their properties. In the stated instance of atomic attack to the two cities of Japan, millions of people were affected. People lost their life and the survivals too were significantly affected. The survivals were paralyzed from the attack. The affected people lost or damaged some of their vital organs and this led to a life-long physically challenged. Moreover, Germany and Italy who were in the alliance with Japan was also in a massive threat to this kind of nuclear attack (Poolos, 2008). Correspondingly, with the nuclear attack to a city, a drastic social and economic loss to the city took place. This attack also significantly affected the entire nation. The entire economy of the country was paralyzed. The inflation of the country rises to sky high level. This is because a significant sum of money is spent for the rescue operation to this attack. The infrastructure damaged also affected the functioning of various organizations and industries and this led to a recession in the economy. This also affected the community, as certain group of people was extinct. This type of threat is observed in the atomic attack in the two cities of Japan during the World War II (Poolos, 2008). Sequence 2 (Directed Flight Attack to a Building) Impact Analysis The attack to the sky-scraper building in a congested city is identified to damage the life and the economy of nation. This type of attack is observed in the attack to the world trade centre in New York on November 11, 2001 (popularly known as 9/11). The attack was performed by the use of some of the planes that were hijacked and directed to hit the world trade centre (Sloan, 2011). This type of attack to a building as evident from the 9/11 disaster greatly damages the locality of the attack. The building collapses within a few seconds. The entire region of the attack near the building turned into dusts. The flights also damaged at the same time. The threat is not only limited to the city but also the entire nation. This creates a national emergency security for rescuing the people and even undergoes some precautionary steps for the possibility of repeated attack to the nation (Sloan, 2011). The attack as evident from the 9/11 in world trade centre is due to the discrepancies with the terrorist groups. The terrorist groups have certain objectives that are against the nation of the affected country (Sloan, 2011). This type of attack as observed in the 9/11 has resulted in the loss of life of over thousands of people in the planes as well as the people inside the building. Some of the people besides the building have also lost their lives because of the dust from the collapse of the building. Moreover, the attack not only affected the life of the people, but also damaged the infrastructure of the region. The whole building and planes were collapsed within a few seconds (Sloan, 2011). The attack to the buildings as evident from the 9/11 significantly affected the economy of the nation. The functioning of the world trade centre for certain period of time was significantly affected. This has not only led to the economic loss of the United States but also the entire world. Millions of currencies were spent for the rescue operation in the attack. Moreover, it is to be noted that beside the economic loss a significant communal loss also took place through this kind of attack. In 9/11 attack, people from the different nations also got affected. This is because the world trade had people from other nations too (Sloan, 2011). Sequence 3 (Terrorist Attack on Railway Station) The third cascading sequence will be in the form of terrorist attack using a nuclear device in a crowded railway station. A railway station is usually a place where the flow of people is quite large in general and consequently, the harm of any particular human or natural disaster will be extreme to the least. The probable cascading sequence for this particular sort of natural disaster can be in the following form. Impact Analysis Blast usually takes place in an uncertain manner and people in and around the place have little knowledge about the same in advance. This aspect will evidently cause a lot of harm to each and every element in the surrounding area. As per the cascading sequence presented above, the first threat is the sudden explosion that will take place in a matter of seconds. People hardly get any chances to prepare themselves to deal with the attack. This further makes them vulnerable towards such attacks in an extreme manner. In such sudden blast, it is evident that several communities are at extreme risks. The second threat for such human-made disasters will be in the form of the severe damage that is caused to the surrounding environment or infrastructure and the people in and around the same. For example, when such attacks are targeted on a particular railway station it will damage each and every asset including human life in an around the blast spot in case it is conducted on a larger dimension. This can be a regarded as a potential threat. The next threat for such bombings or blasts can be in the form of community assets that are being lost. In any such incidents, the loss and the damage are quite considerable and have severe impact on the concerned authorities along with affecting the stability of the overall society. To have a better understanding in this regard, the example of Madrid railway station bombings will be vital to consider. In this particular attack of the terrorist, the loss of infrastructure and human life was at a prominent level altogether. A considerable number of human lives along with the damage to the building and infrastructure were among the most notable aftermaths of the attacks. The railway network of the country was also affected by the attacks, which negatively affected the entire communication channel of the country for a considerable period of time (Farazmand, 2001). The consequences of such incident are deemed quite severe and the loss can be out of limit to an extent. In this regard, the next threat with regard to such attack can be in the form of loss of financial assets and lives of people to a larger extent. Such blast usually takes place on a larger scale and the loss of assets and properties is on a bigger dimension altogether. It has been comprehended from news source and footage of the incident that around 190 people have sacrificed their life in the incident, which included people from 17 different countries of the world. The next threat in the sequence is relevant to the emission of the harmful radiation from the blast and the after effects of the same. The aftermaths of such incident is quite severe and can be seen to prevail for a longer duration in the daily lives of the people. It can be said that such incident of blast or explosion leave harmful radiation in the air within the surrounding environment, which further impact the health and well being of the people. The health implication associated with such incidents is quite severe. This can be better comprehended from the example of atomic bombings in two of the inhabited Japanese cities. Apart from the fact that the bombings killed thousands of civilians, the cities were not been considered fit for living years after the attack. Post the attack, the entire cities were demolished with little traces of the past cultural and historical heritage can be gathered (The Guardian, 2007). This aspect further depicted the threats associated with incidents like terrorist attack using nuclear energy. Component 3 From the analysis of the discussion relevant to the threats of incidents occurred from terrorist attacks in component 2, it has been learnt that such incidents are extremely uncertain and little forecast of the same can be made. However, there are certain specific problems that may require a creative and innovative approach with regard to their elimination or mitigation. Some of the problems can be identified hereunder. Communication Problem This is one of the most severe problems that can be seen during the incidents of terrorist attracts. In such scenario, infrastructure including communication network is damaged in such a manner that gathering accurate and appropriate information becomes a severe challenge. This particular aspect needs measures, which are innovative and effective at the same time. Awareness of People Lack of awareness of people about emergency plans and approaches has also been a major problem that arises while dealing with emergencies. Since people get panic during the incident of terrorist attack or any such disastrous incident, proper execution of emergency plans has become a challenge of some sort. Uncertainty of the Impact of Disaster It is evident that terrorist attacks are uncertain owing to which planners hardly get time to plan recovery measures post occurrence of incident. Therefore, they need to emerge with plans of recovery before the occurrence of any incident on the basis of predictions from past trends. This affects the accuracy and effectiveness of such planning. Solutions Three solutions can be stated for the problem of communications during emergency management of incidents relevant to terrorist attacks. Notably, a critical thinking approach must be adopted towards dealing with such scenario. This will mean that authorities associated with emergency management needs to consider each and every challenge prevailing in the communication domain and likewise, measures are developed. Again, accurate forecasting of the future incidents on the basis of the past trends will also act an appropriate measure to amend ex-communication issues during emergency management. Furthermore, the concerned authority needs to involve in continuous review of the effectiveness of communication network in public places and important structures where the chances of repeat occurrence of such incident is quite large. However, as per the elements of the critical thinking wheel, constant review of communication network may act as a better option, as it has got a specific purpose and will provide important facts and data, which will assist in meeting the criterion of the wheel of critical thinking. People hardly have the experience of dealing with emergency and panic situation. This aspect further hinders proper execution of the plans of emergency management in numerous scenarios. The solutions for this problem can be in the form of initiating campaigns for awareness, promoting emergency management programs in a widespread dimension and educating people about the manner that they can help emergency management team during any particular incident. However, as per the elements of the critical thinking wheel, educating people to act in situations of emergency will be a better solution, as its implications and consequences may be effective as compared to the other alternative solutions. The aspect of uncertainty associated with incidents such as terrorist attack is quite uncertain owing to which proper planning has become a severe challenge. Since, each incident has its own potential to cause impact, developing accurate plans has been challenging. In this regard, the potential solutions can be in the form of conducting future forecast from past incidents, determining multiple plans for similar incidents and using the best and appropriate one at times of need and following an innovative approach while executing the planning process. However, with regard to purpose, implications and concepts, ensuring appropriate forecast of the future incidents will be an appropriate solution to the identified problem. Critical Thinking Wheel Source: (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2013) Component 4 The essay on the emergency management with regard to various elements of threat such as the natural disaster like earthquake, volcano, floods, drought, and many more that include threats from the human beings like the terrorist attacks and wars, reveals some of the significant aspects of the disaster. The essay reveals some of the key elements with regard to those disasters. This is in terms of the location of the incidents that generally takes place. It is observed that in case of a terrorist attack to a certain region or an organization, the selection of the place is most likely to be a crowded place that may affect maximum numbers of people. The other aspect is the type of incidence that takes place through this kind of attack. It is observed from the component 2 of the essay that the attack is of various types including crowded railway station, reputed buildings like the world trade centre of New York with the use of directed and hijacked planes. Moreover, it can be also noted that the attacks are not only limited to terrorism. The several wars that had taken place in the history and the past few years provide the evidence of using weapons, which are highly disastrous. This is evident from the use of nuclear weapons like the ‘Atomic bomb’ in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II. Moreover, the essay provides some of the cascading sequences of threats to the events that take place in the disastrous process. However, the essay also provides some of the recommended solutions that would mitigate and minimize the effect of terrorism. The significant recommendations to the various emergency management steps include the improvement of the communication process, so that the prior knowledge through the Intelligent Agencies is rapidly communicated to the people of the targeted spot and the place can be evacuated as soon as possible. Moreover, the awareness to the people about the necessary steps to be undertaken at the time of the emergency to reduce the damage should be spread effectively. Furthermore, with an effective planning in the emergencies would result into avoiding the disaster or even minimizing the same. Thus, it is noted that through effective co-operation among the security officials and through the support of other nations the effect of such disaster can be avoided and minimized. Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper, it can be comprehended that emergency management has been one of the most elements in the domain of disaster management or dealing with any severe situations. It is a particular approach of planning that is being used to deal with the after-effects and consequences of any particular disaster. This particular paper has highlighted the questions that emergency managers usually ask to plan the mitigation process. The significance of the questions were further determined with the help of the 8 elements of critical thinking process. The paper has also presented the threats and sequences of any particular incident relevant to terrorist attack using nuclear energy. This analysis was further accompanied by the problems associated with the emergency management of such incident. The solution for the problems has been also highlighted in detail in the study. Hence, it can be concluded that emergency management indeed is an important element of disaster management and at the same time, it involves several key aspects, which must be executed accordingly to ensure proper implementation of the process. References Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2013). Elements and standards learning tool. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/elements-and-standards-learning-tool/783 Farazmand, A. (2001). Handbook of crisis and emergency management. CRC Press. Poolos, J. (2008). The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. New York: Infobase Publishing. Sloan, P. J. (2011). 9/11 World Trade Center re-investigated: observations of a detective for the organized crime and the Anti-Terrorist Units. New York: Sloans Book Press. The Guardian. (2007). The 2004 Madrid bombings. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/31/spain.menezes Read More