Accidents and Catastrophes - Assignment Example

Accidents and Catastrophes Introduction Nature and managemt of accidents and catastrophes world wide require different strategies unique to the regions though principles of disaster management are the same for mitigation of loss of lives and damage to property and prevention. This paper deals with all aspects of disaster managemt with particular reference to U.K though it draws inspiration from U.S.A. experience also. Nature of Accidents and Catastrophes Gradual build up of energy or weights ends up in their sudden release thus resulting in natural accidents such as earth quakes, floods, storms, snow avalanche etc. On the other hand, accidents of human-machine systems are characterized by simultaneous occurrence of events. In the latter case, the events occur by condition of risk or deterioration exceeding the permissible limits. Activities of mankind due to technological developments of the 20th century at faster rates than in the previous centuries have led to newer threats to human beings and objects created by them. Frequency of events therefore shifted from natural calamities to man made ecological, social disasters. Scientists therefore shifted their attention to industrial failures caused by industrial accidents at the chemical enterprises in Flixborough (England) in 1974, Seveso (Italy) in 1976 resulting in irreparable damage to environment. Bhopal tragedy in India in 1984, Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986 and virus attacks in the internet and terrorist in the U.S in September 2001 also resulted in similar consequences to environment besides loss of lives of thousand of people. Level of safety to humans has not increased in spite of efforts being undertaken all over the world. Thus the inadequate safety results in persistent losses in billions of Euros. Safety problems, risks in ecology, engineering, finance, economics, terrorist and information danger have assumed enormous proportions requiring attention at the State level. About 45 thousand dangerous manufacturing units, large scale constructions in Russia pose serious threats of disasters on a national level in the event of their destructions. If extreme situations (ES) arise, hundreds of thousand of lives will be lost besides destructions to the infrastructures. They are already happening in the world. In Russia alone, 1076 technogenic ES have occurred. It has happened in industrialized territories, by an increase of 91% in North West and 48%in Central, 41% in other regions of Russia. Therefore extra attention in the civil sphere encompassing nuclear, chemical, metallurgical, mining industry and large scale construction of dams, viaducts and oil storages, dangerous cargoes, gas and oil pipe line and a large number of people involved need to be given, not to speak of military sphere covering space-rockets, aviation systems, nuclear plants, nuclear submarines and large-scale warehousing of arms and ammunitions. (Solojentsev, 2004, p 15-17) Any event that causes losses of more than $25 million is considered a catastrophe. Hurricane Katrina of Aug 2005 involved a loss of $43,625 millions, and September 2001 attack resulted in a loss of $ 21,981 millions. The figures represent only property losses and do not include loss due to deaths. This is in spite preparedness of households ranging from 42% to 88% for different varieties of preparedness such as having a fire escape plan to know how to turn off electricity, gas, water, having a disaster preparedness kit in times of emergency. (Insurance Information Institute) September 11 attack killed 2976 people and caused economic cost of $ 200 billion.(Hartwig, 2006)Possible future global natural catastrophes are predicted to involve massive earthquakes, pandemics, alien aggressions, interplanetary impact, supernova, Ice age, Magnetic field reversal, and manmade catastrophes in Tokyo, Sanfrancisco, or LosAngeles causing trillion dollar loss leading to worldwide depression, and setting back of human progress by a decade .will be nuclear catastrophe, cultural decline, bioterrorism, robot aggression, and nanoplague.(Human Knowledge) Incident Management Systems In response the need for management in times of disaster, few developments have taken place recently especially after the September 2001 attack incident. Incident Management Systems (IMS) though had been in existence, it was never used prior to the September attack. Though this would prevent loss of responders’ lives and result in successful outcomes, fire and police departments have used it for only large incidents. Brunacini (2002) states if IMS is not regularly used by regular rehearsals, it will be difficult to implement at the time of actual situations. Non-use is attributed to the lack of understanding of the IMS principles and jurisdictions for which it should be used. As Quarantelli (1988) puts it, emergency planning and emergency management are two separate actions. Emergency planning takes into the account of vulnerability identification that leads to potential disasters to be managed, requirement of personnel and equipment needed for the purpose. Emergency management involves execution of the said plans and effective use of equipments and personnel. It is important that all disasters should be considered as local events coming under municipal jurisdictions without having to depend upon federal or central response which would normally take 72 hours. As such all planning and management must stem from local capabilities and resources which will be joined by central or federal agencies in due course in the event of disasters. Thus the IMS should be in a position to respond to the support from outside agencies i.e from federal levels and it should be used to respond to every day emergencies without being idle for only to cater to large scale rare events which policy will weaken the otherwise robust and unused system. The aim of the IMS is to make available all the required resources at the municipal level be it an emergency or disaster. This will be basics structure to which outside support will be integrated on escalation of the demand. There will be cases of disasters where localization may not be possible especially in terrorist attacks with biological weapons for which impact will be known only after a while without the exact location of sources of attack. The first responders will consist of police personnel, emergency medical responders and fire fighting personnel who should be on duty always. The IMS is thus perceived to be a flexible structure to organize response in emergencies. (Perry, 2003) Organizational failure. Gouliemos (2003) cites organizational failure to implement what he calls IS (information systems) and therefore proposes a diagnostic model. He cites failure of UK’s London Ambulance Service and London’s Stock Exchange’s Taurus which involved huge investments and critical systems of safety. Both the organizations nearly came to collapse because of the failures especially due to absence of accountability warranting legal action. Failure of London Ambulatory Service (LAS) was attributed to organizational decline. The LAS had overestimated its capacity to develop system of any kind in spite of an instance of miserable failure earlier. There was tendency to environmental adaptation on its part. Hasty decisions including an appointment of an autocratic top management created dichotomy between the work force which was demoralized and the management. Besides, fear of failure and pressure for success led to cutting down of 20% of its officers which resulted in reduction of resources. Preparing the community Preparedness has been defined as “actions taken in advance of an emergency to develop operational capabilities and to facilitate an effective response in the event an emergency occurs” (Godschalk 1991, p. 136) Rather than warning, evacuation, sheltering at the time of actual occurrence, there should be preparedness on the part of community also. Since there is no guarantee that September 2001-like attacks will not happen again, it is imperative to ensure preparedness to face disasters when they take place without warnings. In times of such disasters, anti-social elements also will exploit the situation. Hence community’s preparedness for disaster through the initiatives of the local Governments has become mandatory. (Godschalk, 1991) Preparedness enables foresight of problems and formulates possible solutions in advance. There must be enactments to prescribe actions in case of disasters to give the real feel of seriousness of the preparedness. Such ordinances would normally include (1) Emergency plan, (2).Organization, (3) Powers and duties of the director, (4) joint operations and mutual aid programs, (5) Expenditures and contracts, (6) conflict with state or federal law and (7) violations and penalties.( McEntire and Myers, 2004 ,p142) Though emergency after a disaster is good, emergent behavior needs to be restrained. Thus over supply of emergency materials would in fact inhibit response operations. An emergency operations plan (EOP) which is a crucial part of the preparedness should be drawn up in writing and the community involvement must be initiated. Human component of disaster must always be kept in mind in all EOP programs. There must be warning systems consisting of “sirens, media, emergency alert system, reverse 911, intercoms, teletype writers, telephone devices, strobe lights, loud speakers, door-to-door notification and weather radio” .(McEntire and Myers, 2004 ,p144) Part of the preparedness would also include identification of hazards, susceptibility and threat possibilities in respective areas. Some of the hazards are hurricane, tornado, volcano, tidal wave, and flood which are natural, technological hazards like nuclear accidents and chemical explosions and related incidents, civil hazards like terrorism, riots, famine, act of war, and biological hazards like bacteria, virus and toxins. Possible targets of terrorism are computer networks, line based phone systems, cell towers, electricity related power plants, sub-stations, transformers, transportation related such as airports, highways, bridges and ports, petrochemical infrastructures such as oil well, refineries, storage facilities, economic related such as banks, financial institutions and big companies, water infrastructures like dams, sewage treatment facilities, and emergency utilities like fire, police stations, hospitals and emergency centers. Emergency managers must ensure availability of facilities near the vulnerable areas. The emergency managers must be in a position to have easy access to the authorities to provide facilities in the event of disasters. Mutual aid agreements with other jurisdictions must be also available since management from own jurisdictions may not be always adequate. Public should be educated and encouraged of their participation during disaster response and should not be considered a hindrance to the response. The victims who are from the public are supposed to be rational in decisions in times of emergencies and they are a large reservoir of resources providing men and materials in times of emergencies. The art of emergency management produces managers of high caliber who would compromise when necessary and act ably under very stressful situations. This will be complementing the preparedness plans which otherwise would be futile without such capable managers. (McEntire and Myers, 2004) Stress in emergency response As there is a risk of stress among the managers while in response to disasters, this component must be made an integral part of the risk paradigm in relation to disaster management. (Paton, 2003, p203-209) Standards in emergency management Alexander (2003) who is Professor of Disaster Management at Cranfield University, Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, UK, states that standards prescribed for emergency management should driven by principles unique to emergencies He has given about twelve principles for standards enumerated below. (1) The standard should not aim at best practice levels but should not fall below minimum levels in terms of personnel competency, procedural efficacy, equipment quality etc. (2) It must be explicit about conditions of applicability and limitations if any. (3) It should state who should use these standards. (4) What it relies upon. There must be flexibility in naming a situation like catastrophe and disaster as they are likely to be used loosely is disaster fields. (5) The standard should be acceptable to the large body of users. (6) It should seek consensus about the principles and procedures among the users. (7) As far as possible there should be homogeneity in the use of terminology, methods and procedures as the purpose of standards itself is to achieve minimum levels of practice. (8) There should be maximum clarity and it should avoid complex and bureaucratic language. (9) The standard should not aim at training but should be a reference to the main manuals comprehensively prepared. (10)It should not be a hindrance to development to higher levels of preparedness. (11)It should be feely available and given to users free of cost and (12)While it should be of permanent character for usage, there should be room for revision if necessary. In U.K. there is a standard book of the Home office available but it is not very comprehensive. It only gives indications for action and not specifications. On the other hand, the U.S.A’s National fire protection Association’s standard book of 16 pages is quite comprehensive capable of being used by both private and public sectors but it is mainly limited to U.S.A’s conditions. (Alexander (2003) Disaster management in U.K. The Disaster Management Act 2003 has made the administration responsible for management and mitigation of injuries likely and damage due to hazards. The National Disaster Management Council (NDMC), Department of Disaster Management (DDM), National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) and National Disaster Fund are in place as contemplated by the Act and as a reflection of the foregoing discussion of disaster management. (The UK in the BVI). The Bomb blast in London The major attack by terrorists after September11, took place in London on July 7, 2005. 39 people were killed in four bombing incidents at the rail transporting system. But for the preparedness, the casualties would have been more. At the first explosion at 8.51 am in a rail tunnel on a circle line train near Moorgate, 7 people died. Ten fire rescue vehicles along with 50 firefighters came to attend the incident. Again after 5 minutes by 8.56 am, second bomb exploded at Piccadilly Line Subway where 21 people died. 12 fire vehicles along with 60 firefighters carried out rescue operations. It lasted till 12.30 pm when the London Ambulance Service withdrew from the area. At 9.17 am, 3rd explosion occurred at Edgware Road underground station. 7 people died in the explosion and 12 rescue vehicles and 60 fire fighters attended. The fourth explosion took place at 9.47 am on a bus in Wobum Place where four fire rescue vehicles and 20 fire fighters attended the incident. Two people died. The LAS transported at least 45 persons with serious injuries and burns. 300 to 350 more people were treated and taken to hospitals. Total casualties were 700 with more than 250 ambulance staff attending the incidents. At 11.20 am, army started patrolling the areas of Covent Garden. By 11.30 am, police was able to confirm six blast sites with one site having the traces of bomb used. At the same time of 11.30 am, Motor way started showings signs to avoid London which had been closed. By 12.24 pm, reports came in from a German source that al-Queda was responsible for the explosions.(Kuepper) The above chronology would be evident of a typical scenario of a disaster management encompassing the preparedness and other criteria discussed above. Conclusion From the forgoing discussion, it may be clear that all aspects of disaster managemt like incident management systems, organizational failure, preparedness, and stress in disaster management are equally important however insignificant some may appear to be. References Alexander David, (2003) Towards the Development of standards in emergency management training and education, Disaster Prevention and Management Volume 12. Number 2. 2003 . pp. 113-123 in Emerald Insight Staff(CB). Disaster Management. Bradford,, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004. p 348-359 Brunacini, A.V. (2002), Fire Command: The Essentials of IMS, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, in Emerald Insight Staff (CB). Disaster Management. Bradford,, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004. p 317. McEntire A David and Myers Amy (2004), Preparing Communities for Disasters, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol 13, Number 2, 142,144 in Emerald Insight Staff (CB). Disaster Management. Bradford,, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004. p 328-359. Godschalk, D.R. (1991), “Disaster mitigation and hazard management”, in Drabek, T. and Hoetmer, G. (Eds), Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government, International City Management Association, Washington, DC. Gouliemos Markos (2003) Disaster Prevention and Management Volume 12. Number 4. 2003. pp. 319-327 Hartwig P.Robert Dr, September 2006, Insurance Information Institute Human Knowledge: Foundations and Limits, Possible Future Global Catastrophes available from http://humanknowledge.net/ > accessed 10 November 2008 Insurance Information Institute, Facts and Statistics, Catastrophes: US Douglass Paton, (2003) Disaster Prevention and Management Volume 12. Number 3. 2003. pp. 203-209 Kuepper J Gunnar, The London Bombing on July 7, 200, Emergency & Disaster Management, Inc., available from< www.edmus.info> accessed 10 November 2008 Perry W. Ronald. (2003), Incident management systems in disaster management, Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 12- Number 5- 2003, 405-412 Quarantelli, E.L. (1988), “Disaster crisis management: a summary of research? Findings”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 25, pp. 373-89. Solojentsev, E.D., Scenario Logic and Probabilistic Management of Risk in Business and Engineering, Springer The UK in the BVI, Disaster Management, available from < http://ukinbvi.fco.gov.uk/en/uk-in-bvi/disaster-management> accessed 10 November 2008 Read More