Responses and Emergency Management - Coursework Example

Responses and Emergency Management By Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Definition of Emergency Management 3 “Paramedics’ Perceptions of Risk and Willingness to Work During Disasters” 4 Concerns About the Article 5 Risk Management 7 Willingness to Response 8 Conclusion 10 Abstract There are certain characteristics that person needs before becoming a paramedic. There would be instances that paramedics would be faced in a dilemma. Individuals who are involved in emergency responses do not have much choice in making decisions Every now and then. As a result, only a few numbers of paramedics have been dedicated to their craft and continuously attend to emergency events. In recent years, there have been events that occurred where the respondents also became the patients. RESPONSES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Introduction When the 21st century opened, more individuals prefer a profession that has something to do within the field of Information Technology. This happened as people sees this would be the area that would flourish and would give an individual more finances. It is a work that is not as life-threatening compared to other occupations like paramedics. Through the years, the number of paramedics seems to be going on a down trail. Besides the obvious reason that it is one the more risky job occupations, the salary is also not much appealing or it is not sufficient with the amount of risk a person is encountering during emergency responses. Being a paramedic or a member of an emergency response group, a person needs to be ready and prepared on every occasion. Before one can get to the core and the detailed view of a person’s life being a paramedic, let the definitions be laid down first so that the discussions would be clear and at the end the reader would have a better grasp of what is the message that is being conveyed. Definition of Emergency Management As per the Principles of Emergency Management (2007), emergency management was defined as “…is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.” Even in the so-called age of Science and Technology, there would be natural disasters that the world would face and no person would know when and where these disasters would actually strike. Government and organizations should have a plan or strategy on how their people or regular citizens would be drilled to react through these situations. It is not only natural disasters that these groups should be ready for. This has been acknowledged by the Attorney-General’s Department of the Australian Government (2004) when they stated that “whether natural or man-made, may create in terms of social, economic, environmental, developmental and political consequences for the communities they impact—can be remarkably similar.” There have been man-made events that became disastrous at certain locations in the world. These situations are not isolated and therefore could happen at any place during any given time. The bottom line is that there would be people who would suffer from these situations and places and infrastructures would be destroyed or damaged. “Paramedics’ Perceptions of Risk and Willingness to Work During Disasters” After what happened in the United States on September 9, 2001, more countries have been concerned on how they would face such situations if ever it would happen. These governments are not thinking of the event would happen at their country but it is just making their government and its branches ready and prepared if such an event would happen. The event that is being dubbed as 9/11 is just one of the man-made disaster that humanity faced. There are paramedics who responded at the site of the bombings without knowing if there would be any more attacks that would follow. Is it possible that this event inspired Smith et al (2009) when they wrote Paramedics’ perceptions of risk and willingness to work during disasters? There is a possibility. There have been some mentions of the word paramedics and as for this paper, Merriam-Webster’s (2014) definition of the word paramedic that would be adapted and it is defined as “a specially trained medical technician licensed to provide a wide range of emergency services (as defibrillation and the intravenous administration of drugs) before or during transportation to a hospital.” Concerns About the Article When a group of paramedics would respond to an emergency call, they are unsure of what they would see at the scene. As one can say, they can only expect the worst situation before they reach the vicinity of the event. With the man-made threats and events that are going on, paramedics are putting their lives in more risk like health disasters and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear or CBRN. This has been the ones that are causing the scare in the public in recent years since the turn of the century. Smith et al’s concerns include the safety of the emergency respondents and also the availability of these paramedics as there is not much who is choosing this line of work. There is also a concern for the capabilities of some paramedics as there are those chosen few individuals who are not fully equipped with the training and education a paramedic should have. An example of this scenario was pointed out by Smith et al during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) breakout in 2003. There was a report that there were more contaminations in health workers rather than those of regular civilians. It is not a reason that these workers are more exposed to the disease compared to others but if they are knowledgeable of the precautions and practices it, the infection rate might not be as vast as it was recorded. A possible reason for the scenario that was pointed out is that due to lack of options, even those individuals who are not yet properly trained are put into the field to handle the job. Even if there is a need for field training, these novice paramedics should not be left out on their own. There should be a senior paramedic to overlook the response and actions that would be done during the event of an emergency proceeding. Another concern not just for the authors but also the emergency response groups is the ratio of possible patients to a paramedic. With the lack of individuals who are becoming qualified paramedics and the increasing number in the population, the ratio of paramedics to patients is not as desirable as one would want it to be. As a result of this, even the under-qualified individuals are given the duties and responsibilities of full-pledged paramedics. This should also be a point of concern for regular people that though paramedics might not be given much salary and attention in the past, this is the profession that would save lives in the future. Parents should also encourage their children if eventually they would want to be part of an emergency response team. Instead of discouraging them, they should be further boosted and supported by letting them know the importance of being a paramedic (World Health Organization, 2013). Another concern that the authors pointed out would be the willingness of the present paramedics in emergency cases. This became one of the topics of their research that was conducted in 2009. The participants of the study were Victorian paramedics and they were given three scenarios to choose from on what kind of events or situations they would prefer to respond to. There were two primary concerns that were pointed out and as the authors stated it, “…one exploring the key risks perceived with disaster response, and the second exploring the primary concerns paramedics have in being asked to respond to disaster situations.” Though it would be a concern for any respondent what would be the situation at the vicinity when they arrive, this should not be a hindrance in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. With the presence of some man-made hazards like the involvement of chemical, biological, and radiological or CBR, even paramedics are thinking of their safety and also their teammates’ security. As these ways of thinking emerges, the quality of the service and time to respond to a situation would also be affected. Risk Management During the study, there were several mentions of risk assessment (Smith et al, 2009). There would always be risk at any scenarios but the level of it would be determined on how vast the damage is or the amount of personnel who would need medical attention. This became the concern of some paramedics as this would be needed to further evaluate if more teams and paramedics should be deployed to the location or as much as possible limit the time of the victims at the vicinity and rush them to the nearest medical facility. According to SafeWork SA (2010), “Risk assessment is the process of estimating the potential effects or harm of a hazard to determine its risk rating.” While risk was defined by Emergency Medical Paramedic (2013) as the probability of an event to occur in contrast to the possibility that it would not happen at all. As much as a person should be concerned of their well-being for them to carry-out their duties and responsibilities, it is not indicated in the roles and requirements of a paramedic that to have the concerns that they have previously expressed during the study conducted. There is also that perception that since they are trained to response with a sense of urgency, paramedics should be able to adapt to the circumstances that might be thrown at them the moment they have reached the location. During events that involve CBRN, more concerns are being raised as there are a number of paramedics who have not yet received proper training as to how they would respond to those kinds of situations. Still involving situations previously stated, as much as paramedics may want to get the most accurate information that they can get, they would not be able to attain the exact details as there would be further tests as to what have caused the event. There would also be situations when a patient does not have much information with him. Interview would not be possible especially if there is massive damage on the physicality of the patient. Most individuals are also travelling by themselves, at this point, there would be no immediate information that the paramedics could get. The information that would be needed in further treating the person and also information about the health of the patient needs to wait and would be eventually gathered by hospital or clinic personnel (Smith et al, 2009; Fagel, 2011; Gallant, 2008; Ambulance.Vic.Gov.Au, 2014). Willingness to Respond Instead of being to perform their duties with no hesitations, there have been barriers which have been expressed by participants of the conducted study. One of the barriers involved communication factor during events of disasters. This could be attributed to the presence and availability of mobile phones that makes one able to communicate with another person at any given time and place. This form of communicating device could be beneficial at some point though it could also be a hindrance at some events. It is also evidence that paramedics are not fully focused while carrying out on their jobs as they are concerned for their immediate relatives (Bennett, 2011; Fagel, 2011; McEntire, 2008). Though it is good to know that they are concerned with how their families would be while they are responding to a disaster, it should still be pointed out that one should be able to perform proper responses amidst the situation that they are in. It has been noted that there are some individuals who lose their concentration when they are not able to communicate with their families during events of disasters and emergencies. These medical personnel often face the dilemma of who would be taking care of their families and/or children when disasters strike. This situation was addressed by Smith et al (2009) when they stated that The need to be able to communicate with family members during a disaster was a strong theme. Paramedics consistently reported the need for pre-designated communication channels and strategies for them to be able to contact their loved ones, and also for their loved ones to be able to get current information as the disaster or event unfolds. There is always a need for communication at any workplace. Reports have been submitted towards the unreliability of information that is being relayed to paramedics and to ambulance services. The lack of trust between these personnel should be very crucial as per the spontaneity of their services. It would be proper to practice better communication especially with those teams who often meet at emergency vicinities. The quality of the relayed information would also vary with the number of patients a group would be responding to. In large-scale disasters, it has been noted that there is a bigger chance of incorrect or misleading information to be conveyed. With the latter situation stated, risk management would be very inaccurate and might affect the response time and quality of paramedics on the scene where it is needed the most (Bennett, 2011; Ambulance.Vic.Gov.Au, 2014; Gallant, 2008, McEntire, 2008). Another crucial point in being able for immediate emergency response would be the accessibility of the location where the “disaster” occurred. The longer an emergency group would be able to reach their destination; the possibility of the risk would be larger. It has been stated by the participants in the study that the more visible or conventional the situation is, the more willing the respondents would be. Is this how the world of emergency respondents is working? The citizens of a locality would be deeply concerned by the situations that are stated. To make the long story short, more paramedics are willing to work on natural disasters regardless of how big the destruction might be. This is in comparison to the willingness of these professionals in attending to man-made events such as health contaminations and events that involves chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear or CBRN. The more information one might get to know about how massive the contaminations might be, the lesser willing these individuals would want to response. Another factor might be that when a paramedic or an emergency response team member is exposed to any of the contagions stated previously, there is a big possibility that they would carry these when they come home to their family and putting the lives of their relatives in danger unknowingly (McEntire, 2008; World Health Organization, 2013). Conclusion After all have been said and done, the bottom line of the willingness to respond of a paramedic would be the situation where their families are in. It would not be that much of a surprise as these people should be given priority of the person who knows how to take care of other people. With the presence of an unknown factor in non-conventional events, this makes a person uncertain of the role they would portray. Would they be the paramedic who takes care of the needs of other people or would they be the responsible member of the family who would prioritize the other relatives regardless of the situation? This could be another factor why the number of paramedics or members of emergency response groups are getting low in numbers during the past years. If one is a member of an emergency response management group, they should be the ones who would reassure their team/s that the situation might or might not affect their families. By this way, the worry of their members would lessen and other personnel might be deployed instead of the personnel who have his relatives involved in immediate danger. As part of the management group, they should also be the ones to confirm information that are being relayed to them. This would make the response team more prepared on how they would handle the situation once arriving at the area of concern. If ever there would be news of certain unconventional threats and/or disasters, it would be the task of the lead management group to confirm the information or verify the data that has been initially reported. The team members would have lesser to worry when the management would be able to provide some kind of assurance to them. There should also be some considerations done at times of emergencies especially when there are immediate relatives of the team who are in abrupt danger or would need assistance. References Ambulance Victoria. 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Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. World Health Organization. (2013). Emergency response framework (ERF). Switzerland. Read More