Contemporary Disaster Management - Term Paper Example

 Contemporary Disaster Management Background Disaster management is paramount in the modern world in order to counteract the effects of risks which are either natural or associated with human activities. These risks perpetually entail significant human losses and inflict considerable damage on the global economic system. The studies and researches done by Centre of Research of the Epidemiology on Disasters confirm that natural catastrophes such as flood, windstorm, surge and other water related disasters have killed approximately one million people in the past 20 years. Furthermore, these water-related disasters have affected the livelihoods of more than 300 million people. According to EM-DAT, these natural disasters have directly damaged the global economy and countries around the world have lost more than $US 800billion. Researches have also revealed that regions characterized by monsoon climate are the most vulnerable. Disasters are also common in areas with large population and where economic development is quite rapid (Brown, & Duguid, 2000). Barton (1999) argued that disaster management has been a problem to most countries of the world hence the impacts of the phenomena are recurrent. Nations all over the world have joint efforts in aid to reduce the effects of these disasters on the livelihoods in the next coming years. Through Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 and the Hashimoto Action Plan: Compendium for Action, countries have established strategic goals and the appropriate global actions that reduce the effects of disasters on the economic system. Asia is one of the countries among others which have been affected negatively by water-related disasters. Asian-Pacific countries have established Asia Pacific Water Forum, a body which is primarily concerned with policing water-related disaster management programs. There are very many bodies emerging all over which would diligently improve the quality of life of populations affected by disasters. These organizations are expected to facilitate disaster management strategies in addressing effective disaster reduction solutions in the most stricken areas (Epstein, 2000). Statement of Problem Disaster management is very vital in the modern days in order to reduce negative implications of hazards on economic systems and the livelihoods of the people around the world. Nations have failed to implement and execute contemporary disaster management programs that could save these worst situations. Research indicates that there has been disturbing increase in the number of disasters affecting millions of people and destroying millions worth of properties. The impacts of disasters are attributed to lack of consistent mitigation practices, poor response and lack of preparedness (Ardichvili, & Wentling, 2003). United States is one of the countries in the world which has been affected so much by both man-made and natural disasters. Rescue operations and disaster management have been very poor in this country hence the impacts of disasters have been so great that they have negatively affected the economy of the country in a big way. The issue that calls for attention is the relationship between impacts of disasters and the management practices used in reducing their effects.  List of United States disasters by death toll As I alluded above, United States has been affected for a long time by disasters and the following are some of them which had great impact on the livelihood and economic systems of the country. Persian Gulf War This was fought in the early 1990s between Iraq and coalition of countries that were led by the United States of America. This led to destruction of Iraq military capability and their armies were taken out of Kuwait. It led to death of more than 254,000 people (Graham, 2002). In aid to counteracting with further effects of Persian Gulf War, President Clinton initiated Presidential Advisory Committee which supposedly gathered for the health needs of the Gulf War Veterans. Clinton mandated the committee to carry out independent examination on health matters that are closely related to Gulf War service. The report issued by the committee documented reviews that government was supposed to implement. The government efforts included protecting veterans of the Persian war against exposure to chemical and biological warfare. The president condemned the use of biological weapons by Saddam Hussein. Following his orders, thousands of military soldiers were inoculated with experimental anthrax and nerve gas remedies so as to neutralize the effects of the biological weapons. The effects of Persian war are still felt up to date. This is because of poor management of pre-disaster and post disaster practices. Research confirms that communication between military and the rescue personnel was not effective due to failure of the communication equipment used. The country had not established back-up measures which were required for effective implementation of disaster management strategies. Due to poor management, the country had not fully developed designated runners that are used to relay messages between the health organizations and the rescue operation teams. It is important to verify all the communications and reports during such moments rather than relaying rumors which may lead to intense pressure on the public. During the happening of this disaster, Hospital Command Post personnel in most health organizations could not communicate with external sources such as media and the country’s leaders.       Bureaucratic competition and poor communication between the responsible personnel is considered to have contributed heavily to numerous negative impacts of the war. Organizational structures in the country involved were sophisticated and are not so much flexible to emergency. This factor is considered to have played a great role in contributing towards greater negative effects of the disaster. 2001 Terrorism This tragedy was so sudden and devastating hence it is impossible to objectively and dispassionately discuss about the emergency response or preparedness after and before the attack. The US government had established Port Authority Police Department prior to the attack. It consisted of more than 1300 officers who were trained in fire suppression methods and law enforcement techniques. It was led by a superintendent. This group of officers was directed and controlled by Police Commanders who used ultra-high-frequency radios to enhance communication upon occurrence of such disasters. During the September 11, attack, this group could not respond effectively because they lacked efficient and standard operating procedures that were necessary in governing the group officers from multiple commands to effectively respond to the tragic incident. The procedures that were supposed to cover different commands and communication during Pentagon attack were lacking. This derailed the rescuing process. This has been a problematic issue in most countries of the world hence disasters are repeatedly occurring. The effects of attacks could have been prevented if a shootdown authorization was properly communicated between commanders of different military territories and to the NORAD air defense force. Research indicates that there was communication breakdown between shootdown authorization and NORAD air defense force for at least 30 minutes. In addition, planes of diverse defense force scrambled due to poor interception as they were not aware of the necessary steps to take. Immediate response at Pentagon home had a lot of impact on the safety of people from other severe impacts of the tragedy. After the South Tower was hit by the second plane, FDNY chiefs discussed strategy for operations that were aimed at rescuing people who had suffered the collapse of the tower. By using the repeater system, the Chief Commander of FDNY advocated for improved portable radio communications within the South Tower and its environs. There was increased mobilization of FDNY personnel. There was response from off-duty firefighters who responded from the firehouses within the South Tower. Some of the emergency information that emerged from 9/11 attack in New York revealed that there have been frequent bomb attacks in the United States. It involved tear gas, fire bombs and detonated explosive devices. This war led to death of 2992 people and massive loss of property. This affected greatly the economy of the country. The country had placed strategies which attempted to reduce country’s vulnerability to terrorist incidents. It had established tight security at the airports and other public facilities and had established reunion with other countries around the world so as to reduce the number of countries that would support terrorism. Preparedness was not adequate enough prior to the attack. It is important that a nation prepares very well for building explosions; an idea which was not incorporated into the emergency response strategies in the United States prior to the terrorism attack. It is obvious that buildings collapse or become heavily damaged when terrorists use explosives. In aid to reduce the effects of attacks, the government stopped its domestic air flights for several days. The Department of Defense ordered airplanes to fly instead of air flights but under tight security. The country’s air travel volume dropped precipitously due to the fact that the number of businessmen and citizens traveling had dropped significantly. The government also ordered most hotels and restaurants to be closed down as they represented potential targets for terrorists. Research findings revealed further weakness of the US policies which additionally led to more negative undertone of the 9/11 attack. According to Commission Report on 9/11 attack, national security concern for the country’s government under Clinton regime was not subjected to future predicaments such as future terrorism attacks. Failure of imaginations was attributed to the failure of effective response during the attack. Government officials could conceive the happening of the event. American Airlines Flight 587 This disaster occurred on November, 2001 when American Airlines flight 587, crashed into the Belle Harbor area of Queens in New York. It was an Airbus A30 that crashed shortly after taking off from JKF airport. This plane was scheduled to fly to Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic. This led to death of approximately 260 passengers including all nine crew members and five infants. The government of United States, through their military Fire Department units responded promptly after the accident had been aired throughout the country. This unit transmitted 10-60 “Major Emergency Response” and fifth-alarm assignment. More than 220 firefighters who were assigned to the fifth alarm were mobilized to respond to help in the recovery and the rescue process of the affected victims. These firefighters did their level best even though there was inefficiency due to improper communication between units. Immediately after the incident had occurred, some military firefighters were mobilized to transfer fire extinguishers to a gas station near the place of the incident. This unit managed to save people from being injured by debris and fire (Dustin, 2003). Military and civilians responded immediately. It is very worrying to understand that fire companies took a lot of time before responding. It was the mercy of the civilian employees within the building and other volunteers which saved most people who could have perished from the incident. These people were not equipped and well trained hence their response mechanism were very inefficient. After firemen arrived, civilian employees were ordered to leave the area. The Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD) also took a great deal of time to respond as they were supposed to assume the rescue operation within the shortest time possible. Coordination in the ACFD was very poor since it took Assistant Chief, James Schwartz, approximately one hour before responding to the rescue operation through Incident Command System that had been established. The fire extinguishers carried out their work in unison and it took less than 2 hours and the flames were no longer seen. With cooperation of police officers and emergency medical workers, firefighters quickly searched for the victims who were thought to have been in the debris (Braganza, & Mollenkramer, 2002). In order to reinstate security in the Airbus airplanes, Management and other stakeholders of the company held numerous meetings where they discussed various issues affecting security. They critically examined ways of minimizing risks in relation to terrorisms that had threatened airline security in United States of America. They proposed that Airbus should have their cockpit doors reinforced and installation of video camera in the cockpit so that pilots could see what is going on in the plane (Epstein, 2000). Hurricane Katrina Overview Hurricane Katrina struck Florida City and the Gulf Coast in the year 2005. It disrupted many families hence changing their way of living. This disaster will be remembered for quite long time. It forced American government to rethink about vulnerability of their country to such tragedies and possible actions that could be taken to avoid re-occurrence. It was after the great negative impacts of Hurricane Katrina that US federal government made significant changes in their policies that would ensure immediate and effective response to such disasters in future. According to Bankoff (2003), rescue efforts and other operations had been so sluggish as compared to rescue operations in other recent large-scale catastrophic events such as 9/11 attack, Turkish earthquake and Bali Bombing in 2002. The delayed response through the lens of Knowledge Management (KM) has been subjected to a lot of criticism. Some criticized that the KM has very poor framework for disaster management. It is stipulated that disaster management is fully developed into three distinct Knowledge Management processes (Slater, 2004). Government response to Hurricane Katrina has been heavily criticized and condemned due to mismanagement and lack of preparation in the rescue efforts and appropriate solutions in the aftermath. The concerned department in the military sector of the US government delayed to respond to the water-related disaster in New Orleans, Louisiana. The federal government is blamed for poor management of relief efforts and operations in the aftermath of the tragedy. These criticisms became common after public debate which took place immediately after the disaster. People and the international community criticized delayed role of the government in the preparations and response towards the rescue process. The delay in the response mechanism of the US military and other rescue concerned bodies are attributed to poor knowledge creation and knowledge reuse. The government Disaster Psychiatry Outreach responded to the incident by sending four volunteer psychiatrists who conducted assessments on the effects of the disaster on living conditions of the human beings in the affected areas (Chertoff, 2005). Causative Factors for Disasters in the United State of America Disaster and its effects are caused by various factors. Bernstern (2001) claimed that man-made disasters are attributed to activities of human beings. The 9/11 attack on Pentagon has been attributed to poor management. Due to poor leadership the country lacked military jets that could be used in responding to the hijackings. Sources indicate that Andrews Airforce Base which is near the Pentagon could not respond until the third plane hit the building. The argument has been that it is either lack of this equipment or somebody might have instructed them to stand down for more than one hour. In general, gross incompetence is one of the causative factors that led to criminal collusion and conspiracy in the United States (Stroh, 2005). Lack of effective interference during times of disaster by local, national and international authorities have led to greater negative impacts being experienced among the population within which the disaster has occurred. Disaster management and reduction policies should be incorporated by the relevant authorities during the time of war. It should help victims of disaster so as to reduce their effects to minimum levels. Katrina hurricane is an example of disaster in which authorities took no initiative to assist the victims. Critics have also argued that effects of Katrina hurricane resulted from inefficient authorities’ intervention which instead of reducing the damages, they increased them. The enforcement of the law by the United States government led to high number of casualties. This is because the disaster management methods are very poor hence this calls for improved government capabilities to be employed when interfering with crisis situations in the future. The actual incapacity of the US law enforcements in rescuing the victims and shifting nature of disasters are considered to be some of the causative factors that led to bad effects of the disasters (Marjorie, 2003). Possible Solutions The efforts to explore the dynamic relationship between effects of disaster and disaster management have led to different paradigms in research and disaster management practices. In the academic literature on disaster management, there have been persistent attempts to look into inconsistent impacts of disasters on the health and economy of the people. There has been cognizance and recognition that poor disaster management practices implies greater chance of being exposed to more and very dangerous risks. It is therefore imperative that nations across world establish and initiate contemporary measures that would enable them to counteract the disaster as they might arise. Policies should be devised basing this on experiences, and focusing on attributes of exact nature of the negative impacts of disasters and their related effects. Conceptual frameworks concerning disaster management should be reformed and different perspectives on design and management practices to be adopted (Marjorie, 2003). Countries have reluctantly imposed conceptual disaster management practices and academic discourse in the past decades. This has far reaching influence on the functionality of the disaster management practices and teams. It implies that contemporary measures would be incorporated into the policies and practices regarding disaster management. United States, due to their superior technology and availability of substantial capital, should be in the forefront in initiating disaster management programs that are quite efficient and effective (Alexander, 2002). With reference to disaster management cycle, prevention, mitigation programs and preparedness should be incorporated into the disaster management programs. This should entail humanitarian assistance portion and relief programs for the affected victims and regions. It is also recommendable that security personnel be exposed to intensive training programs so as to learn methods and techniques of responding to emergencies. It is also important that civilians in all countries be taught of the immediate remedies for victims affected by such disasters so that they can apply them when such tragedies occur in future. It is also important for nations to establish all-hazards approaches (Brown, & Duguid, 2000). These are concerned with developing and executing disaster management policies for the expected range of disasters. This is very critical especially in establishment of standard protocols that are used in addressing various disaster related problems. These protocols are very useful when analyzing and critically identifying solutions for different hazards and emergencies. Besides this approach, governments should establish specific responses and recovery measures that are very fundamental during the occurrence of particular calamities. Vulnerability and reduction approach is another possible solution for reducing the effects of disasters. These concepts supplement disaster management practices. They integrate effects of vulnerability and elements of environment hence sustainable human development is achieved (Braganza, & Mollenkramer, 2002). Conclusion Changes in human economic activities, climate variability and overall changes in the natural environment have triggered increased levels of risks from both natural and man-made hazards and this has been noticed mainly in the United States as discussed above. Disaster management is a very important aspect in reducing the effects of risks on the human population and the general economy. It is imperative for nations all over the world to establish contemporary measures of dealing with disasters. Negligence and ignorance should be avoided especially among world leaders. They should initiate the best strategies for managing both natural and man-made disasters. Effective disaster management programs should allow immediate response to problems so as to eradicate more negative effects of the phenomena. References Alexander, D. (2002). Principles of emergency planning and management. Harpended: Terra publishers, 45-56. Ardichvili, A., & Wentling, T. (2003). 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Hearing of the house select hurricane Katrina committee on the role of the department of homeland security in hurricane Katrina relief response. Washington, DC: Federal News Service Publishers, 123-165. Collins, J. (1993). High command arrangements early in the Persian Gulf crisis. Washington: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 5-17. Dustin, J. (2003). An economic analysis outlining causative factors. Journal of knowledge management, 12(3), 13-47. Epstein, S. (2000). The world embargo on food exports to Iraq. Washington: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 13-19. Graham, S. (2002). Catastrophe and culture: the anthropology of disaster. Santa FeNM: School of American Research Press, 123-156. Marjorie A. (2003). Iraq-Kuwait: U.N. Security Council Resolutions--Texts and Votes. Washington: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 35-87. Slater, J. (2004). “A Risk Management Approach to Disaster Management. Journal of natural disaster management, 11(2), 167-230. Stroh, G. (2005). Katrina's Implications for Disaster Management: Lessons Learned From New Orleans. Journal of economic development, 12(1), 12-54. Read More