Historical Impact of Hurricane Sandy - Essay Example

With respect to this alternative approach, FEMA immediately began by sending to the region not only emergency management equipment and personnel but also a special team which has been subsequently termed an “Innovation Team”.  This innovation team was tasked with the responsibility of acting as a direct go-between for the stakeholders at the FEMA regional offices in New York City and the first responders on the ground. The prior emergency response noted that a clear disconnect has been evidenced between the first responders and those individuals who are seeking to mitigate an action plan within the offices of the regional/local headquarters.

As a means of providing a fresh set of eyes to the situation and acting as an attaché to the different groups responsible for operations on the ground, the innovation team was able to connect internal and external groups to cooperate in a more efficient and time-sensitive method. Naturally, even though the utilization of such a team necessarily took away from the overall manpower/resources which could be deployed with respect to emergency management operations, it was the understanding of FEMA, upon review and analysis of the operational plan and action of Sandy response, that the integration of the innovation team ultimately increase efficiency far beyond what could have been done if the same level of personnel were utilized in operations alone.

Some of the most salient takeaways from a post-operational review of the innovation team and the means by which it responded denoted the fact that three specific areas within emergency operations were able to notice a marked improvement. The first of these was with regard to the overall level of emphasis that was placed upon communication. Naturally, after such a disaster, FEMA had traditionally been tasked with providing interoperable communications to all the stakeholders on the ground. However, the sheer complexity and interconnectivity of the existing communications, as well as the damage that was performed, meant that FEMA’s role within interoperable communications and the provision of ensuring effective communications between key stakeholders needed a much higher level of emphasis. Yet, even with this oversight, the innovation team was able to point to these drawbacks and ameliorate them prior to these becoming a major pickup in the emergency response that FEMA was providing. A further level of growth and insight that the innovation team was able to provide was the fact that innovations that include cost savings and can produce the most tangible and intangible benefits were the most beneficial towards the allocation of appropriate resources. Naturally, within a time of disaster, such as hurricane Sandy necessarily represented, the availability of these resources and the ultimate efficiency through which they could be provided was an element of the utmost importance. Accordingly, in order to ensure that these resources were utilized to a maximal and efficient level, the Innovation Team was able to provide useful feedback in order to determine how the allocation of resources could be improved in the future.

By analyzing the historical growth and appreciation for CIKR and the way in which emergency response has grown and become more dynamic over time, this brief section points to the fact that even the response to Hurricane Sandy was in fact informed by historical implications of the failure and ultimate lack of efficiency that was evidenced in prior emergency management situations. As such, it is well within the realm of reason to assume that the understanding that has been able to be gleaned from Hurricane Sandy, as well as a range of other historical incidents, can readily be utilized to minimize the overall loss of utility and operational failure that might otherwise be evidenced upon the field operations in the future. Only through seeking to integrate with past failures and readily planning means of circumventing these can the field of emergency preparedness hope to continue to expand and integrate with the needs of more stakeholders throughout society