Loke (second treatiseof government, and machiavelli - Essay Example

In a nutshell, emergency involves making preparations before an event. Emergency planning also aims at creating preparedness (Perry 7). It has an influence on response and recovery. Emergency plans guide operational decisions during the management of agent-generated and response-generated demands (Phelan, 2008). On the other hand, emergency operations majorly focus on performance (Phelan 16). Such operations require the use of a set of guidelines presented in terms of a plan. Every decision made during an emergency operation should be based on the guidelines outlined in the plan guide.

The success of emergency operations depends on the availability of resources for use and frequent assessment of demands by responders as needs arise. Responders must be alert in order to identify any arising demands and should be creative when addressing such demands. The success of emergency operations also relies on the use of pre-event lists checklists. However, such checklists do not guarantee maximum success. Personnel must improvise them in order to achieve higher accomplishments. Actions taken by response personnel and emergency managers are what constitute an emergency operation. 2. Planning Process It is noted with concern that the emergency planning process is more important than the emergency plan itself.

Emergency planning ensures that communities achieve disaster preparedness. As a process planning involves consultation, training, equipping, and critiques (Perry 28). The end result of such a process is an improvement in the ability of a community to handle risks. A significant number of individuals think that written plans are used in defining preparedness. I agree with such a line of thinking but the same people should be careful not to equate a plan with preparedness. The process is more important than the plan because it is practical.

The plan is only but a picture presentation of the planning process at a specific time and does not guarantee the presence of a hazard. On the other hand, the process of emergency planning involves practical steps such as ongoing monitoring, personnel training, and system exercising hence providing a definition for preparedness. It is important that organizations and jurisdictions adopt a continuous planning process because preparedness is dynamic in nature. Such a process should include continual monitoring of the environment so as to identify threats and discover new technology that can be used in handling such threats.

Resources, threats, and even organizational structure may change over time. Moreover, lack of continuous training may result in the disappearing of performance skills. Such eventualities can only be addressed by ensuring that organization and jurisdictions establish a continuous emergency planning process. Despite the usefulness of the emergency planning process, the process may face some resistance. One main reason for such resistance is apathy. Apathy arises when individuals do not like to think about disasters (Phelan 22).

Therefore, they develop the idea that emergency planning takes resources hence they end up not supporting the process of emergency planning. 3. Preparedness Exercises Organizations and j