Critical Infrastructure Recovery Planning - Assignment Example

Question One: Critical Infrastructure Recovery Planning Introduction Disasters may occur upon anyone without prior notification knowledge. It is evident that past incidences have led to the loss of lives, destruction of property or even the collapse of large and important businesses. Disaster recovery is often unplanned for in the emergency management life cycle. Yet recovery is the key stage where funds, programs, professional expertise, and volunteer efforts are applied to affected cities, states, and regions to get them up and running again. In the recent past, emergencies have been rather a hard task to manage due to unpreparedness and lack of enough equipment for proper disaster management. Due to this, the need to lay down a strategic plan to cater for the unexpected and undesired occurrences is necessary. Mega City’s Office of Emergency Management (MCOEM) has laid down a plan to cater for both the private and public sectors of the community to reduce the chances of disaster occurrence. Strategies to improve the already existent infrastructure and emergency response facilities and the development of better and more efficient disaster combating tools are the baseline of the emergency management plans laid down. In addition, Toigo says ‘Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, managing, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, creating, evaluating, monitoring and improving activities to ensure effective coordination to address emergencies and disaster response. Erbschloe (2003) says that ‘the enhancement of capabilities of concerned organizations to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, create resources and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters’ The following paper will describe and elaborate the strategies laid down in the Mega City’s Office of Emergency Management plan to efficiently respond to disasters in the city. Infrastructure and Emergency Response Disaster recovery as stated by Phillips (2009) ‘is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster’. Proper disaster recovery plan would enhance the response and mitigation of incident occurrences with the ultimate goal of protecting the people and their properties (Erbschloe, 2003). An improvement in the communication systems which may include hotlines and emergency dialing numbers would enable the public to alert the disaster response units. Schmidt (2010) explains ‘the emergency response policies and guidelines should implement and maintain an emergency communication system that can help identify the nature of an emergency and provide instructions when needed’. Through improved communication systems the response and disaster mitigation would be more efficiently handled (Toigo, 2002). In addition, as Toigo (2002) explains it ‘preparedness is casualty prediction, the study of how many deaths or injuries to expect for a given kind of event’. This gives planners an idea of what resources need to be in place to respond to a particular kind of event. Through increased hospital beds, ambulances and morgue facilities the MCOEM would improve the disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies (Schmidt, 2010). More health personnel should also be increased in the health facilities both at the public and private hospitals. Also, training of the community on basic emergency response strategies would be essential in improving the emergency response. Moreover, disaster management would not be comprehensively catered for if the security of the community is not properly addressed. Due to attacks from terrorists and human induced disasters, the plan will increase the number of security officials in strategic public places for example transport facilities, public gardens and facilities. In addition, special monitoring equipment would also be put in place to ensure 24 hour surveillance on all the major and busy areas. This would reduce the number of incidents that would occur. This would also increase the speed at which disasters are mitigated (Philips, 2009). Conclusion Disaster management and emergency response are complex entities that ensure the completeness of the whole community of Mega city. Improvement in infrastructure and facilities reduce the number of incidents that occur. Comprehensive positive changes in the security, communication and health facilities would increase the response and mitigation of the occurring incidences. References Erbschloe M. (2003). Guide to Disaster Recovery. Prentice Hall Phillips B. (2009). Disaster Recovery. Auerbach Publications Schmidt K. (2010). High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Concepts, Design, Implementation. Springer Toigo J.W. (2002). Disaster Recovery Planning: Preparing for the Unthinkable (3rd Edition). Auerbach Publications Question Two: special needs populations. Introduction During the occurrence of incidences which require emergency response, people with different disabilities are often not catered for whether natural, human induced or chemical. This has influenced the MCOEM plan to also include the needs of special people. The plan will first make sure that the functional needs of people with disabilities are adequately addressed prior to an emergency in order to minimize the adverse impact on people with disabilities and their communities (Childs, 2009). In addition, people with certain needs for example pregnant women, old people, and children. The second objective is to ensure that people with disabilities are included in the emergency-planning process at all levels of government and the private sector so they can offer their insights, knowledge, and resourcefulness (Preston, 2007). Creation of such amenities like safe houses, basements, alert lights for the deaf, alarms for the blind etc. would increase the chances of helping people with disabilities and special needs (Michael & Mattord, 2010). The following paper will describe the plans and strategies that have been laid down in Mega city’s emergency response plan to engage and include the people with special needs in the disaster recovery and emergency response. Disaster Planning for People with Special Needs Disaster management for people with special needs require expert attention which helps the requirements of the people special needs be included in the disaster recovery plan (Preston, 2007). To cater for pre-disaster planning and preparation, attention to create special rooms and safe houses will be given one of the highest priorities by MCOEM. Policies to enforce the creation of facilities which are friendly to people with disabilities will also be adhered to (Michael & Mattord, 2010). In addition, through elaborate discussions with the people with special needs, they will also be taught on how to handle themselves during an incident and teach them how to communicate with the relevant authorities in order to get the best help possible(Schmidt, 2010). Creation of alarm systems for the blind or light alerts for the deaf would reduce the number of cases that are affected by the incidents (Michael & Mattord, 2010). On the same argument, MCOEM will train the medical and security staff on how to handle and help the people with special needs. This would be done through enrolling them in refresher courses which would enable them to work effectively (Michael & Mattord, 2010). Moreover, if the staff is properly educated, then the people with special needs would be properly handled or saved during such incidences (Michael & Lawrence, 2006). In addition, MCOEM will teach the public, communities and relatives about how to assist a person with special needs when an incident occurs (Schmidt, 2010). During an incident people with disabilities will be guide by infrastructure which will be put in place to act as an aid. In addition, the MCOEM emergency response unit will gather all the people with special needs and make available facilities to ensure that they also receive immediate treatment and support (Schmidt, 2010). Eventually, the people with special needs will receive guidance and counseling to heal the psychological injuries incurred in the incidents (Preston, 2007). Conclusion People with special needs are a category of people who also need attention while developing strategies and plans on how to reduce the occurrences of incidences. They should be provided with amenities that ensure that they are alert and aware of the situation when incidences of disasters occur and have a proper way of protecting themselves without much help. This would ensure that they are protected from fatalities that would rather affect them adversely. Provision of post-disaster services would also be essential in ensuring that the people with special needs are restored to almost their normal lives. References McEntire D. A (2006). Disaster Response and Recovery. Course Technology Inc Michael E. W. and Mattord J.H. (2010). Hands-On Information Security Lab Manual. California: Longman Michael W. and Lawrence W. (2010). The Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-Step Plan to Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities, and Assets. Course Technology Inc Preston C. W. (2007). Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems. Brooklyn: Westgate publishers Schmidt K. (2010). High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Concepts, Design, Implementation. Springer Question Three: reduce the likelihood or the consequences of incidents Introduction When incidences occur they may be caused by various factors. They may include natural phenomena, human-induction or technological failures. Natural causes may include tornados, floods, draughts, hurricanes or heat waves. Human-induced incidences may include terrorist bombing, wild fires, or collapsing of buildings due to wrong planning and building. In addition, technological failures may involve system failures, network failures or system hacking which may lead to a large loss of data and looting of finances. Such incidences are undesired and should be avoided at all costs or significantly reduced to almost none. In the chances of occurrence, certain strategic steps should be taken to combat the bad incidences. Below is a paper that describes some of the incidences that may occur at the personal and business level which would rather be fatal and the mitigation of such occurrences. Incident Occurrence and Consequences Some incidences and disasters occur due to human error. For example, terrorism is one of the major incidents that destroys property and leads to a massive loss of lives. They are triggered by people who wish to avenge past atrocities or deeds that were done unto them against their will. As recorded by Michael and Herbert (2006), ‘many of the terrorist attacks are set up by rebellious tyrants who only believe in killing and destruction to achieve self satisfaction. This can also be controlled through proper policies and plans’. Through setting up of surveillance cameras, security check points and explosive detection should be employed to combat this crime and reduce the incident occurring (Preston, 2007). In addition, tough penalties should be enforced to deter the terrorist from conducting the actions (Michael & Mattord, 2006). Other incidences are caused by natural causes which destroy properties, kill people and can even topple an economy. A good example is floods which can rampage a whole city and destroy all the properties in the area while still drowning the residents. Flood mitigation can be done by building of dykes or wall barriers along the coast or along the river banks (Michael and Lawrence, 2010). In addition, the weather forecast and prediction department should ensure that there is constant examination of the weather trends to ensure that the residents are aware of the dangers ahead a catastrophe for easier and timely evacuation to escape from the tragedy. Companies and institutions depend more than ever on the availability of their Information Technology and most critical business processes are IT-based. Business Continuity is the ability to do business under any circumstances and is an essential requirement faced by modern companies. Both concepts - High Availability and Disaster Recovery - are realized by redundant systems. Technological fraud or system hacking is one of the rising cyber crimes in the IT industry. When system programs and /or database entry systems are developed without adequate security protection systems being put in place could lead to the loss of important official data or money (Schmidt, 2010). Internet hackers or system bugs may hinder the programs from running properly or render data bases inaccessible by the management. To combat such incidences, the program developers should ensure that proper security measures are taken to protect the data and office information from illegal access. In addition, the program developers should also maintain a regular check on the programs to ensure that bugs and unwanted developments do not hinge themselves in the system (Schmidt, 2010). Conclusion Incidences whether natural, human-induced or technologically based can be reduced significantly or eliminated. As described above, the only way to eliminate such incidences is by prior knowledge or prediction of the looming disasters or by means of proper response facilities and mechanisms. Through proper scanning and checking of factors that might bring about incidences is one of the basic and general ways of eliminating the occurrences. References Hands-On Information Security Lab Manual. California: Longman Michael E. W and Mattord J. H. (2006). Principles of Incident Response and Disaster Recovery Michael W. and Lawrence W. (2010). The Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-Step Plan to Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities, and Assets. Course Technology Inc Preston W. C. (2007). Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems. Brooklyn: Westgate publishers Schmidt K. (2010). High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Concepts, Design, Implementation. Springer Toigo J. W. (2002). Disaster Recovery Planning: Preparing for the Unthinkable. Auerbach Publications Question Four: bring in response and relief resources via land, air, and water Introduction After an incident occurs, certain strategic steps should be undertaken to ensure that the people involved in the incident are safe, the properties are safe and further damage is stopped (Philips, 2009). Through a string of coordinated steps, an incident can be contained but there is difference in the actions taken depending on the location and kind of occurrence. Some incidences need a simple form of communication and coordination to contain it but other requires more complex strategies. While on sea or trying to convey a disaster report and gain aid via the sea would require a different strategy as compared to air or land transportation (Schmidt, 2010). After considering that incidences are not planned for or anticipated for, the logistics department at the port would engage in the following series of actions to send and get response and aid from other areas to ensure proper functionality and ultimate saving of lives. Response and Relief Resources When incidences occur, the first and most crucial response would be to evacuate the immediate residents and the affected victims (Schmidt, 2010). This would then be followed by contacting the relevant authorities who would help in the disaster mitigation process. Disaster mitigation authorities would arrive either by air transport, water transport or by road (Childs, 2009). The steps and mechanisms involved would greatly be dependent on the mode of transport. The fastest and best mode of transport to counter the incidence would be air transport. Due to the nature of the injuries and casualties, air transport would be very efficient in transporting the injured (Toigo, 2002). In addition, the port logistics officer would ensure that there is enough room for landing of helicopters, medical jets or airplanes. This would be beneficial to the communities living around the port in disaster management and mitigation. In addition, the logistics department would also ensure that trained personnel are deployed in the port to assist in the landing (Michael & Mattord, 2010). In addition, some other incidences might require the assistance of water transport. Such incidences would involve accidents or incidents that might occur at sea or in islands. The logistics office would consider the available maritime support systems that would ensure effective and immediate response (McEntire, 2006). This would ensure that the affected people are evacuated timely and proper medical care offered to them. Also, the logistics office would also consider the available resources in terms of money, medical assistants and disaster management officers. Also the logistics office would also consider provision of such services such as ambulances and personal amenities which would help in post disaster management (Philip, 2009). Also, some incidents might require the assistance of road transport. It would be essential in responding to incidents that might require road transport (Erbschloe, 2003). Services like ambulances and medical practitioners would ensure that the victims are offered first hand assistance. The logistics officer would consider the availability of road transport which may include ambulances and fire fighting trucks and the kind of infrastructure which may include roads and communication. The logistics officer would also consider the kind of emergency in order to know the kind of response required. Conclusion The logistics officer at the port is responsible for the analysis of emergencies and disasters in order to adequately convey the message to the relevant authorities for effective and timely response. In addition, the logistics officer is responsible for the provision of communication and transport facilities to the affected people. This would ensure that the injured and affected people. The nature of the response would enable the logistics office in proper communication and disaster response mechanisms. References Childs D. R (2009). Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Small Businesses. Brooklyn: Westgate publishers David A. McEntire (2006). Disaster Response and Recovery. Auerbach Publications Erbschloe M. (2003). Guide to Disaster Recovery. Prentice Hall Michael E. W and Mattord J. H (Mar 29, 2006). Principles of Incident Response and Disaster Recovery by Hands-On Information Security Lab Manual. California: Longman Phillips B. (2009). Disaster Recovery. Auerbach Publications Schmidt K. (2010). High Availability and Disaster Recovery: Concepts, Design, Implementation. Springer Toigo J.W. (2002). Disaster Recovery Planning: Preparing for the Unthinkable (3rd Edition). Auerbach Publications Read More