Disaster Preparedness Policy: Prince Georges County - Research Paper Example

Disaster Preparedness policy analysis: Prince George’s County Introduction Disasters may not be prevented and when they strike, they cause massive loses in terms of property and lives of people. People have to begin afresh to look for alternative sources of livelihood and even places to stay. The country loses in terms of the economy as these places need rebuilding in order to be able to secure for people to live in (Chiles, 2002). Natural disasters cannot be prevented because they come unplanned and can happen anytime. However, despite this they can still be prevented if the correct monitoring systems are put in place to ensure that they are checked and that their likelihood of occurring are minimized. In case they do occur abruptly it means that people have to be prepared to know how they will handle them or go about with the effects that they will bring (Chiles, 2002). On the other hand, manmade disasters are easy to control because they are planned events that can be stopped if the correct people and institutions are on the ground to monitor these activities that pose threats to the security of people. With the correct monitoring and surveillance mechanisms, it is possible to identify the people with ill motives and their plans to cause havoc (Coppola, 2011). Overall, it is important that the country is prepared to deal with any eventuality that comes as a result of disasters. It should make people aware of the need to be prepared and the need to understand the basics of protecting themselves from disasters whether they are natural or caused by humans. Policies and regulations should also be crafted to help ensure that people are safe and that they are protected from the disasters that might happen any time. Disaster preparedness Local governments have a task of ensuring that they protect people from the eventualities that come as a result of disasters. The establishment of local disaster management bodies is one way that these local governments have tried to make sure that they are not caught unawares in the wake of disasters. Prince George’s county has not been left behind and just like all the other counties it has established a local disaster management body that brings on board many stakeholders including local state and federal representatives (Bimal, 2011). These all come together to ensure that there are successful operations during emergencies and that quick response can be initiated in order to save lives and property. The development of policy documents that govern these operations is as a result of a number of acts that require the cooperation of various bodies in order to ensure that people are protected in good time. The first priority in the wake of emergencies is the safety of the public and this is a concept that is enshrined in the constitution. Therefore, the quick response that is generated has its roots in the constitution and therefore requires that these groups should work together following a command line that can help them eliminate a disaster (Coppola, 2011). Disaster preparedness is the initial aspect of any operation as concerns disaster management and, thus, is the source of all policies that are enacted. When the county or the people are prepared, it is easy to initiate evacuation measures in the wake of the disasters. Even if the disasters still strikes people can easily protect themselves because they have the knowledge and understanding of how to deal with the issues that pose a security to them (Chiles, 2002). Disaster preparedness is a priority in many counties and even at the states and federal level. However, the county level is important because the people are concentrated in these areas and the state and federal levels only act as mechanisms of administration to ensure that everything goes as planned. The counties are the ones that actually help the people out in the emergencies because they understand the needs of the people and the local environment clearly to be able to know what needs to be where when and how it is going to help the people in the event that a disaster strikes. The most important thing is that the administrators at the state level and other authorities at the federal level should be willing to offer support in the event of these disasters by working together with the local people (Chiles, 2002). Prince George’s disaster preparedness plan and policies are as a result of the many potential threats that are found within the area and the need to ensure that public safety by ensuring that these do not occur. The array of hazards in the county could be a source of serious injuries, loss of life, damage to property and economic suffering in the entire county. The elimination of these hazards is therefore the first step towards ensuring that the people are protected from the eventualities that may come as a result of these (Johnson, 2009). Many of the hazards in the county occur natural, however, in the recent past, the nature and extend of manmade hazards have rapidly increased in frequency and severity, thus, threatening the county. The policy documents are as a result of the continued pressure that is available on the county resources and this makes it essential to ensure that county agencies coordinate efforts and resources in order to ensure that the hazards are either eliminated or their chances of occurring are greatly reduced as much as possible so as that the county is able to cope with other issues that are also of great importance (MEMA, 2009). The plans and policies in the county have gone through a long period of growth and improvement and are modeled from the initial plans that were created by the governor’s office of emergency services for the state of California. Also the creation of these policies has been supported by the emergency management agency of Maryland. A number of acts and articles have been used in developing these policies. At the local level they include: Prince George’s County Code Subtitle 6. Emergency management, County executive order 85-1976, Amendment of executive order 18-1975 section 14, Title of Office of emergency Preparedness of 1976, county executive order 14-2003 section 14. At the state level, the Public safety Article (Titles 14), Annotated Code of Maryland is also important as it details who can declare a state of emergency and the operations that may follow that (MEMA, 2009). At the federal level the Public law 93-288 or the Disaster Relief Act amendment of 1974 is also important in the formulation of the policy as it explains disaster assistance at the federal level and how the federal government should respond help the state in allocation of resources to deal with the emerging problems. There are two agencies that are very important at the state and at the federal level and these are the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These two ensure the coordination of emergency activities and also ensure the implementation of policies both at the state and the federal level to take care of disasters (Johnson, 2009). As explained earlier, all the disaster management operations are supported all the way from the local level through the state level and the federal level. All the plans within the local level must be in line with the plans at the state level in order to ensure consistency. Basically, different counties have different problems that face them. The problems that are being experienced in Prince George’s county may not be the same problem that is being experienced in another county. Disaster preparedness is, therefore, targeting the specific issues that are raised within these areas. The state level comes in with a variety of measures that are supposed to address the problems that arise within that state. For example, if the state is prone to hurricanes, the state should be concerned and establish mechanisms in which it can effectively deal with hurricanes (Johnson, 2009). Therefore, the state level mechanisms only complement those which are already available at the local level. The local level only acts on what is experienced in their locality while the state level looks at what is experienced in the entire state. The federal level, on the other hand, comes in to support the activities of the states. In case of a national emergency, the response is initiated at the federal level with support of the local level in which the catastrophe has hit. Therefore, there are many associations that can be seen and some actions are only admissible in a given area while others affect the entire state or even the nation. The county level is, therefore, authorized to conduct emergency activities within its area, same to states, though states may come together to help the federal government in times of national catastrophes which require a lot of effort and resources in order to alleviate human suffering and loss of life and damage of property. The quick response that is desired is the cause of the collaboration efforts and thus the wide scope of application of emergency management efforts (Johnson, 2009). In complying with agency regulations, the established plans on disaster management often follow the four federal regulations that include: preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. All emergency plans are built on these four principles set by the federal agency. The focus of this paper is majorly on the first part of preparedness. This phase will often involve activities that are undertaken by a variety of people in advance of an emergency or disaster (Johnson, 2009). These activities form the operational capabilities and effective response to the disasters. Preparedness fall into two broad categories and these include: readiness and capability. Readiness activities are those that shape the framework and create the basis of knowledge necessary to complete a task or a mission. Readiness activities might include some or all of the following activities: implementing hazard mitigation efforts, developing hazard analyses, developing and maintaining emergency plans and procedures, conducting general and specialized training, conducting exercises, inspecting critical facilities and equipment, including testing warning and communication systems, developing mutual aid agreements and improving emergency public education and warning systems (Johnson, 2009). In the county, the various people with different responsibilities are expected to come up with standard operating procedures that contain the detail of personnel assignments, policies, notification rosters and resource lists. The emergency response personnel then are informed of the contents of these standard operating procedures. On the other hand, capability activities may include: the assessment of the resources available in a given county to respond to emergency operations; a comparison and analysis of the expected resource requirements and resources that may become necessary in the wake of a disaster. Actually, a number of resources should be available and identified for each kind of potential hazard that is likely to affect the population; the identification of local resources to meet anticipated resource shortfall. In case that the projected resources are not sufficient to meet the effects of the disaster, it is also important that local resources be identified which could be of great help during the period (MEMA, 2009). Major catastrophes are usually a wakeup call for many unprepared nations. These happen in order to put to test the country’s response to emergency situations. In most cases, the disasters have out found flaws in the emergency plans of different nations. The 9-11 commission in its report said that “The inability to communicate was a critical problem at the world trade center, pentagon and Somerset county Pennsylvania, crash sites, where multiple agencies and multiple jurisdictions responded. The occurrence of this at three very different sites is strong evidence that compatible and adequate communications among public safety organizations at the local, state and federal levels remains an important problem.” The commission recommended that the federal government take the lead in helping state and local governments establish interoperable communication systems (HSDL, 2011). Immediately the 9-11 commission finalized and issued its report another disaster happened, the hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast. The recommendations of the 9-11 commission also became apparent not only as it relates to the manmade disasters but also to natural disasters. In the case of the Hurricane Katrina, there were two problems that compounded the problem: the inability of many communication systems to operate and the lack of interoperable communications (HSDL, 2011). 11 years down the line, it is possible to look back and say that the two events have been learning lessons for Americans as concerns disaster preparedness. Many programs have been initiated as a result of the 9-11 attacks and the Hurricane Katrina. The recommendations of the 9-11 commission have been implemented in many counties (Gelsinger, 2011). The state of Maryland has implemented a number of measures since the 9-11 attacks. The first move was towards the local emergency management body MEMA that resulted in the reestablishment of the previously eliminate division concerned with planning. It was realized that disasters happen and affect many people if plans were not in place to address the challenges that came with the occurrence of these disasters. The establishment of this division was, thus, important to set the way forward for emergency management. Secondly, following a report that was completed in 2010, Maryland had to restructure its organization and structure in order that it may be able to serve and prepare state agencies and local municipal governments (GOHS, 2011). Maryland also went ahead and adopted the comprehensive emergency management planning system and this was done in order that it may be able to coordinate and better organize state emergency operations and other hazards in specific places (GOHS, 2011). Therefore, from this it is possible to see that the State of Maryland just like the others also responded to the impacts of the 9-11 attacks through the implementation of various mechanisms to prevent disasters. Policies and other plans have emanated from these events that have strengthened how the state previously responded to disasters. The idea is that the establishment of these mechanisms will help in preventing future disasters that might happen. They might also help in getting people ready to face the effects of the disasters. The local agencies have been involved in a number of issues to ensure that their counties are prepared to face disasters. The problem is that they invest efforts in communications systems that are used in disseminating messages to the people in the event of disasters but fail to understand that they need to first train the people on what to do in the event of a natural disaster. The established policies should work on ensuring that people have adequate knowledge about the hazards or the disasters that face them on a daily basis. They should also have information on what to do in case the communication systems fail and an immediate intervention is required. Policies need to identify potentially vulnerable populations upon which they can build communication programs that are bot informative and educational in nature so that they inform these groups of what they are likely to face so that they can prepare. There should be a nationwide campaign that should inform people on what to do under various circumstances so that people are always ready to respond in times of emergency. Conclusion Emergency preparedness is a key issue in emergency management. Various counties and states have come up with measures in which they can prepare people in times of disasters. However, such policies are lacking such that they do not involve the people in the whole process. People need to be informed so that they know what to do and how to do it. This will be very important in case a major disaster strikes. References Bimal, P. K. (2011). Environmental Hazards and Disasters: Contexts, Perspectives and Management. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Chiles, J. R. (2002). Inviting Disasters:Lessons from the Edge of Technology : An Inside Look at Catastrophes and Why They Happen. New York: HarperBusiness. Coppola, D. P. (2011). introduction to international disaster management. Burlington, MA: Elservier Inc. Gelsinger, C. (2011, September 9). 9/11 changed it all: How emergency preparedness evolved in cambridge. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1638747775/-9-11-changed-it-all-How-emergency-preparedness-evolved-in-Cambridge#axzz1uVNwi4EI GOHS. (2011, September 11). Accomplishments for core Goal: planning. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from: http://www.gohs.maryland.gov/planning_accomplishments.html HSDL. (2011, July 27). Ten Years after 9/11: Improving Emergency communications. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from: http://hsgac.senate.gov Johnson, J. B. (2009, Septemember 11). Prince George’s County emergency operations plan. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from http://www.co.pg.md.us/government/agencyindex/ohs/pdfs/EMERGENCY%20OPERATIONS%20PLAN%209%2011%202009.pdf MEMA. (2009, August). State of Maryland Core Plan for emergency operations. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from http://www.mema.state.md.us/MEMA/content/pdf/The_State_of_Maryland_Emergency_Operations_Plan_26Aug09.pdf Read More