Emergency Management Cycle Involves Four Main Phases

Emergency Management Cycle Involves Four Main Phases as Illustrated Below:

Mitigation - this phase entails all activities that seek to reduce or prevent the likelihood of an occurrence. This also entails any efforts in reducing the adverse impacts of unavoidable occurrence. Mitigation plans must be implemented prior to an emergency. For instance, for us to mitigate fire in our homes, we must consider the safety standards when purchasing building materials, appliances, and wiring. However, it is likely that an accident would occur resulting in fire. For us to protect ourselves from the huge burden of incurring the reconstruction costs, we might consider fire insurance (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010).

Figure 1: The four phases of emergency management cycle

Preparedness: this phase entails developing plans of who to involve and where to move in case of a disastrous event. These actions will enhance the chances of being successful in overcoming the emergency. For example, introducing disaster drills, publishing emergency contacts, and erecting smoke detectors are some of the measures for preparedness that can be adopted. In addition, we could a disaster kit would be a necessity for carrying essential supplies for the family members (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010).

Response -- the safety of an organization or an individual will depend on the level of preparedness and responds to a crisis. A business can protect itself and employees within the company by acting safely and responsibly. Holding tight and taking cover in case of an earthquake, safely leading employees away from the scene are some of the response measures. Such measures are expected to rescue lives (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010).

Recovery -- at the end of an emergency and immediate danger, the continued well-being, and safety of employees and organization depends on its ability to reinvent itself in the environment. In the course of recovery, an organization must take care of employees and property to curb excessive financial and stress related burdens. In this phase, it is necessary to consider activities for mitigating the future impacts of disaster (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010).

Emergency management seeks to offer protection against hazards for property and people. Effective emergency management measures entail functional approaches to any emergency, shared responsibilities within an organization and proper consumption of resources. Preparing for disasters and emergency is increasingly becoming a necessity in our everyday operations of institutions and businesses. Moreover, educational institutions such as campuses cannot be immune to the effects of emergencies and disasters (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010). Campuses have realized that they are prone to disasters. Therefore, they realize that they require careful communication and coordination to respond to disaster and emergency. This includes necessary skills and resources in responding to emergencies. Obviously, campuses can be affected by disasters such as power outbreak. Therefore, campuses must begin to assess their situations (vulnerabilities) and attempt to address disaster management challenges and emergency preparedness. Lack of compulsory legislations, regulations, and standards campuses that implement comprehensive disaster management and emergency preparedness initiatives must consider making proper use of current campus resources. This can be achieved through engaging current administrative staff, researchers and faculty with disaster recovery and emergency preparedness expertise (Nicoletti, Spencer-Thomas & Bollinger, 2010).