Managing Homeland Security

Criminal Justice - Homeland Security

MANAGING HOMELAND SECURITY

Explain the four phases of emergency planning (i.e. mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery) in detail. Practically speaking, which phases do you think most emergency managers spend time thinking about? Which phases should they spend the most time thinking about? How, if at all, has 9-11 changed where the emphases should lie?

Mitigation is the process of devising appropriate strategies and procedures to reduce the foreseeable impact of emergency situations and to limit their consequences as much as possible. Preparedness relates to establishing the capabilities of emergency managers to respond as efficiently and effectively as possible to emergency situations.

Response refers to the operational implementation of the processes and strategies comprised by the mitigation and preparedness stages, and recovery relates to the process of renormalizing property and life affecting directly by emergency situations. All four phases are tremendously important, but generally, mitigation is the most important phase of emergency planning because risk mitigation directly reduces the comparative circumstances necessitating the other three phases of emergency management.

The terrorist attacks of 9-11 could not have been reasonably foreseen by local emergency management authorities, although evidence that surfaced shortly thereafter established that various federal law enforcement agencies and executives within the Bush administration could indeed have mitigated the risk of such attacks significantly by heeding the specific warnings of several individuals and by better coordinating and sharing the information collection and analysis of intelligence that was available prior to those attacks. Especially, in New York City, the 9-11 attacks highlighted the need for improved emergency preparedness, particularly in relation to Fire Department communications and jurisdictional authority between the NYFD and the NYPD.

2. Explain in detail the process of risk analysis? In light of the readings and your own experience, how would you define risk? How would you weigh it? If you were the city manager or police chief in a small town with limited resources, how much effort would you put into risk analysis? Would you simply "eyeball" risk and give it your best guess, or would you be inclined to conduct an actual assessment? The targeting of risk analysis consists of four specific components: (1) external general, (2) external specific, (3) internal general, and (4) internal specific. External general risks consist of those that pertain to prevailing circumstances outside of the geographical area of emergency management responsibility that bear not direct relationship to that area. External specific risks consist of those that are geographically remote from the area of responsibility but directly related to that area. Internal general risks consist of those that arise within the geographic area or responsibility that are otherwise unrelated to that area. Internal specific risks are those originating within the area of responsibility and also directly related to that area.

Risk can be defined as the degree of likelihood of circumstances requiring emergency response and the magnitude of the harms anticipated to be associated with those harms. In principle, emergency management priority is determined by the following matrix or order: first, high likelihood/high magnitude risks; second, high likelihood/low magnitude risks; third, low likelihood/high magnitude risk; and fourth, low likelihood/low magnitude risks. To a certain extent, the middle two elements are interchangeable in many instances. "Eyeballing" is not an effective risk management technique; furthermore, the fewer the resources that are available, the more important planning is to ensure their appropriate allocation.

3. How important to a community or an agency is an emergency plan? If you were crafting or revising such a plan for your own agency or community, what components would you make sure were present in the plan and why? What would you do to ensure knowledge of the plan's provisions?

The emergency plan is the most important determinant of emergency response capabilities. At a minimum, the emergency plan should outline the respective risks capable of being anticipated along with appropriate procedures for implementing necessary response procedures and resource allocation. The emergency plan must include procedures for ensuring continual communication among responders as well as alternate means of communication; procedures for contacting entities outside the immediate area affected by the emergency; and multiple means of providing essential response to every foreseeable type of emergency and every foreseeable type of malfunction or breakdown of primary processes along with secondary plans for each.

Effective emergency response requires training and practice implementing procedures and resources and that practice is also essential for communicating awareness of the plan among first responders. Non-first responders should also be informed of all elements of the plan that pertain to them specifically.

4. What role, if any, should emergency managers play in ensuring emergency medical care for a mass-casualty incident? In other words, what can emergency managers and disaster planners do to facilitate such care? In what ways may public safety agencies or infrastructure agencies (such as the utility companies or public works) play a role in effectively responding to mass casualties?

Emergency managers should fulfill the essential role of coordinating all available resources and manpower necessary to respond to emergencies. That responsibility includes pre-organization of various agency responsibilities, first responder schedules, and the effective communication among all entities expected to play a role in emergency response. Emergency managers can also facilitate the coordination and appropriate assignment of secondary responders such as medical facilities, personnel, and the establishment of morgue facilities if necessary.

Public utility and public works entities must contribute to the emergency plan by maintaining prearranged procedures and protocols for allocating their resources where most needed, for assigning liaisons between their organizations and government authorities, for assigning local management hierarchies, for prioritizing the beneficiaries of service where their ability to operate is compromised by the emergency, and for prioritizing the restoration of services.

5. What makes for a good emergency manager or disaster planner? What personal attributes would contribute to the success of such an official? Also, what kind of resources and support must be available to multiply the effectiveness of the emergency management function in an agency or community? To what degree do you think those resources are available to the emergency management profession today?