How disaster relief efforts were improved through interagency communication

. Provide an overview of the natural or human-made disaster that occurred in your geographic region

A natural human made disaster that occurred in my geographic was the BP oil spill that occurred back in 2010. At the time, this was the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Here, the oil spill had very dramatic impact not only the economic circumstances of the geographic region, but also the marine life with the geographic region. Here, oil and gas prices spiked creating adverse economic circumstances for those throughout the region. This ultimately contributed to income and wealth inequality as consumers were forced to pay more for petroleum-based products. The cost of marine based products such as fish, fish oil, and other forms of seafood also increased. In addition to the economic impact, food chains were heavily disrupted as the oil spill killed millions of forms of marine life. This disrupted the fishing industry as well, causing large amounts of economic job losses within the region. Beaches were also temporarily destroyed as oil was cast on shore making them unusable in terms of swimming. The spill areas itself was host to over 8000 different species of fish, mollusks, and crustaceans.

2. Describe the emergency management steps that were taken.

A number of different agencies were leverage to help clean up the spill, institute new drilling policies, save marine life, and ultimately return the areas back to its pre-spill conditions. First the US Coast Guard helps to establish physical barriers in the ocean to help manager the overall range of the oil spill within the region. In addition, nonprofit Marine Spill Response Corporation helped to clean up nearly 1.4 million gallons of oil dispersed in the ocean. Nonprofit, National Response Corp also helped to the treat the existing oil in the ocean through airplane and helicopter. The American Wildlife Federation also helped to provide beach cleanup services while also helping to save marine life harmed by the oil spill. Essentially, the emergency management steps involved containing the oil spill within a single geographic area. This was done by US Coast Guard and other government agencies. Next, the spill must be cleaned up to mitigate the damage to marine life, ecosystems, and the environment. This was conducted by various profit and not for profit organizations. Finally, the oil that does reach the shores will need to be cleaned and disbursed. This was done primarily by various smaller organizations and volunteers. The American Wildlife Federation and other major disaster mitigation organizations were also involved.

3. Discuss the interagency collaboration theories that can be applied to this scenario, and how they apply.

The interagency collaboration was critical here as timely response was necessary. Here any delays associated with government action and intervention would have caused still further damage to the environment and to the overall ecosystem. In addition interagency collaboration was critical to how a strong concerted effort to not only mitigate the damage but to ensure that future accidents are prevented. Here, Foster-Fisherman developed the theory of collaborative capacity through his research. This theory focuses on the ability to generate collaboration and change. Here this theory applies as it dynamic, adjustable, and transferable as indicated by the research (Foster-Fishman, 2001).

4. Explain the effectiveness of the relationships between the government agencies involved in the event.

The effectiveness of the government agencies in this circumstance were very good. Here, the EPA was very responsive to the spill primarily due in part to the severity of it and its overall impact on American society overall. Here, the agencies collaborated with each other to direct action in a timely manner. Here, military personnel such the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard collaborated to trap and contain the oil spill as best as possible. Through direction of the EPA, agencies were also able to help lower the toxicity in the ocean, thereby helping to preserve marine life. This was don’t with collaboration with the United States Air Force who were able to disburse chemicals designed to help clean up and degenerate the oil. These chemicals were spread via helicopter in hopes of maintaining the adequate level of toxicity in the ocean to better conserve the marine life. The effectiveness of this collaboration between agencies helped to avert further damage to both society and the ecosystem.

5. Describe how the effected agencies communicated.

The agencies primarily through both public and private channels. From a public standpoint, due to the public nature of the event, agencies had to constantly keep the public abreast of their collaborative efforts. This included periodic public updated via planned press conferences or press releases. The head of the collaborative effort is the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to their collaboration with the military and EPA also had to outline legal and administrative changes that were being made to prevent another oil spill. This communication was primarily distributed via press releases, statements, and interviews. From a private perspective communication was primary conducted through email and phone. Here, approvals went through the typical approval process.

6. Explain how interagency collaboration was achieved. Provide examples.

As noted interagency collaboration was achieve to coordinate mitigation efforts. As described above, military personnel such the Navy, Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard collaborated to trap and contain the oil spill as best as possible. This collaboration was heavily directed by the EPA as their overall knowledge would better mitigate contagion of the oil spill. Through direction of the EPA, agencies were also able to help lower the toxicity in the ocean, thereby helping to preserve marine life. This was done with collaborations between the Coast Guard and the United States Air Force who were able to disburse chemicals designed to help clean up and degenerate the oil. This was important to help prevent the rippling economic impacts associated with the oil spill on the marine industries. Through proper collaboration, these agencies also help to lower the economic impact on society from the oil spill. These chemicals were spread via helicopter in hopes of maintaining the adequate level of toxicity in the ocean to better conserve the marine life. Finally, the EPA also had to collaborate with politicians and other entities to direct legal action, fines, and legislation aided at preventing another oil spill of this magnitude from occurring again (Gray, 1991).