Emergency Management Over the Last

Emergency Management

Over the last ten years the issue of emergency management has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is in response to a number of different events that highlighted the need for effective emergency management. As disasters ranging from the 911 terrorist attacks to Hurricane Katrina, underscore the need to have effective emergency management in place at all times. However, with the changing nature of the different threats requires that the emergency management system undergo a transformation, where it will eliminate the diverseness and rivalries of the past. This means that the various tools / tactics to change the situation should be examined and how the different silos (rivalries) can be resolved. These two factors together will provide administrators with the greatest insights as to how emergency management can adapt to the various threats in the future.

The Most perplexing problem with Emergency Management is that it's far more reactive than proactive. What means and measures could change this situation?

Reactive emergency response planning is when you are reacting to what events are occurring. Proactive emergency response planning is when you are planning ahead for a number of different situations. (Nirumpa) Since the largest problem to emergency response planning is many of different entities being more reactive to various incidents; means that a new approach must be taken. Immediately there are two tools / tactics that can be used to address this situation to include: mitigation and flexibility. Mitigation is when you are looking at possible risks early and determining different ways to either eliminate or reduce the threat completely. This is proactive emergency planning, because it is examining a number of different scenarios ranging from natural disasters to a complex terrorist attack. When you are conducting mitigation analysis all levels of the different governments must be involved and there are increased amounts of coordination. This changes the focus of emergency management, where everyone is vigilant for a number of possible scenarios that could occur. Over the course of time, this will improve the effectiveness of government to respond to a number of different situations, reducing the severity of the actual event. (Coppola)

Flexibility works in conjunction with mitigation; this is because it requires first responders and administrators to adjust to various situations that could occur. This is significant; due to the fact that many first responders / administrators will take a one size fits all approach when it comes to emergency response planning. However, the various threats that are constantly being faced will continue to evolve. When you are applying flexibility to mitigation, you are customizing the emergency response plan. This reduces the overall severity of an event by allowing for threats to be addressed as they are unfolding, versus waiting for something to happened and then react. (Coppola) An example of this changing nature of the threat could be seen with the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253. Where, despite the heavy security, a Nigerian man (who was linked to Al Quida) attempted to detonate an explosive device. What this shows, is how emergency management must be proactive. If flexibility had been applied to this situation, the incident might have been avoided. This is because flexibility allows you to adapt to the changing nature of the threat. In the above example, many first responders were on the look out of people trying to engage in such activities from the Middle East (not Nigeria). If they had used flexibility, this would have allowed them to see that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (the terrorist) was an actual threat. This would have reduced the chances that he would have been allowed on the plane. (Schmidt)

Emergency management is currently defined by silos (police silo, firefighter, nurse, etc., etc. Each silo thinks they have the answer. But Emergency management is a team sport. Again how do we move to resolve this current dilemma?

Silos are when each department or level of government keeps information to themselves. During emergency management planning this can be dangerous; because the lack of sharing any information can cause the various chances of seeing an incident increase. To resolve this delimit, means that you must have increased communication and improved cooperation among the different entities. The way communication can be improved, is by interconnecting the various ways each agency / level of government will gather intelligence. Then, this information must be shared with the relevant departments / agencies. One way that this can be accomplished is by forming a task force that composes of all of the different entities. Their job is to look at the different pieces of information and then distribute it to the relevant agencies / departments. Over the course of time, this could increase cooperation as the intelligence task force will have the power to over ride the rivalries and the divisiveness. A second avenue to increase communication would be: to have an intelligence liaison from a particular department / agency work with rival departments. This would help improve cooperation by establishing policies and procedures of intelligence sharing. Over the course of time, this will reduce the rivalries by creating a new way that the various agencies / departments will share intelligence. (Canton)

The way that cooperation can be improved is: by having a series of different events and drills that require all of the different agencies / departments to work together in mock drill. While this has been conducted many times, the problem is a lack of consistency with this type of training, as various first responders and administrators will succumb to pressure to postpone such exercises over issues of cost or convenience. Once this takes place, it means that the issues of cooperation will be far less. This will cause the first responders and different personnel in the various agencies / departments to engage in the same silos as before. In order to avoid such situations requires that a series of drills / mock exercises are conducted consistently. Where, all of the key players are required to participate. You can augment the various situations to encompass a number of different possibilities. Over the course of time, this will force the various first responders / administrators to continue to work together. This will break down the various silos that may exist, as personnel at one department do not realize that they have all the answers. Instead, they begin to see themselves as part of a larger piece of team effort to address various possible challenges facing the community. Then, as the various exercises are being conducted the different personnel involved have a chance to interact with one another. This increases cooperation and support as the first responders / administrators will see the new changes as a way to make a positive difference. Once this takes place, the various rivalries and silos can slowly be eliminated on an individual level.