Do\'s and Don\'ts of the Recovery Process: Emergency Management

Emergency Management:

There is no doubt that the U.S. is a super-power in the world of sports, development, technology, governance, name them; however, there also is no doubt that with regard to disaster management, ours is a picture that is far from the ideal. The catastrophic events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina showed only too well why we need to start giving the topic of disaster management the attention it deserves. With the oil spill in the gulf threatening to pose a bigger problem than we all thought originally, the nation's leaders will have to act fast to ensure that, at least this time, we get things right. The fact that we have somehow been able to predict this particular one should not get us chest-thumping and closing our eyes to the reality that disasters are most times non-predictable. How well we can deal with terrorist threats, floods, hurricanes, or any other disaster, therefore, depends solely on how well we can plan for the same. There are four phases of disaster management - all of which require undivided attention. The problem begins when we over-concentrate on some, and under-estimate the relevance of others.

Problem Statement

Most people, leaders and citizens alike, do not pay as much attention to the recovery phase, as they do to the other three phases of disaster management. Well, this is probably because most people tend to think that post-disaster business is government business, such that once a disaster occurs, responsibility shifts from the individual to the government; and that all one can do is lock themselves 'securely' in their houses and wait for things to cool down. This has done nothing but lead us to total darkness with regard to the question of what exactly one needs to do to recover from the effects of a disaster.

In light of the problem stated above, this text outlines the dos and don'ts of disaster recovery, with the aim of increasing the public's knowledge of the same. It uses real examples from Hurricane Katrina to demonstrate how lack of knowledge and poor planning can lead the government to incurring massive costs that would otherwise have been avoided.

The author expects that with the information provided in this text, people will become more knowledgeable and stop shunning agencies such as the Red Cross, especially when such agencies need them most. The author reckons that if people have sufficient knowledge and if proper planning mechanisms are in place, the notion that by going out to help disaster victims, one is taking themselves closer to their own deaths will have no basis. Before embarking on the main discussion, however, it would be prudent to briefly outline the four phases of disaster management, and what each one entails.

Phases of Disaster Management

Prevention-Mitigation: prevention encompasses all actions taken to reduce the likelihood that an unfavorable event will occur, whereas mitigation covers those actions aimed at reducing the extent of damage or loss resulting from the unlikely occurrence of a disaster (Cornell University, 2014). Fitting fire extinguishers into a building is an example of an action of mitigation; avoiding flood-prone areas during the rainy season qualifies as a prevention measure.

Preparedness: this incorporates all procedures and plans to minimize damage and save lives when a disaster occurs - by ensuring that emergency personnel are, for instance, properly-trained to offer the most adequate response.

Response: this phase covers all the activities that address the direct, short-term effects of a disaster. Response activities include investigating the causes and existence of further threat, testing processes such as immunizations, quarantine and isolation, agricultural surveillance, apprehension of perpetrators, to name but a few.

Recovery: this covers all activities geared at restoring the economic and social life of a community. Short-run recovery efforts include providing humanitarian aid in the form of clothing and food; and re-establishing such critical infrastructure as transportation, sewerage, water, and communication. Communication is the most important construct of management, disaster or otherwise; and it ought to be reestablished as soon as possible. Long-term efforts include advancing personal and business loan to victims, providing counseling facilities to trauma patients, environmental monitoring, and any other activity that seeks to restore the community to its pre-disaster economic level. Actions of recovery may sometimes overlap with those of response; there is no clear mark as to when exactly response ends, and recovery begins. What is evident, however, is that it may take years before normalcy returns.