Emergency Preparedness and Response

Response to Jeffrey Young

As you correctly pointed out, the movie Don’t Look Up by Adam McKay demonstrates how inaction by relevant stakeholders contributes to poor preparedness and response of emergencies including public health issues. While the two astronomers in the movie warned the U.S. president of the need to take action to prevent the comet from destroying the earth, necessary action was not undertaken. One of the insights obtained from the movie is the role politics play in shaping public health policies and emergency management. As noted by Katz & Banaski (2019), the creation of preparedness plans is an important part of emergency management. While you pointed out the need to create preparedness plans, you failed to highlight how the public can affect emergency management efforts by turning a blind eye to potential emergencies. As shown in the movie, when the public turns a blind eye to potential emergencies, the relevant governmental stakeholders fail to take action.

Response to Jessica Harris

Hurricane Season is a movie that highlights the effects of emergencies on people’s lives. While the devastating impacts of hurricanes are well-known, they are usually ignored until they have strengthened. As you correctly pointed out, ignoring warnings regarding hurricanes is costly as these disasters end up having significant impacts on people’s lives and property. As shown in the movie, partnerships between different stakeholders such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Network of Public Health Institutes are critical. Such partnerships help to create appropriate emergency management policies and measures. While your discussion highlights the significance of emergency preparedness plans and stakeholder collaboration, you failed to shed more light on how ignoring potential emergencies is dangerous. Some of the devastating impacts of hurricanes are avoidable if necessary action is taken by different stakeholders at the early stages. Therefore, early intervention is critical towards mitigating the effects of natural disasters like hurricanes.