Hazard vulnerability analysis and emergency management planning for community disaster response

Disaster Specific Plans

Emergencies can be and have always been when we least expect them. This means we need to have plans to respond to them in a manner that will put the larger population out of danger and in the safest position possible. There are a wide variety of disasters like fire, earthquake, flooding, Tsunami, terrorist attack (by explosion or chemical), accidents in large scales like trains or plane, wild fires and so many other categories of disasters that can befall us on a daily basis.

The general emergency response/mitigation plans are good, though not good enough to have as a standard for the entire city. It can only be applicable in situations where there is a preliminary training of staff within a small organization, or general refresher courses/training for people who had already undergone the full disaster response training.,

There are several factors that makes the specific disaster plans to be more applicable and relevant especially taking into account the city scenario. The city can be inflicted by various diverse disasters and the responses to these disasters cannot be the same. For instance, there could be a shootout within the city or in a particular building, this will call for people to remain indoors and close all the widows and blinds and even switch off the lights and stay still as possible until the authorities confirm that it is safe to move about. This is directly opposite response to a situation where there is an earthquake. In this instance people are encouraged to move out of buildings and stay out until it is confirmed by the city authorities that it is safe to re-enter the buildings. This then indicates that each disaster has a unique characteristic and the needs to respond to each will be unique in their own ways. This calls for disaster specific plans that are able to guide the first responders within the city or even the disaster management team within a given organization.

The other factor that makes the disaster specific plans to be of necessity is the fact that different terrains and weather papers will necessitate varying response by the authorities and even the dwellers of the region. For instance, if there is information of an impending earthquake passed on by the authorities. Those who live in the low-lands and valleys will have to take extra precautions as compared to those living on higher levels or on hills. These extra measures would be to move to higher grounds as there could be possibilities of a secondary disaster prompted by diverted river courses hence flooding. People at the lake side and the seas shores are usually advised to move to higher grounds in case of a violent tornado, a fact that doesn't hold with people who are on higher grounds. This then indicates that every emergency, and indeed every terrain has its own methods of response, hence generalizing the response would be wrong. This is the same case with disasters involving chemicals, not all chemical exposures are treated the same, the same situation applies to fires since not all fires are treated the same or extinguished in the same manner.

General EMP.

On the other hand, the general emergency mitigation plans cannot be discarded in totality since they also play a central part in disaster management. The general EMP ensures there is an agreed upon command system that will help avoid confusion during response to emergencies even when utilizing the disaster specific approach. The general EMP will also ensure a smooth interplay of the responses in that same scene of disaster could have various levels of emergencies. For instance, a tornado event or tsunami can be accompanied by electric faults and consequently fire breakout. This will need the general knowledge of the emergency response that will enable a single unit or an individual handle all these situations effectively.