Final Essay

Final Essay Exam:

Use this template to submit your essays. Do not alter the template other than to enter your name and your responses. Altering the template will result in a lower grade.

Carefully read the Final Essay instructions before taking this exam. Choose and respond to 4 of the following questions.

The length of each response shall be 450-900 words, not counting repetition of the questions themselves and references.

Make sure to follow APA Style Guide in preparing your responses, including the layout of your responses and the format of your references. Note that Abstract(s) are not required.

Remember to include references for each response and to place the relevant references at the end of each response. Also, remember the quality of your references is an important part of the scoring of your essays.

1. Maintaining good situational awareness to a large-scale, swift onset event is one of the major challenges during response. The term VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – is often used to characterize such events. Discuss how the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS) structures are designed to promote situational awareness and better implementation of incident action plans.

[YOUR ESSAY RESPONSE HERE]

2. The term “Resilience” is often viewed in terms of the operating capacity of an organization to react to and recover from a disaster. Discuss the concept of Disaster Resilience in terms of capabilities and resources, and the strategies and tactics an organization might use to address gaps in capabilities and resources.

[YOUR ESSAY RESPONSE HERE]

3. After a series of adverse events, near misses, and one catastrophic incident, a cruise line corporation has hired you to revamp its emergency operations plans and preparations. The company’s fleet of cruise ships has experienced COVID-19 virus spreading among passengers; small and large fires while at sea and in port; a prolonged power outage; and a major accident where a ship struck rocks, compartments flooded, and the ship partially sank.

For each of the four types of incidents, what would be the main points in a hazard-specific annex to the overall emergency operations plan? Also identify at least two National Response Framework (NRF) Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) the company needs, and the broad concept of operations for each chosen ESF.

[YOUR ESSAY RESPONSE HERE]

4. Risks associated with natural and technological hazards and terrorist threats arise from both internal and external factors. Identify at least 5 external risks associated with natural and technological hazards and terrorist threats (either threats or vulnerabilities to external threats) that can affect a critical infrastructure owner or operator. For each external risk identified, propose at least 2 ways the risk could be managed.

[YOUR ESSAY RESPONSE HERE]

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