Emergency And Disaster Management: Benefits of Technology During a Disaster or Emergency

RR

COLL300

Week 6 – Outline

Thesis Statement: Emergency and disaster management involves planning, resource mobilization, and implementing measures that prevent, mitigate, and help recover from the harmful effects of all kinds of hazards, creating a humanitarian crisis.

I. Emergency planning aims to prevent incidences from happening, and if they do, it initiates an action plan to make the effects and results of the emergency less severe (Abdalla & Esmail, 2018)

a. Coming up with an emergency plan requires an understanding of what might happen.

b. A risk assessment is carried out to determine possible emergency scenarios.

c. Conduct risk evaluation and come up with ways to respond to significant risks

d. Identify resource requirements to develop an emergency plan.

II. Always consider the health and safety of first responders when an emergency happens.

a. Develop clear guidelines and standard operating procedures in minimizing physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial exposures.

III. Training and testing of emergency plans and procedures should include people responsible for decision-making when an emergency occurs.

IV. Communication and incidence assessment are critical in anticipation of emergency events.

a. Communication policy must be comprehensive and well-rehearsed with all target audience alerted of their roles and responsibilities.

b. Ensure that critical functions within the emergency response team are operation as soon as possible to make the plan attainable.

V. When an emergency occurs, life safety is the first priority, followed by stabilizing the situation to minimize possible damage.

a. First responders should consider first giving first aid to those with severe injuries as they prepare them for transport to the nearest medical facilities.

b. The core of any humanitarian response to provide basic human needs to those affected; water, food, medical supplies, and shelter.

c. Fast and effective containment can minimize property and environmental damage, as well as extreme disruptions.

d. Effective coordination is crucial, especially when several organizations are on the ground at the same time to respond to one occurrence.

e. The recovery phase of the response starts after minimizing the threat to human life

VI.Always consult with public emergency services since they are well conversant with emergency response dynamics and have resources that can help achieve fast and efficient results.

VII. Evaluation of past emergency response's success rate can help document best practices and strengthen the areas of weakness.

References

Abdalla, R., & Esmail, M. (2018). WebGIS for disaster management and emergency response. Springer.