DISCUSSION3
Mitigation involves many elements including risk assessment and mitigation
efforts, but prevention should come even before mitigation. Preparedness is
another one of the four key emergency management functions. Preplanning
is part of preparedness as well as response.
You have just been appointed the new emergency manager for your agency.
Before you, no one did anything in this area. Your boss calls you in and wants
to know where to start and what to do regarding these functional areas. (He
or she is concerned with the agency itself, not so much the community or
customers you serve at this point.)
Tell us what you would tell your boss and how would you go about this task.
Be specific and detailed.
Your boss is going to move forward based on what you tell him or her. This
includes many things such as planning, resources, and budgeting. You only
get one chance to get it right with your boss to start all of this off correctly.
Be detailed. (For this post, you do not need to cover response and recovery
functions.) What does the Bible say about mitigation and preparedness?
Emergency Management Functions
Disaster preparedness is divided up into the following functions: Prevention, Mitigation,
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).
This discussion does not address the last two functions. A disaster is any event, which results in
widespread destruction and distress, often necessitating resource acquisition from local, state,
and federal sources (Gillespie, 2020). As discussed in my post from the previous week,
emergency management functions (EMFs) are often associated with natural disasters—such as
hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.—but are also required in man-made events, such as bioterrorism,
which are of interest to the Homeland Security Agency.
Prevention
Prevention includes mitigation and protection subfunctions (U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, 2019). Prevention addresses actions, which reduce or eliminate the chance
of a disaster or an emergency from happening. For example, preventing against natural disasters
that can impact the agency may take the form of structural measures to protect buildings and
infrastructure from threats such as strong winds and water. Other prevention measures may take
the form of nonstructural measures to protect the agency such as zoning and land development
restrictions which ensure that potential sources of man-made threats are not close to the agency’s
location (Veenema, 2019).
Mitigation within the prevention function is focused on reducing risks to people and
property before the emergency occurs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).
An example of this is an emergency alert system which would warn the agency staff of a
potential threat.
Mitigation
Mitigation occurs in several phases of the disaster preparedness cycle. As a stand-alone
emergency management function however, mitigation aims at reducing harmful effects in the
event of a threat or hazard (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). Some
activities include surveillance and early detection. It is important to note that mitigation occurs
before the occurrence of an incident (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). A
practical example of this function is the administration of anthrax vaccines to agency staff to
protect them from a potential anthrax attack.
Preparedness
Preparedness comprises of prevention, protection, and mitigation activities (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). This function starts at the individual level and
involves activities such as identifying potential vulnerabilities and proactive planning to avoid or
prevent a disaster, or to reduce damage to property or prevent loss of life if a disaster occurs
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). Examples of personal preparedness
include assembling disaster kits and having a personal disaster plan.
Agency Emergency Management Recommendations
Disasters can be internal (within the agency or facility) or external. For purposes of this
post, discussions of EMFs will focus on the former and not the community or customers.
There are at least three points of emphasis when pitching an emergency preparedness
proposal to a boss at the Homeland Security Agency. Firstly, planning is the most important part
of the proposal as it establishes training for and structure in a chaotic event. The boss needs to
know that the agency is more prepared to respond to emergencies when a plan is in place since
the training equips the agency and staff with familiarity to function during chaos. Planning
provides organization and structure for command and control during chaos. Secondly, the boss
needs to know that that planning is not perfect and must be a continuous process. The plans
ought to undergo periodical evaluation to identify areas necessitating improvement. Thirdly,
disaster plans ought to be event-specific and focus on the most likely event; this improves
efficiency and effectiveness with limited resources such as time and funding. For purposes of this
discussion, the agency’s emergency management plan will use a bomb threat as a scenario.
Prevention measures would include controlling physical access to the agency facility by
requiring access badges for entrances. Establishing procedures to screen all employees’
belongings before entry can safeguard the agency from insider threats.
Mitigation measures would include an overhead alert system through the agency’s
facilities to alert staff of a bomb threat. The alert would allow the employees to evacuate and or
take other actions outlined in the training.
Preparedness would entail at least monthly mandatory bomb threat exercises / drills with
follow-on after-action reviews to identify the plan’s strengths and weaknesses. Personal
preparedness of agency employees would include reporting suspicious activities and
participating in drills.
Resources and Budgeting
The most significant resource in this proposal is that of time. The boss must designate
and protect the time to conduct the monthly drills. Collaboration with the human resource
department is also necessary to account for hours of lost productivity during planning and drills /
exercises. The agency could partner with bomb-threat experts to provide evidence-based training.
The agency’s budget should include acquisition of metal detectors and or body scans.
Biblical Perspective on Mitigation and Preparedness
The story of Joseph—Genesis chapters 41 through 47—saving Egypt and his family from
seven years of famine provides an ideal biblical perspective on mitigation and preparedness
(Genesis 41-47 NIV, Bible Gateway, n.d.). Joseph had divine foresight of the imminent seven-
year famine in Egypt and the surrounding regions. He proposed and implemented a solution to
save the people from this devastation. During the fertile years preceding the famine, the country
officials collected a fifth of the harvest from Egypt, which they stored up in preparation for the
years of famine. When famine struck, Egypt became a formidable economic force as she was the
only supplier of grain in the region for seven years of famine (Genesis 41-47 NIV, Bible
Gateway, n.d.).
This story provides a good example of a threat (famine) which is relevant even today, and
a good example of mitigation and preparedness functions (stockpiling food during times of
abundance) to protect people and livestock from starvation.
References
Genesis 41-47 NIV, Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Www.biblegateway.com. Retrieved October 1, 2022,
from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2041&version=NIV
Gillespie, G. (2020). Health Planning for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Management.
In Savage, C. L. Eds. Public Community Health, and Nursing Practice: Caring for
Populations Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019). Emergency Management and the
Incident Command System. Phe.gov.
https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/mscc/handbook/chapter1/Pages/emergencym
anagement.aspx
Veenema, T.G. (2019). Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness, 4th Ed. New York:
Springer Publishing.
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