Do not worry, my tables did not get copied correctly in canvas either. I was still able to read it
and understand it. I agree with you on the importance of mitigation. Ji and Lee (2021) as well
emphasize about the significance of mitigation, because it builds up the community resilience.
As you said, prevention of natural disasters is impossible but being prepared for it, makes a
difference. A study about natural hazard loss in counties that received Hazard Mitigation
Program (HMGP) funds in the United States concluded that those counties are indeed less likely
to encounter the same property damage as the counties that did not receive the HMGP funding
(Ji and Lee, 2021).
When talking about National Incident Management System (NIMS) and its most difficult
component - Communications and Information Management, I agree with you on that one too. In
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) After Action Report, after Hurricane Sandy
in 2012, deficiency that they identified was coordination and communication between the
agencies (Knapp, 2020). Thus, it is not always the reliability of a piece of equipment but also
poor communication and information sharing that affects the effectiveness of NIMS.
References
Ji, H., & Lee. D. (2021). Disaster risk reduction, community resilience, and policy effectiveness:
the case of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in the United States. Disasters, 45(2),
378-402. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1111/disa.12424
Knapp, H. (2020). Managing an Administrative Emergency: Establishing FEMA as an
Independent Agency. Colorado natural resources, energy & environmental law review.
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412994064.n80
Great post and explanation of the National Response Framework (NRF), the National Incident
Management System (NIMS), and The Incident Command System (ICS).
In general, the fact that disasters have been on a steady rise in the past 30 years, agencies need to
continue improving all the mentioned systems (St. Denis et. al, 2020). On top of that, it is costing
United States billions in the aftermath (St. Denis et. al, 2020).
As Goralnick et. al (2021) explain, we should be able to foresee the “predictable surprises,” and
that can help us in better preparedness in crisis response systems.
I came across an article “Equity and Disasters: Reframing Incident Command Systems” that
specifically talks about hospital response system and the Hospital Incident Command System
(HICS) during COVID-19 era (Goralnick et.al, 2021). You mentioned the importance of
choosing the incident commander, which the article mentions as well. On top of that, Goralnick
et. al (2021) point out the importance of an equity officer as well. Experiences of crises over the
past decades have proven that certain communities, especially those of color and those of low
socioeconomic status, endure disparate treatment (Goralnick, 2021). I found that very intriguing,
because in my mind during crisis a person just helps whoever possible and there would be no
room for discrimination, even though unintentional. This brings me to a verse in Galatians 3:28,
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus” (ESV, 2001).
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles
Goralnick, E., M. D. M. S., Serino, R., N. R. E. M. T.-P., & Clark, Cheryl R., M. D., ScD.
(2021). Equity and Disasters: Reframing Incident Command Systems. American Journal
of Public Health, 111(5), 844-848. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/equity-disasters-reframing-incident-
command/docview/2515781344/se-2
