Quality Learning Environment for Young Children
February 23, 2021
Discussion: Case Study 11: Who Brought Bernadine Healy Down?
February 23, 2021

Your opinion

Read each paragraph and give me your opinions for each paragraph if you agree or disagree with it

1.

  • Describe the differences between emergency operations and emergency planning. Emergency planning refers to actions which can and should be performed prior to an emergency, such as planning and coordination meetings, procedure writing, team training, emergency drills and exercises, and prepositioning of emergency equipment. Emergency response refers to actions taken in response to an actual, ongoing event. Determine which of the four phases of emergency management (preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery) is most closely related to planning and which to operations. The four phases of emergency management can be divided by two with preparedness and mitigation aligning with planning. As one author put it “Preparedness is a cornerstone of emergency management”(Henky 2017). Implementing mitigation assists in obtaining the plan’s assignment and overall goal. The mitigation actions to lessen vulnerability to threats and hazards shape the core of the plan and are a key outcome of the making plan’s process. Response and recovery align with operations. I do believe recovery is the most complex because it affects the most people and sometimes is an afterthought in the Planning phase. Evaluate how politics can affect both planning and operations. Coming from the private sector getting stakeholders trained and on board with plans are vital in operations when an emergency occurs. The same applies to the public sector, I believe every politician, realized the stakes involved when the proper planning and recovery plans are in place. The failure to prepare and respond effectively to this disaster could be politically devastating to the standing of any politician. The failure has an efficient recovery for example whats going on in California swiftly and effectively, could undercut any political future.

2.

According to Perry and Lindell (2007), emergency operations and emergency planning are often described as being interchangeable; this is not the case, however, they are linked. Emergency planning involves preparedness actions ahead of any potential incident. It is combination of various assessments; procedures and tactics; training and exercises, vulnerable areas in the community, and equipment and resources for addressing disaster challenges (Perry & Lindell, 2007). Emergency response operations are actions intended to save lives and property, as well as actions that manage a situation until more resources arrive. Such response actions include notifying emergency management personnel of the crisis, warning and evacuating or sheltering the population if possible, keeping the population informed, rescuing individuals and providing medical treatment, maintaining the rule of law, assessing damage, addressing mitigation issues that arise from response activities, and even requesting help from outside the jurisdiction (Goss, 1996). As I mentioned, although both emergency planning and operations are different, they are connected (Perry & Lindell, 2007); one cannot work without they other. Collaborative efforts between the two ensures that actions taken against any incident is done in the most effective way. All four phases can be related to planning, but preparedness I believe is the most closely related. Planning focuses primarily on preparedness. Plans, procedures, and resources must be in place in advance to support an effective response to the threat (Perry & Lindell, 2007, p. 5). Response and recovery are directly linked to operations. Again, Response activities are the actions of emergency agencies prior to and during the disaster that protect the community and minimize physical damage. This response starts with the recognition of a threat and it ends with the stabilization of the situation. Recovery follows once the scene is stabilized seek to restore lost functions. These lost functions include: Clearance of debris and restoration of access to the impact area, reestablishment of economic activities, restoration of essential government or community services, provision of an interim system for caring for victims, including housing, clothing, and food (Perry & Lindell, 2007). Government by nature is political, and emergency management is within the government spectrum. Therefore, it (emergency management) exists within a political arena. Politics affect both disaster planning and response operations because disasters effect people. A disaster or event that affects the lives and property of people is political. For example, look back at the situation in 2005 regarding Hurricane Katrina and FEMA or the Hurricane disaster in Puerto Rico last year. They were both highly political on a lot of fronts. It is often up to elected officials to determine where resources will be allocated, and which vulnerable areas will be addressed. Emergency managers, the “experts” most of the time have their hands tied because elected officials strongly influence States, municipalities, and federal governments on how to handle disasters.

3.

Three community assets I consider high priorities are hospitals, fire/EMT, and police. I believe people are your most important assets. The risk assessment of these communities should identify areas with larger populations in addition to populations that may have unique vulnerabilities. One of the areas of focus for emergency preparedness planning must be physical vulnerability, or the risks threats pose to structures such as hospitals. Obviously, hospitals are there to aid the injured. They are critical for to post-disaster response or recovery capabilities (Prioritizing Community Assets, n.d.)Sustainment of life during the initial days of a disaster should be top priority during a response. Our first responders (police and fire) are needed to help the injured, search and rescue missions, public safety to protecting property from thieves (Prioritizing Community Assets, n.d.). There may be certain communities that are more vulnerable to disasters than others due to age, poverty, disability or language barriers. These areas have a more difficult time with preparation, managing, and recovering from disasters. That is why it is important to have these agencies respond to the impacts of the disaster on the community. For hospitals, two factors that can be planned early are the amount of supplies needed for all types of hazards (e.g., blood, IV’s, various equipment) and amount of staff that are trained to handle such events. For fire and police, training for all hazards and identifying what areas are most vulnerable and are a priority as far as response and recovery.

4.

Like most city’s the one I live in has a The Emergency Operations Center. The EOC’s role is that of a multi-agency coordination system, and its structure is designed to recognize that fact. In an event a disaster strike, local governments will always be the first to respond. They should plan and prepare to respond to disasters for the initial 72 hours following the incident. When needs are beyond their capabilities, state assistance is requested. The first community assets that I would present to my team is the local businesses, relying on the private sector resources is key. As we see considering all the recent natural disasters recovery is very expensive. Private-sector sources that would be available in an emergency are a key factor for our first responders, hospitals, and communications. Another factor is emergency management programs are chronically underfunded as it is, so having the backing of local corporations would help when it’s time to present the numbers to the local government officials for budget time. The second asset aligning with that if I could I would align the responders together (Fire, Police, and EMT) all work for hand and hand. The first factor is that evacuations are generally the responsibility of law enforcement agencies. Their local knowledge and innate understanding of local obstacles can help save lives and improve the overall response time. In this way, emergency management by first responders will set the tone for successful planning and recovery. “No clear line separates emergency response and disaster recovery. Some portions of the community will be engaged in emergency response tasks while others conduct recovery tasks. Response planning should be linked to recovery planning, which will speed the process of disaster recovery. It will also ease the integration of hazard mitigation into disaster recovery (Wu and Lindell, 2004).” Planning requires training and evaluation. The training process explains the plan to the people who will be involved in the emergency response (R.W.P 2007) . So, getting the local government officials on board and trained is vital. One crucial factor is that local governments meet critical life-sustaining needs using available resources, activate mutual aid agreements, and purchase, rent or contract for goods and services

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