Comparative Emergency Management

Comparative Emergency Management Session 20 Slide Deck Session 20

Session Objectives • Discuss Emergency Response from a Global Perspective • Describe the Life-Saving Response Functions • Describe the Life-Sustaining Response Functions Session 20

Response Decisions and actions aimed at limiting injuries, loss of life, and damage to property and the environment from a specific, defined hazard Session 20

Response Actions • Relative to the disaster, response actions nay be taken: • Prior to • During • Immediately following • Response begins as soon as it becomes apparent that a hazard event is imminent, and lasts until the emergency is declared to be over Session 20

Response Characteristics Response is typically performed: • During periods of very high stress • In a highly time-constrained environment • With limited and imperfect information Session 20

Response Phases • Pre-Hazard • The emergency phase: hazard effects ongoing • The emergency phase: hazard effects have ceased Session 20

Pre-Disaster Response Processes • Warning and evacuation • Pre-positioning of resources and supplies • Last-minute mitigation and preparedness measures Session 20

Hazard Recognition Shortfalls • The scope of the unfolding event is underestimated in light of early impacts • The hazard’s initial effects are unrecognizable or undetectable • The hazard’s initial effects are kept hidden from response officials • Disruptions of, inefficiencies in, or a lack of communications infrastructure prevents the affected from reporting an emergency in progress • Response officials are fully engaged in response to another hazard and are unable to receive information about a new, secondary hazard Session 20

Life Saving Functions • Search and Rescue (SAR) • First Aid Medical Treatment • Evacuation Session 20

Search and Rescue (SAR) • SAR Actions: • Locating victims • Extracting (rescuing) victims • Providing initial medical first-aid treatment • The majority of search and rescue is performed in the initial minutes and hours of a disaster by untrained, average citizens, who include victims’ friends, family members, and neighbors Session 20

SAR Tasks: All Team Types • Search collapsed buildings for victims, and rescue them • Locate and rescue victims buried in earth, snow, and other debris • Rescue victims from swiftly moving or high water • Locate and rescue victims from damaged or collapsed mines • Locate and rescue victims lost in wilderness areas • Provide emergency medical care to trapped victims • Provide dogs trained to locate victims by sound or smell • Assess and control gas, electric service, and hazardous materials • Evaluate and stabilize damaged structures Session 20

First Aid Medical Treatment • Victims may outnumber responding technicians • Supplies may be short or depleted • Transportation of victims may be delayed, obstructed, or simply impossible • There may be no adequate facilities available to bring victims for longer-term care Session 20

Triage • Ranks victims according to the seriousness of their injuries, ensuring that the highest priority cases are transported to medical facilities before less serious ones • Two systems (primarily): • START • Advanced Triage Session 20

Evacuation • Moves populations away from the hazard • Decisions cannot be taken lightly • Requires established statutory authority and evacuation capacity • Most effective when limited just to the risk area • Must be sanctioned and facilitated Session 20

Life Sustaining and EM Functions • Assessment • Treating the Hazard • Provision of Water, Food, and Shelter • Public Health • Sanitation • Safety and Security • Critical Infrastructure Resumption • Emergency Social Services • Donations Management Session 20

Assessment • Tells Responders: • What is happening • Where it is happening • What is needed • What is required to address those needs • What resources are available Session 20

Assessments Continued • Assessment Types • Situation Assessment • Needs Assessment • Reports • Flash reports • Initial assessment report • Interim report • Specialist/technical report • Final report Session 20

Treating the Hazard • Three types of hazard effects: • Effects that are over before any response activities may be initiated to treat them • Effects that persist, but for which no response actions exist that can limit or eliminate them • Effects that persist that may be limited or eliminated completely through existing response actions Session 20

Water Provision • Used for: • Hydration • Hygiene • Food preparation • Met by: • Transporting to victims (in mass storage devices or bottles) • Tapping unexploited water sources within the community • Providing access to a functioning but restricted water source within the community • Pumping water into the community • Providing filters or other treatments • Moving the population to another location where water is available Session 20

Food Provision • Must suit the affected population • Distribution: • Wet • Dry • Concerns • Nutritional Assessments • Cleanliness • Points of Distribution • Storage • Vermin • Others Session 20

Shelter • Protects from: • Natural elements • Insecurity • Damage to psychological well-being • Immediate Shelter • Long-Term Shelter Session 20

Public Health • Facilities that normally manage health issues may be full, overtaxed, damaged, or nonexistent • Measures: • Crude Mortality Rate • Morbidity Rates • Prevalence • Incidence • Attack rate Session 20

Public Health Response Tasks • Rapid Assessment of Health • Disease Prevention • Disease Surveillance • Outbreak Control • Disease Management Session 20

Sanitation • Primary Sanitation Issues: • Collection and disposal of human waste. • Wastewater • Garbage (trash) • Dust • Vector control (bugs, rodents, etc.) Session 20

Fatality Management • Factors that contribute to human mortality in disasters: • Direct injuries from the hazard • Indirect injuries resulting from the aftereffects of the hazard event • Unrelated accidents and natural causes of death • Actions: • Search and recovery of corpses • Transportation of the bodies to a centralized facility • Examination and identification of the body • Final disposal of the body Session 20

Safety and Security • Police/fire officials affected by disaster and may be victims • Police/fire officials overtaxed • Common disaster security concerns: • Looting • Assaults on victims • Assaults on response and recovery officials • Security within shelters and resettlement camps • Rapes • Robberies • Domestic violence Session 20

Critical Infrastructure Resumption • Infrastructure = basic facilities, services, and installations required for the functioning of a community or a society • Critical infrastructure – vital to disaster response and the safety and security of the public • Examples of Critical Infrastructure: • Transportation systems (land, sea, and air) • Communications • Electricity • Gas and oil storage and transportation • Water supply systems • Emergency services • Public health Session 20

Emergency Social Services • Psychological stresses of: • Victims • Responders • Common names: • Disaster Counseling • Psychosocial Services • Disaster mental health Session 20

Donations Management • Without an effective mechanism to accept, catalogue, inventory, store, and distribute those donations, however, their presence can actually create what is commonly called “the second disaster.” • Cash is best • Goods: • Address the actual needs of the affected population • Be appropriate for the cultural setting into which they are donated • Be in good condition • Be able to clear customs Session 20

Comparative Emergency Management