Every region around the globe has different exposure factors that relate to the occurrence of various kinds of disasters, and that needs intervention strategies when they happen. Managing of resources and individuals during emergency periods can present multiple challenges that require the relevant people to improvise and develop new strategies to deal with the arising problem. Decision-making is one of the key components of these operations as the decisions are essential in providing solutions to the outstanding problems (ANA, 2008). It is important to review some of the ethical practices that can enable different people to attain the best outcomes in handling the appropriate exercises.
One of the similarities that are present on all principle approaches to ethical decision-making in emergency preparedness and response is organizational culture regardless of the size of the organization under consideration. The values that influence the cultural alignments of an entity are essential in impacting the direction that the people take and how they regard various actions ethically (Withanaarachchi & Setunge, 2014). Dilemmas frequently arise during the exercises of disaster response and management, and that presents the individuals with stressful situations that need solutions (Clarinval & Biller-Andorno, 2014). One of the considerations that the people that are responding to disasters need to make is to give precedence to those in need, and sometimes this implies that they have to sacrifice their personal requirements. That is one of the essential implementations that different organizations need to absorb into their culture to endorse the efficiency of their participation in the relevant operations. The implication of these provisions is that all people responding to emergencies have the common goals of reducing harm, practice equitably, and deliver the best levels of accountability at any time. The main difference that is noticeable in these guidelines is the monitoring of activities in the operations. While all of the guides offer a framework that focuses on the control organizations and groups as a whole, some place the importance of ethics on a personal level.
The initial approach regarding ethical decision-making mainly focused on the role of an individual acting to ensure that they offer the best contribution to the exercises. It lacked the perspective of working in teams and ensuring all the people in that group participate ethically. That derives from the constant need of monitoring strategies among other activities that require the intervention of multiple individuals to ensure the processes run efficiently and on time. That perspective changes, and it now develops on focusing on the way that a person participates in different functions in the teams. One of the common factors in the operations of disaster response and management is the use of various techniques and technologies that require differing types of skills and capacities (Miller, 2016). Since one individual may not be able to possess all those abilities, it is then important that they participate in teams of different persons that complement one another. Monitoring is then essential to ensure that those people work harmoniously to meet the requirements.
One outstanding need for the efficiency of ethical disaster response and management are accountability and diligence. That leads to one of the most important approaches that can ensure the achievement of these objectives that is vigilant decision-making through the implementation of monitoring strategies (Jennings & Arras, 2008). It is important to make sure that the relevant people can monitor the progress of the processes continually as that allows the detection of any issues on time and recommending the best solutions available. Monitoring the activities also allows the teams to anticipate any events and determine the best methods to prevent problems before they occur. Sometimes that is also important in ensuring that they set any solutions in place beforehand according to those anticipations.
References
American Nurses Association. (2008). Adapting standards of care under extreme conditions guidance for professionals during disasters, pandemics, and other extreme emergencies. Columbia University School of Nursing.
Clarinval, C., & Biller-Andorno, N. (2014). Challenging operations: An ethical framework to assist humanitarian aid workers in their decision-making processes. PLOS Currents Disasters.
Jennings, B., & Arras, J. (2008). Ethical guidance for public health emergency preparedness and response: Highlighting ethics and values in a vital public health service. Atlanta, October.
Miller, D. S. (2016). Public trust in the aftermath of natural and na-technological disasters: Hurricane Katrina and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 36(5/6), 410-431.
Withanaarachchi, J., & Setunge, S. (2014). Influence of decision making during disasters and how it impacts a community.
