1. Community organizations are type of organization that must consider disaster preparedness in terms of access and functional needs of all people, including populations with special needs, in the event of an emergency.
2. Mitigation is a sustained action aimed at the reduction or elimination of "long-term risk to people and their property from particular hazards and their effects" (Islam and Ryan 22). The fundamental aim of preparedness, on the other hand, lies in "at ensuring that the resources necessary for responding effectively in the event of a disaster are in place" and that agencies and individuals know how to use those resources to respond to the consequences and effects of a particular disaster (Sutton and Tierney 3).
3. The preparedness cycle includes four fundamental steps. It begins with the process of planning of various plans and programs on disaster response and recovery. The second element of preparedness cycle is organization and equipment. The third step involves training procedures. The last step involves emergency exercising and educational activities.
4. In order to prepare for various types of disasters, people should not only be informed of the unexpected emergency situations but may also do the following:
"assemble a supply kit" (qtd. in Ready.gov);
"develop a family emergency plan" (qtd. in Ready.gov);
actively take part in preparedness programs in their community.
5. The seven key elements used to measure the comprehensive nature of an evacuation plan include the following: "decision making and management, planning, public communication and preparedness, evacuation of people with special needs, operations, sheltering considerations, mass evacuation training and exercises" (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola 112).
6. Special needs populations include individuals with sight and hearing disabilities, physically and mentally incapacitated persons, as well as senior citizens and non-native speakers. Their disaster planning needs unique due to their mobility and other types of impairments.
7. It is of paramount importance to involve representatives from all emergency management stakeholders in the disaster planning process as emergency management is typically characterized by extreme complexity of preparedness processes and requires effective coordination and cooperation among thousands of individuals and dozens of specialized agencies and organizations. In other words, the efforts of traditional emergency managers are not always enough to develop and implement effective and all-encompassing disaster plans.
8. The advent of emergency training management and education coincided with the creation of FEMA in 1979", which is a federal agency providing direction and various services for the professional development, training and education of emergency management specialists (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola 112). The activities of FEMA fall into two major categories: developing, implementing and providing special training courses as well as working out higher education programs and courses materials for emergency management specialists.
9. The four major types of disaster exercises include drills, tabletops, functional and full-scale exercises.
A drill is "a small and limited exercise to improve a single function in response and recovery operations. It typically includes first responders in the field to test their use of equipment" (McEntire 465).
10. The National Preparedness Directorate not only develops and elaborates, but also communicates, supports and provides all the necessary assistance to the general national-level strategy as well as to emergency and disaster preparedness programs and projects on the national level.
Works Cited
Haddow, George D., Jane A. Bullock, and Damon P. Coppola. "The Disciplines of Emergency Management: Preparedness." Introduction to Emergency Management. 5th ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014. 101-38. Print.
Islam, Tanveer, and Jeffrey R. Ryan. "History and Evolution of Hazard Mitigation." Hazard Mitigation in Emergency Management. Kidlington, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2016. 18-23. Print.
McEntire, David A. "Enhancing Disaster Resilience." Disaster Response and Recovery: Strategies and Tactics for Resilience. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2015. 450-67. Print.
"Natural Disasters." Natural Disasters. Ready.gov. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <https://www.ready.gov/natural-disasters>.
Sutton, Jeannette, and Kathleen Tierney. Disaster Preparedness: Concepts, Guidance, and Research. Rep. Sebastopol, CA: Fritz Institute, 2006. Print.
