Chapter 1: Introduction to Emergency Management
Emergency management is defined as discipline or profession that applies technology, planning, and management in dealing with extreme issues, and events affecting and even killing a large number of people. These extreme catastrophic events lead to excessive and extensive property damage hence disrupting community life leading to negative social impacts. There are fundamental theories of disasters that help in explaining the origin catastrophic events. They include acts of fate, acts of nature, effects of nature and society and social constructions.
An integrated system that is well-defined and clearly differentiated in structure helps in coordinating the emergency management in the United States. This helps in achieving a common goal in dealing with disaster preparedness, response activities and undertaking appropriate measures to control risks (Repoussis et al. 536). Emergency management is characterized by preparedness, response, and disaster recovery activities. In disaster preparedness, the management considers these activities with the aim of protecting community properties loss and lives. The emergency response indicates all the activities undertaken since the detection of events and stabilization process following the impacts caused (Repoussis et al. 540). This includes saving lives and properties through victims evacuation, providing with essential products such as food, water, and medical care. Disaster recovery explains activities that happen after the disaster in stabilizing to ensure the community has been restored to normality.
Emergency management system evaluation is examined under mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery principals. These principles help in categorizing the catastrophic event whether high or low depending on impacts. The risks and disasters are evaluated to assess the level of damage and impact caused (Powell, et al. 554). Finally, United States vision on emergency management covers systems of emergency management, patterns of responsibilities and interaction existing among the organizations operating within emergency management systems.
Chapter 2: Emergency Management Stakeholders
The emergency management stakeholder is defined as a person who is directly or indirectly affected by decisions that are either or not made by the policymakers or emergency managers in the community. There are different community stakeholders depending on their responsibility or part they play in the emergency management. These community stakeholders include social, economic and political groups. Households are indicated as the foundation of social stakeholder groups. The households have to adopt and adjust depending on the hazards especially during mitigation and preparedness measures (Powell, et al. 558). They are affected directly by any policy or emergency management decision regarding an event. Economic groups such as business are societal institutions and hence affected by emergency management decisions. This affects the flow commodities and interrupts of business activities. Political groups cover government and other ruling authorities in the community. These jurisdiction stakeholders vary in level of power, and emergency policies are set at different levels.
Emergency management policy process indicates the model of how policies move systematically from agenda to policy evaluation. Policy formulation, adoption, implementation and evaluation indicate the process on emergency management involving relevant stakeholders. Policy formulation is considered as the proposal shaping the agenda to policy makers on previewed assumptions (Repoussis et al.). Policy adoption provides platforms for emergency manager and stakeholder’s mobilizations in pressuring relevant authorities to adopt the desired policy. After policy adoption, implementation helps in making it more effective. At this stage, the policy opponents seek different avenues to undermine the policy from becoming practical successful. Finally, policy evaluation is conducted in obtaining feedback loop for approval or termination.
Good emergency management practices involve stakeholders during policy development. This helps in the provision of need assistance during and after a disaster. Techniques for community involvement are essential to obtain feedback and support. Therefore, emergency management should involve direct contact with the stakeholders to mitigate and being prepared for impending event or risk.
Works Cited
Powell, et al. “System-Focused Risk Identification and Assessment for Disaster Preparedness: Dynamic Threat Analysis.” European Journal of Operational Research 254.2 (2016): 550–564. Print
Repoussis, Panagiotis, et al. “Optimizing Emergency Preparedness and Resource Utilization in Mass-Casualty Incidents.” European Journal of Operational Research 255.2 (Dec. 2016): 531–544. Web
