Free «Disaster Management» Essay

Disaster management is the organization and management of resources responsible towards dealing with and avoiding the effects of both the natural and man-made disasters whenever they take place in an organization or in the community. It involves preparedness before disaster, rebuilding and supporting of the society after disasters such as earthquakes and drought. Because of the rising number of risks in different sectors of the society, various organizations and community volunteers have dedicated their time to managing such risks which may result from disasters. This write up therefore identifies and describes all the four mission areas and mitigation as it relates to the development of an effective Emergency Operation Plan (EOP). It furtherdocuments what changes could be implemented within those areas to strengthen an Emergency Operation.

According to Coppola, D.P. (2011),emergency operational plans (EOP) are the organizational laid down strategies which help to manage emergencies such as natural and man-made disasters when they occur. Because these disasters can either occur in an organization or community set up, the strategies therefore have to be properly formulated. For effective development of EOP, there should be four mission areas which operate in sequential phases.

The first phase towards the development of effective Emergency Operational Plan is the disaster mitigation phase. At this phase the disaster management team dedicates all its efforts towards preventing the emerging organizational hazards from developing into serious disasters. This phase is also meant to reduce the effects of disasters in cases where disasters can not be prevented. These mitigation measures are also categorized into structural and non-structural measures. Structural measures are the technological solutions such as putting up the earthquake retrofitting buildings and flood levees. On the other hand, the non-structural solutions may include legislation, communication of risks to the public, as well as proper land use(Coppola, 2011).

On the other hand, Bullock, Haddow & Coppola (2012) state that disaster preparedness is the extent to which the disaster management team is equipped in order to manage disasters and limit their impacts on people. It is characterized by a continuous cycle of planning, managing, organizing, training, evaluating and monitoring of the improving activities. Monitoring ensures the proper coordination of the concerned parties towards prevention and protection of the resources against the possible effects of disasters such as the natural ones, as well as the man-made disasters. At this phase the emergency managers have the duty of developing plans of actions which are meant to counter the risks and to build the necessary capabilities needed to carry on such plans.

In the response stage, an emergency has already occurred and therefore strategies to respond to the emergency are implemented. This is achieved by mobilizing all the necessary emergency services. These include all the human service departments, such as the firefighters, the police and the ambulance crews (Bullock, Haddow & Coppola 2012).

Finally, for the effectiveness of the Emergency Operation Plan the recovery phase is formulated in order to restore the affected area or people to their previous state. It is therefore concerned with the activities which are meant to rebuild the destroyed property, re-employ those rendered jobless due to the disaster as well as to ensure repair of other necessary infrastructure (Doherty, 2010).

To strengthen the EOP at the mitigation phase, there is a need for a proper risk analysis to help the team obtain the required information which forms the foundation for formulation of the mitigation activities. On the other hand, the preparedness phase can be improved through ensuring effective communication of plans, proper training of emergency service providers and volunteers and establishment of emergency communication systems as well as through maintaining disaster supplies such as food.

Equally, the response phase can be strengthened through engaging the specialized rescue teams to help the service units in managing the risks which are associated with those disasters affecting people and property. Finally, in order to strengthen the recovery phase, there have to be some adjustments and changes within the society and organizations which face the risks of disaster. For instance, the society should be educated on the means of detecting and managing disasters. Also there should be specific organizations that are formed within the communities in order to deal with emerging disaster issues. On the other hand, the organizations faced with disasters should be able to create specialized departments and resources towards tackling the problems caused by disasters whenever they occur.

Conclusion

For the proper management of risks resulting from disasters occurring either within an organization or a community as a whole, there has to be proper Emergency Operation Plan which has to operate into four phases. There is also the need for proper coordination between four phases in order to help to achieve the ultimate goal of disaster management.