After Action Review ( AAR) document in emergency management
An after-action review (AAR) is a vital emergency management document used to review the actions taken in response to an emergency. Furthermore, from the review of actions applied in response, the AAR also recommends some of the activities that should be improved in the future to promote better response to future emergencies. Notably, the composition of an AAR document is diverse depending on the emergency. However, the general outlook an AAR document comprises an organized assessment of response activities, a collaborative and extensive discussion, and analysis of events that happened during the emergency.
From the analysis, some of the emergency response actions that can be changed immediately as from the next emergency response incidence are identified. Lastly, a discovery of the long-term changes that can improve future response to an emergency is also highlighted from the AAR. Therefore, an AAR supports communities by not only outlining the emergency response activities or steps, but it also provides the basis for identifying and implementing better emergency practices during future emergencies. For instance, during a fire incident, some of the response measures in the AAR outline might include using gaseous or fluid fire extinguishers. However, to reduce the impacts of fire emergencies, the AAR might recommend the creation of fire exits to hasten evacuation of people and fitting fire extinguishers in the building and proximity to enhance ready access to fire extinguishing resources during future incidences of a fire emergency.
An AAR is valuable for emergency management professionals in multiple ways. For instance, it enables the emergency management professionals to face emergencies from a critical thinking perspective because it applies the root cause analysis model to establish underlying factors of success or failure in emergency management. Furthermore, it promotes consensus and collaborative on issues and fosters accountability. Notably, the AAR outlines teamwork as the basis of determining and following up on failures and better future practices. Furthermore, it can also be used to advocate for support. Due to what the AAR outlines, it can be used as a suitable tool to push for financing and technical support for the public health system.
Besides Identifying and developing gaps, the document also provides a platform for cross-sectoral learning relationship building. Emergencies like COVID 19 bring together participants from multiple sectors during response and emergency management. The sectors could be medical personnel, hospital management boards, civil groups, and the government health ministry. The diversity of these sectors create a platform for learning new ideas and networking with teams from other sectors. Lastly, it also fosters the preparedness and responsive tactics of emergency professionals since the AAR identifies and improves on the emergency management professional skill gaps. The gaps are identified by assessing the planning and practice phases of emergency management to evaluate measures that were feasible and non-feasible.
From the identified implications of the AAR on the ability of emergency management professionals to develop their preparedness to emergencies, the significance of the AAR as an emergency planning tool is prudently illustrated. As aforementioned, the document helps emergency response personnel to apply critical thinking during emergency response planning. Additionally, the root cause analysis of previous and present failure and success factors promotes awareness regarding the possibility of similar factors in looming emergencies. The awareness also promotes better emergency planning in terms of adequate and flexible response measures depending on the emergency. During the identification of professional and emergency response gaps using an AAR, an in-depth evaluation is performed on the planning and execution or practice steps. Therefore, by focusing on the planning faces, it enables emergency professionals to identify realistic, flexible, and effective response measures that minimize the risks of failure that may ultimately lead to adverse implications of emergencies on public health.
From my experience with preparing an After-action Review, various skills particularly on the diverse applications of the document are not only sustaining the operational scope but also providing continuous improvement in emergency response measures. Particularly, personal preferable lessons and applications in the career will include; using the AAR to network and create relationships with stakeholders in emergency response. Besides mainstream approaches like self and process evaluation used in addressing professional and process gaps, promoting relationships and development of people, teams and processes can also be achieved through teamwork and collaborative efforts in the determination of success and failures as the AAR outlines.
