Learning Competencies on Disaster Management
Introduction
The terror events that occurred in 2001 was a wakeup call to America on the importance of disaster preparedness and emergency response. The US government spends billions of dollars on building more resilient infrastructure in preparation to respond to disasters. A disaster of any nature may strike a random place at a random time, and thus disaster emergency management helps reduce the impact on the area and increase the chances of a quick recovery. This paper will demonstrate my understanding of the course competencies in disaster response and management and how they will help me in my career as a 911 operator.
Competency 1: phases of the emergency management cycle
The phases of the emergency management cycle include prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Prevention involves the prior mitigations put into place to protect people and critical infrastructure. Preventive measures are meant to refrain the disasters from occurring. However, some disasters are too unpredictable and catch people unawares. For instance, during Hurricane Katrina, FEMA failed to respond actively because it was not well prepared. The hurricane’s amplitude was much higher than expected (Hyer & Brown, 2012). Prevention measures reduce the chances of disaster occurrence or reduce the impact of it.
Preparedness involves all the activities that will make the response plan more effective. These activities include planning, coaching, equipping, testing, assessing, etc., for instance, training the 911 team on how to respond to emergency calls. The response phase involves the actual activities undertaken during an emergency. It involves coordinating and managing the resources during the incident, for instance, how the 911 operator communicates with the fire extinguishers to alarm them of a burning school. The recovery phase involves activities carried out after the incident. During this phase, the response team seeks to restore normalcy, for instance, FEMA helping victims of floods to rebuild their homes In the final stage, the mitigation phase involves implementing more resilient measures to reduce disaster effects in case of a re-occurrence (Hyer & Brown, 2012).
The lessons learned in disaster response are used to formulate stronger measures that will keep the disasters at bay. Learning this competency is important because it teaches students the importance of always being ready for a disaster. The competency helps me understand the actions that should be taken to prevent a disaster as well as how to react to save lives (Hyer & Brown, 2012). For instance, during a disaster response, communication is crucial. As a 911 operator, I am required to understand how to respond to victims of a disaster. The competency emphasizes that disaster response agencies should be well prepared for emergency response. The key learning areas in this competency include coordination, preparedness, communication, and responsiveness.
Competency 2: Elements of an urgency Operations Plan (EOP) that address disaster response elements
The elements of EOP include communications, resources and assets, safety and security, staff responsibilities, utilities, and clinical support activities (Accruent, 2015). The EOP has to outline all the communication strategies involved. Internal communications involve the sharing of messages within the organization. The plan should also explain how the organization will communicate with other agencies and suppliers. The EOP should include the resources and assets that will be used during the disaster response. Planning for resources prepares the team to respond effectively because it would be hazardous if it has no idea of how resources will be evenly distributed to help each victim.
The EOP should also highlight the safety and security procedures that should be followed in case there are any casualties. The response team should understand exactly what to do when there are casualties despite their role in the team. Also, safety involves understanding how to save lives without risking the team’s lives. The plan should also display clear details on staff responsibilities. During a disaster, there is hardly time for supervision (Accruent, 2015). Therefore, the members have to know their exact responsibilities so that they can respond instantly.
Utility management involves understanding how the organization will proceed to provide utilities even during disasters. For instance, how will the 911 continue to take calls even when there is a power shortage? The final elements of the EOP are the support activities. The EOPs should also have a detailed plan on how the victims will continue being cared for to protect their lives (Accruent, 2015). The EOP is a crucial element in disaster response for the 911 communications. The 911 department needs to have a plan of how they will communicate with agencies such as the police department or fire extinguishers during a disaster. Other times, a 911 operator is required to take the role of a health provider. For instance, if someone is drowning, the 911 can guide the caller into performing CPR. The competency clearly explains all the elements that a 911 operator needs to be responsive to.
Competency 3: Apply elements of the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) to disaster
response incidents.
During an emergency response, the response team should understand how to apply all the elements of the EOP. They should be aware of how communication will be carried out in and out of the agency. One of the responders is the dispatch centers. The 911 department handles vital information and should be shared with the agencies responsible. For instance, during a fire disaster, the 911 operator should be swift enough to call the fire extinguisher unit. In the process, she should know how to take the victims through giving first aid to other victims, exiting safely from a burning building or reassuring a panicked victim. When it comes to resources and assets, a response team requires to understand resource allocation and management. The 911 should understand which agency is well equipped to respond to a given disaster. In a disaster, safety and security measures should also be on the tip of each 911 operator’s fingers. As previously stated, the 911 operator is also partially responsible for the safety of the victims. She should be ready to take control of the situation and advice the victim accordingly because she is more sober-minded than the caller to make the right decisions (Public Health Preparedness Planning, n.d). For instance, she can advise a victim to continue hiding in an office cabinet and wait for the police instead of panicking and confronting terrorists.
The learning objective also mentions about staff responsibilities. All employees in the 911 departments must understand their roles and those of others. During a disaster, there is hardly time to be supervised due to the overwhelming environment. Agility is required for faster response. Utility management is also crucial in response to teams (Public Health Preparedness Planning, n.d). For instance, like a 911 operator, I should know where the backup equipment is in case some machines get broken during a power surge. In short, I should understand what to do to keep the department running amid the operations.
Competency 4: Summarize emergency operations management of disasters from an
interagency perspective
During a disaster response, one agency can’t work in isolation. The success of an emergency operation relies on the ability of different agencies to work in unison through all the phases of disaster management. Since all organizations have a different chain of commands, they are bound to have an issue with coordination. Therefore, to achieve coordination, efficiency, and transparency in communication is important. Some of the agencies that are involved in disaster response include the dispatch centers, the FEMA, the police department, the Red Cross, the local governments, etc. These agencies are independent but require coordination for the success of the response. One of the reasons that the response plan for Hurricane Katrina failed was that FEMA failed to coordinate other agencies effectively. Therefore, all agencies have to be involved in the prevention phase to the recovery phase. More particularly, they should be involved in the disaster preparedness phase. Teams from all agencies should be well trained to work together and to use the equipment provided (Salmon et al., 2011).
Also, teams should understand their responsibilities during the response. It would be unfortunate when a team can’t help in the response because it doesn’t know how to work together with other teams. To avoid the collision of responsibilities, it is important that every agency understood the plans of the other team. During a disaster, every agency is important and should be respected and given a platform to participate (Salmon et al., 2011). Therefore, for a multiagency to work effectively, coordination, respect, transparency, and honesty is important.
Conclusion
Learning the four competencies have been of benefit to me and will also guide me in my career as a 911 operator. I have come to understand the importance of preparedness in every disaster response agency. Moreover, I have understood the importance of communication within and outside the agency. Disaster preparedness determines the effectiveness of a response team, and through the learning competencies, I have come to understand what I need to do to respond actively as a 911 operator.
References
Accruent. (2015). Seven key areas of a hospital emergency operations plan. Retrieved from https://www.accruent.com/resources/blog-posts/7-key-areas-hospital-emergency-operations-plan
Hyer, K., & Brown, L. (2012). Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.
Salmon, P., & Stanton, N., Jenkins, D., & Walker, G. (2011). Coordination During Multi-Agency Emergency Response: Issues and Solutions. Disaster Prevention and Management. 20. 140-158. 10.1108/09653561111126085.
Public Health Preparedness Planning. (n.d). Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Retrieved from http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/publichealthpreparedness/PublicHealthPreparedness3.html#:~:text=Describes%20how%20people%20and%20property,during%20response%20and%20recovery%20operations.