Disaster Management in the UK - Essay Example

Disaster Management Submitted by [Client’s Name] Submitted to [Professor’s Name] [Subject] [Date] The success of emergency and disaster responses lies in the ability of the involved departments to work together and achieve common goals through concerted efforts. Various researches on disaster management as well as practical evidences indicate that collective efforts almost always work in dealing with disasters (Kelman, 2006; McGlown, 2004). Disasters of different magnitude tend to blow out of proportion that an isolation of operational function no longer exists. This means that various organizations – police force, fire department, bomb squad, emergency units, local Red Cross, volunteer programs, social welfare and rehabilitation departments, government offices, etc – must work together in order to effectively handle disaster management issues even if they have divergent roles (Slattery, Syvertson & Krill, 2009). Command Structure (1) The UK Government has adopted the command structure shown above because of the ease of operations it allows as well as the inherent open-line communication the structure facilitates. Central to the command structure is the involvement of the Regional Civil Contingency Committee which acts a bridge to and from the decision makers in any disaster management situation and the executing agencies typically performed by the local strategic coordinating groups. In the given scenario, a multi-level approach to disaster management must be initiated in order to facilitate effective and efficient public risk management program. The main goal of any multi-level approach in disaster management is the identification of the central governing body. According to McGlown (2004), the identification of the central body that coordinates the efforts is a major step towards the resolution of the issue at hand. This is because choosing the correct organization will ensure the success of the whole program. In the given scenario, it is easy to identify that the central governance should be placed on the most strategic location, or on the organization that has the most strategic function. Central Disaster Management Machinery The role of the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) in disaster management is confined to planning various approaches in handling emergency situations of immense magnitude. As can be seen in the command structure, the interaction of the COBR is limited to the various agencies that are mobilized during emergency situations. This restriction in role and function is crucial in any emergency situations because the government through the COBR is the one responsible for overseeing the political, economical, health and medical and other aspects of the UK society affected by the emergency situation. The role of the government is to balance concerted effort with the expected outcome so that the other areas of UK would not feel the blunt of the situation as it takes in the situation with a bird’s eye view. RCCC The central disaster management responsibility should be given to given to the Regional Civil Contingencies Committee (RCCC) as their main functions include: (a) collate and maintain strategic picture of the given scenario, (b) assess the ability of the local level to resolve issues, (c) facilitate mutual aid arrangements, and (d) guide the deployment of resources between and among various agency level (Smith, 2003). In effect, the RCCC was created to become the strategic point in any activities involving disaster management in any part of England. Its functions are so structured in a way that it is able to absorb information from all levels, delegate task in various agencies and committees, and strategize with the frontline while at the same time keeping the communication with other organizations for speedier action plans. Moreover, RCCC gives other organizations allowance to make their own decisions through the principle of subsidiarity where it does not interfere with decisions made on local levels. The RCCC serves as the entry point to various communications. As local responders are the first people on the scene, somebody has to take the responsibility of collecting and distributing reports of the scenario as well as the developments of the emergency situation. Local level strategic groups are required to constantly update the RCCC with the development of the issue. Depending on the scope of devastation, the emergency might be contained at local levels. However, for emergency situations that requires concerted effort in order to control and manage public hysteria, the roles of the RCCC becomes very crucial. For example, coordinating Level 1 Emergency situations does not require the deployment of the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR). As can be seen in the command structure, the RCCC controls the flow of communication and issues resolved at lower levels need not require the attention of the central governing body (Smith, 2003). It is the reports and information coming from the RCCC that gets the concerned bodies to decide which areas needs to be activated and deployed. The information that the RCCC will distribute to other agencies and government departments are important because they will become the backbone for all the planning required in solving, controlling, or containing the situation. Containing problems similar to the case under discourse requires massive co-ordination between local strategic groups as well as the decision-making capabilities of the central government. Local Strategic Groups The roles that local strategic groups play are enormous in the command structure for disaster management adopted by the UK government. Local strategic groups are the individuals, volunteers, and government departments that are on the frontline. Their actions depend much on the information that the RCCC provides to them. Local strategic groups typically follow a structure where they can operate independently from each other while at the same time maintain contact with each other and coordinate their actions in order to address the emergency situations at hand. The main roles of local strategic groups in risk and disaster management is to provide physical support as well as information to the RCCC about the conditions, situations, or scenarios at hand in order for the COBR to integrate any relevant information in their planning. Evaluation The command structure adopted by the UK government for disaster management is very efficient. The installation of a central information management division breaks down the complex flow of information to and from decision-making bodies and frontline personnel. With the installation of a division that streamlines, filters, and directs the movement of the communication to various stakeholders, disaster management becomes very efficient and effective. (2) The roles, functions, and responsibilities of Category One responders are outlined in the Civil Contingencies Act in 2004. Generally speaking, the Act modernized the activities relating to local and national civil protection in the event of emergency situations. Category One responders are the primary agencies involved in response to major emergency situations. Category One responders include Local Authorities, Government Agencies, Emergency Services, Police Force, Fire Department, British Transport Police, Port Health Authority, Environmental Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and NHS Bodies (City of London, 2009). The Act defined and outlined the responsibilities of the Category One responders in emergency situations which appear below. Risk Assessment – Category One responders are expected to assess and evaluate the risks involved in emergency situations. Their assessment of the risks and of the situations will provide the framework for any decision-making process. Development of Emergency Plans – Category One responders are expected to be able to come up with coherent and effective emergency plans in order to be able to save the lives of civilians from danger. They are expected to perform their duty with high success rates in emergency situations. Development of Business Continuity Plans – in any emergency situations, the ability of the Category One responders to identify or create logistics plans, allocation of resources, and other similar processes is the key to the successful emergency operations (Kelman, 2006). This is the main reason why it is necessary for Category One respondents to have the capability and the capacity to build business continuity plans. Information Gathering and Distribution – Category One respondents are expected to make information related to the emergency available to the public. They are also expected to maintain arrangements, warn, advise and inform the public in any emergency situations. Consequently, their main duties include the sharing of information to other local respondents in order to allow greater degree of cooperation. Provide Assistance – Category One respondents are allowed to make advices and provide assistance to the business and voluntary organizations involved in the operation. Their insight and assessment of the risks involved allows them a greater control of the situation and any concerted effort with other local strategic groups means higher coordination and greater probabilities to succeed. (3) In any emergency situation that involves the mass public, treatment and identification of casualties becomes a major problem. The problems arise in two levels. First, all individuals present will have the tendency to request themselves to be treated, including those that were not affected by the catastrophe at all. In events like this, the health care effort to treat injuries and provide first aid to affected individuals would experience major problems. This is because more often than not, satellite emergency and health care facilities are not designed to handle a large volume of casualties. In the given scenario, it is very likely that the casualties of the emergency situation are high considering that there was an acid spray involved. Deploying satellite emergency units can only handle as much and transporting victims from the site to hospitals may take a while. This results to a considerably large number of affected individuals requiring medical attention but they have to wait in line for the appropriate medical treatment. The second level problem is the mass panic and pandemonium that might occur in the attack. People would rush out from the throng and the ensuing panic introduces the probability of more injured individuals, loss of identification, and loss of friends and relatives who were among with them before the pandemonium started. Because the situation involved an aerial chemical attack, it is most likely that some of the effects are corrosive to the body parts the chemical came in contact with. Losing important documents in the process, or being disoriented and traumatized by the event make it hard for medical doctors and police force to identify the bodies of the victims found afterwards. (4) One of the most important aspects of emergency management is how the information which pertains to the situation is handled and disseminated (Slattery, Syvertson & Krill, 2009). Risk management teams must be able to inform the public about the situation without talking too much or letting the public know too little that they could not prepare within a reasonable time. Similarly, public warning and dissemination of information to the general public must be done with great care. In emergency situations, it is necessary for the public do not panic and it is necessary that wrong information must not be let loose. Otherwise, there is a possibility that any information let loose will cause pandemonium and public disorientation which will introduce more risk issues in the long term. In view of this, public warning and information must only be given to (a) those that are generally at risk, (b) specific groups with particular needs for the information, (c) operators and managers of infrastructures, (d) category one and category two responders, and (e) individuals or groups within vulnerable sites. Individuals assigned to make public statements must construct their statements in such a way that it balances transparency with the issue of causing anxiety to the general public (Kelman, 2006). In view of this, it is necessary for the individual or the appropriate agency making the statement to identify the proper way of communicating the risk to the public and identify the type and level of information the public needs to know about the situation. (5) Incident communications have their way of distracting the public and causing widespread panic and hysteria. Disasters of greater magnitude are more prone to issues surrounding incident communications particularly when classified information about the situation is released to the public and the facts involved are blown out of proportion. This is why planning stage for every risk and disaster management should include possible issues on surrounding incident communications, particularly how these issues must be handled and what are the possible ways to contain the sensitive information from leaking to the public. The preparation can include using an agreed-upon frequencies designated for various incident functions in order to resolve misleading or disoriented communication. The incident communication plan needs to identify how communication must be handled and distributed in the command structure and which information should be passed to specific groups. This eliminates the possibility of disseminating classified and sensitive information to the public. Below is the snapshot of an incident communication plan devised by Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Operations Plan. This details which departments are responsible for specific information as well as what information are they allowed to give to the public and to other departments. Creating an incident communication plan such as this eliminates unwanted leakage of information as well as streamline the communication process since everyone involved in the risk and disaster management can be able to identify which key people are to be approached when the need for certain information arises. (6) In disaster management, it is necessary that the organization handling the situation be able to make good use of the media in order to achieve its goals and objectives, particularly the dissemination of information to the public. Below are some of the strategic steps that disaster management teams can use to utilize the media to their advantage. a) Develop a media resource inventory – pooling select media groups to work together with the organization minimizes the error in the sharing of information. It is necessary that the disaster management team be able to select highly qualified media groups that would genuinely and honestly report the status and further developments of the situation. b) Design an overall media plan – In the simplest sense, this involves choosing what information are to be passed to the media. In a broader context, this involves deciding how the media can be an advantage to the whole operation and detailing which roles the media should play in the whole operation. c) Designate a media specialist – designating a person (or a group of individuals) to handle media issues would eliminate unnecessary and misleading comments from anybody in the team. This will also eliminate possible misstatements or error in statements as the person responsible for media communications can be able to keep track of the information handed down to the media. d) Knowing the “dos” and “donts” in dealing with the media – Some of the common things that the media specialist (as well as the organization) must be aware of include: (a) proactive relay of news and information to the media, (b) keen awareness of the lead time and media lag, (c) send fax or drop calls to the designated media personnel for emergency news and information, (d) follow up news and information released to the media; (e) be available when the reporters are; and (f) inform the media about the importance of the news released to the public and the purpose of the news. Press Release Today, reports have been received from various reliable sources as well as from the public of a small aircraft spraying chemicals along the Promenade area of Blackpool where a large number of people were gathered to watch the lights display of Christmas illuminations. There were also reports about the explosion of the micro-light aircraft causing structural damage at the base of the Blackpool Tower. We would like to confirm these events. Also, we would like to inform the public that everything is under control. The central government was able to immediately attend to the needs of those who were affected and was able to contain the fire. The central government effectively contained the risk by mobilizing all its departments who can be of help to the situation. The NHS was sent on the scene as the Police Force and the Fire Departments started their operations. Various volunteers and other non-government organizations were also able to take part in the disaster management. In other words, the disaster was contained even before it spreads. We assure the public that the rest of you are safe from any harm’s way. So far, reliable reports we received indicates that there is no one among the viewers who received serious injuries except from a few skin burns and scratches. Again, we would like to emphasize that the government is able to contain the disaster and updates will be provided frequently. References City of London. (2009). Civil Emergencies Act. Retrieved online on http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Advice_and_benefits/Emergencies/Civil+emergencies+-+the+Civil+Contingencies+Act.htm Kelman, S. (2006). Disaster Management: Organizations at its Limit (Lessons from Columbia Disaster). Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 16(2):325-328 Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Operations Plan. (2008). Section 7: Incident Communications. Retrieved online www.borough.kenai.ak.us/emergency/EOP/Section_7.pdf McGlown, J (ed). (2004). Terrorism and Disaster Management. Health Administration Press. Slattery, C, Syvertson, R, and Krill, S. (2009) "The Eight Step Training Model: Improving Disaster Management Leadership," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1, Article 8.  Smith, J. (2003). Civil Contingency Planning in England. Parliamentary Affairs. 56: 410-422. Wright, R., Peters, C. & Flannery, R.(1999). Victim Identification and Family Support in Mass Casualties: The Massachusetts Model. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. 1(4); Pp 237-242. Read More