with respect to hurricanes is one that must include a better system of communication between the U.S. disaster response teams and the hospitals in the affected regions. As Hurricane Katrina showed, the U.S. was not prepared to handle the level of response needed in the wake of the catastrophe the hurricane produced. The problems with the response to Hurricane Katrina were numerous: there was no National Response Plan (NPR) in place and there was no National Incident Management System (NIMS) in existence. Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was virtually ineffective: it had been in decline for years, was suffering from significant turnover among top leaders,… Continue Reading...
for prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. This four phases of the disaster response framework reflects the philosophy that ideally preventing disasters, both natural and manmade, is ideal. But at present it is not realistic to assume that all disasters can be prevented, and thus there are mitigation and protection strategies to deal with this fact. Depending on the nature of the organization, more of its efforts may be devoted to one of the four phases, but effective management still requires every relief agency to be at least somewhat aware of and involved in participating all phases of such efforts. The four… Continue Reading...
April of the following year. FEMA chiefly aims at coordinating disaster response within the nation which tends to overwhelm state and local level resources.
FEMA aids areas and complete states that find themselves vulnerable to a calamity or overwhelmed by it. Moreover, it organizes crisis management functions and devises governmental continuity plans in the event of threats to national security (Burns, 2006). Ever since its institution, the agency has directed various authorities which facilitate its role as the central federal, monetary and technical support source in the emergency management domain (Anderson, 2002). The different kinds of aid the agency offers… Continue Reading...
of residents homeless. The situation presented a major crisis for organizations mandated with disaster response, particularly the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA). Many agencies and people have criticized FEMA for not attending to the disaster with adequate urgency, as well as for its failure to warn the residents adequately prior to the storm. Such criticism often puts the reputation of disaster response organizations at stake. FEMA may be subject to greater public pressure, leading to internal reorganization and even dismissal of some officials.
Public Health and Safety
In February 2016, Johnson & Johnson, a multinational firm involved in manufacturing medical devices as well… Continue Reading...
inter-agency communication. FEMA is the primary overseer of coordinated, integrated training in effective disaster response, offering local officials educational material and opportunities for strategic planning.
Every emergency is experienced at the local level first. While federal agencies provide guidance, leadership, training,… Continue Reading...
(Nowell & Steelman, 2015). Public awareness of fire safety, building codes, disaster response, emergency preparedness, and disaster prevention are all facilitated through education. The educational process requires affiliation with community groups including schools, healthcare organizations, community or activity groups, local business, faith based organizations, and particularly the media. As Carter & Rausch (2008) point out, fire service administrators also need to forge creative strategic alliances with local hospitality service industries like hotels, as well as light industry in the area. The key issue with forging these types of alliances is staff training, but information sharing is also a valuable bonus in… Continue Reading...
