EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

A basic principle of emergency management is that we can do something useful both before and after the disaster-triggering event occurs. This is called comprehensive emergency management, and includes mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.

Mitigation: Mitigation eliminates or lessens the severity of the disaster. This can be done in a couple of ways. One is physical separation. Quite simply, one could move out of the disaster zone, thereby eliminating the danger. Someone living in California and fearing earthquakes could move to, say, Texas. Since often this is not practical, the other mitigation option is to lessen the severity. Prevention is seen in many ways: building on high ground in a flood plain (flooding) ; seismic upgrading of one’s home (earthquake); maintaining mangrove swamps along tropical coastlines (tsunami); creating a tree or vegetation-free zone around one’s home  (wildfires). These measures assume that the disaster may eventually occur, but they will lessen the impact on life or property.

Preparedness: This includes awareness, training, and resources in order to be prepared for the impact of the event. Some of the information on this website, such as Emergency Preparedness Moments, directs you toward awareness and preparedness. Discussions and walk-though exercises or drills with family members and community regarding what to do, when to do it, where to go, and how to stay in touch with each other – this is preparedness. Organizing and training as a neighborhood response team is preparedness.  Having a Grab-and-Go bag and other emergency kits is on hand is preparedness.

Response: This is what it says. We respond based upon the event at hand. It’s our human nature; our survival instinct.  If the other measures have been considered, response can be systematic, controlled, and effective. Otherwise, it can be the ‘disaster’ inside the disaster. The biggest misconception regarding response probably is that someone else will take care of us, that some group or person will respond and save us. Natural disaster response is deceptive, because often media reports show a mass of people pouring in to assist.  This may or may not  happen.  If it does, this response is usually short-lived, coupled with the nature of media coverage. “If it bleeds, it leads,” the saying goes. Once the bleeding stops, the story stops. The money stops. Public interest stops.

Recovery: Packing up the cameras and ending photo ops after a disaster has become ‘old news’ is not the end of disaster management. The less glamorous phase lies ahead.  Recovery involves the long term assistance to restore the community, its citizens, and services to a sense of normalcy.  A misconception is that recovery follows after response.  Recovery should begin immediately after the disaster occurs. Historically, the goal of recovery has been restoration of the community to a level as before the disaster. However, the disaster may be directly related to the lack of mitigation or prevention measures. Therefore, appropriate recovery should include measures to assure that the disaster does not have a similar impact in the future. Recovery is both expensive and time-consuming. For example, many are shocked that New Orleans is still in the recovery phase from Hurricane Katrina in 2004, at a cost of tens of billions.

Some phases of  emergency management may occur concurrently. Like a strong cord, they should be intertwined to form an effective disaster protection program.

Thanks for reading.

 Monty