Complete 3 pages APA formatted article: Effective Planning and Management of Emergencies.

Complete 3 pages APA formatted article: Effective Planning and Management of Emergencies. CASESTUDY NO 3

RESPONSE PLANNING

Trauma and distress can be minimized by effective planning and management of emergencies. Natural disasters and calamities like floods, storms, hurricanes and fires hit with no or little forewarning. In the hour of emergency, planning can help minimizing the strain. Planning well in advanced can save lives, avert injuries and play down property damages (Bedenek, 2007). Emergency response planning has three major stages:

Prevention:

Prevention is better than cure. A procrastinating mind set with an approach that. “we will handle it as and when it occurs” is injurious. As a corporate security manager I shall ascertain the deficiencies like lack of resources in terms of equipment, supplies, trained personnel or items that require rectification to face the emergency (Gibson, 2007). I shall do pre-emergency preparation by training my people for using alerting services, handling casualties, knowledge of available options and corrective measures in case of any emergency. I shall place an emergency departure plan in the organization. All the members of the organization will be trained to use the plan and understand various signs it has to avoid panicking. Precautionary measures, safety policy and rules will be established and communicated to all employees to avoid any mishap (Beutler, 2007).

A crises management team will be trained and educated to provide emergency services such as fire fighting, dangerous goods handling, evacuation and first aid medical services. Proper infrastructure in terms of emergency equipment required will be in place like. firefighting equipment, first aid medical materials and communications tools etc. Facilities such as protection areas, safe path ways and well defined evacuation plans shall be maintained. Trainings will be conducted for institutional strengthening. Backup system will be in place to restore and recover all information assets (Borque, 2006).

Response:

Emergency response stage includes identification of the most critically hit area and then mobilizing emergency services to that area. In response stage I shall rescue the disaster area by channelizing the core emergency services like police, ambulances and fire fighters etc. The less hit areas will be informed to remain precautious so that any panic may not harm or multiply the effect of calamity. The next step is to impede the disaster by understanding the root cause to it. An effective leadership team shall be taken on board to coordinate with the initial responders and implement a disciplined response plan. The coordination will help to transform the vague steps in to correct responses by adapting to the actual information and changed circumstances as they arise. Response needs to be a hybrid of discipline and agility. A doctrine or plan of action along with the ability to adapt is necessary to respond a crises situation (Gibson, 2007).

Recovery:

The restoration of affected areas in to their original condition is called recovery. After addressing the immediate needs decisions concerning re employment, re building of destructed property and renovation of basic infrastructure are significant. In this stage my approach will be to “build better”. I shall study the entire crises with focus on the causes and reasons of the emergency and then will incorporate my learning in to a much better and more resilient plan.

To conclude as a Corporate Security Manager I shall take proactive steps in order to ensure the security of the corporate assets. Capacity building and institutional strengthening are the keys to prepare well for an emergency. Leadership plays an important role in case of emergency response where as recovery stage should envisage risks associated.

REFERENCES

Bedenek, D.M., Fullerton, C., & Ursano, R.J. (2007). First responders: Mental health consequences of natural and human-made disasters for public health and public safety workers. Annual Review of Public Health

Bourque, L.B., Siegel, J.M., Kano, M., & Wood, M.M. (2006). Weathering the storm: The impact of hurricanes on physical and mental health. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

British Psychological Society (BPS) (2008). Database of disaster resources: London: BPS, Disasters, Crisis and Trauma Working Party.

Gheytanchi, A., Joseph, L., Gierlach, E., Kimpara, S., Houseley, J., Franco, Z.E. & Beutler, L.E. (2007). The dirty dozen: Twelve failures of the Hurricane Katrina response and how psychology can help. American Psychologist.

Gibson, L.E., Ruzek, J.I., Naturale, A.J., Watson, P.J., Bryant, R.A., Rynearson, T., Young, B.H. & Hamblen, J.L. (2007) Interventions for individuals.Journal of Trauma Practice.

Jacobs, G.A., & Meyer, D.L. (2006). Psychological first aid: Clarifying the concept. In L. Barbanel & R.J. Sternberg (Eds) Psychological interventions in times of crisis New York: Springer Publishing.

Ehrenreich J H (2001) A Guidebook to Psychosocial Intervention. Centre for Psychology and Society, State University of New York: Old Westbury, NY.

Medici, John and Steve Patrick, (1996), Emergency Response to Incidents Involving Chemical & Biological Warfare Agents. Richmond, VA: Virginia Dept. of Emergency National Fire Academy, (1988), Command and Control of Fire Department Major Operations. Student Manual.