Emergency management

Emergency Management 670 week 11 Conference
After studying the handbook, one lesson that stood up is that emergency management is about preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery to all forms of emergencies and disasters. I have learned that successful emergency management requires a multidisciplinary approach whereby all agencies whether at Community level, County level, State level or Federal level should integrate their efforts towards the response and recovery processes. For instance, non-governmental organizations should help in the recovery process by providing food stuffs and counseling the victims of disasters. It is essential for National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to develop strategic partnership with other stakeholders and implement proactive approaches to emergency management (National Emergency Management Association, 2011). Emergency managers should coordinate with other Federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and National Weather Service in disaster preparedness. I have noticed that safeguarding the critical infrastructures like the highways, buildings and seaports is not enough since Emergency Management efforts should focus on hazard identification, and land use planning (Virginia Department of Emergency Management, 2007). I have understood that emergency managers should save and protect lives in case of disasters, mitigate damage on physical property and environment, coordinate communications through incident command system (ICS) and provide essential services to the victims (National Emergency Management Association, 2011). I have also learned that Emergency Operations Center should involve members from different skills background such as fire services, search and rescue operations, transportation, medical services, and relief support and information technology in order to coordinate the communications and operations. My respondents suggested several skills that Emergency Managers that are critical. For instance, some mentioned that emergency managers should have specialized skills in disaster identification and assessment. I acknowledge that is a critical skill in modern emergency management since prior hazard identification, mitigation and preparedness will be capable of reducing the impact and damage to property and loss of lives. I believe that the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina and Gulf Coast oil spills would be minimal if the emergency management departments had foreseen the disasters. For instance, the emergency managers would have issued warnings for people to evacuate from the disaster zones thus minimizing the loss of lives. California Emergency Function Annex workbook helps me understand the functions of some lead agencies in emergency management such as Transport and Housing Agency that is tasked with evacuation of victims, and California Environmental Protection Agency that deals with removal of any hazardous materials. The readings helped me understand the emergency support functions like warnings systems, multijurisdictional coordination and donations management from the community groups and private sector organizations (California Department of Emergency Management, 2009).
My second reflection after the readings is on the knowledge, personal skills and qualities of emergency managers. I believe that emergency managers should display professionalism in communicating the disasters and coordinating the rescue and recovery efforts. For one to successfully perform his job, he should specialize in a certain discipline of emergency management such as risk management, disaster communications, fire fighting, search and rescue or even counseling of victims and community disaster awareness advocacy. It is clear that emergency managers need to display interpersonal skills, team work and self-motivation in their duties. The managers should seek partnerships with the local population in disaster mitigation and response.
References:
National Emergency Management Association. (2011). State emergency management director handbook. Lexington, KY: pp. 13 – 97.
Virginia Department of Emergency Management. (2007). State emergency support function (ESF) matrix. Emergency Operations Plan, Appendix F. Available from: http://www. vaemergency. gov/sites/default/files/COVEOpBasicPlanAppendixF_%20ESFMatrixSepESFMat2007version9_1_2010. pdf.
National Emergency Management Association. (2011). State emergency management director handbook. Lexington, KY. Available from http://nemaweb. org/index. php? option= com_pollydoc&format= raw&view= doc&id= 2618.
California Department of Emergency Management. (2009), California Emergency Function Annex Workbook. State Emergency Plan: Emergency Functions. Available from: http://www. calema. ca. gov/PlanningandPreparedness/Documents/California%20Emergency %20Function%20Workbook%202009. pdf.