In the next year:
• A worker team or workgroup should be created to address the ongoing handling of emergency content within the context of umbrella institution content. This workgroup should:
⚬ Use data gathered from the initial training organizational vulnerability self-assessment to address training and design of strategic emergency planning that includes constituent education.
⚬ Seek best practices in emergency management to the scale of the organization for a realistic workload, timeline, and use of recommended resources, actions, and budget.
⚬ Design a plan to maintain processes to use umbrella organization information for complete disaster planning content.
⚬ Design a plan for updating/maintaining content/strategic plans and data protection.
⚬ Provide ongoing orientation, continuing education, and awareness of emergency issues and—as needed—unique training for workers and constituents in general.
⚬ Provide ongoing orientation, continuing education, and awareness of emergency issues and staff and constituents with special needs.
• Organizations (the workgroup in combination with area managers and the umbrella institution) should assess emergency kit needs for workers and constituents—in the building/on site—for basic protection.
• Administration/management should assess budget planning for emergency management and request funds—if appropriate—for needs identified by workgroup strategic planning.
Twenty-First-Century Emergencies and Disasters
For decades, managers have been encountering unexpected situations and dealing with them in a wide variety of ways. And although it is safe to say that there is nothing “new” about the existence of these unexpected situations—or “emergencies and disasters”—in work and work-related environments, the number and the type of unexpected situations have changed as well as ways of preparing for, dealing with, and follow-up for handling issues as well as follow-up for future prevention.
Twenty-first-century issues related to emergencies and disasters include the following: the terms “emergencies and disasters” are now typically used interchangeably, the literature in these areas has grown exponentially, umbrella terms vary and include “emergency management” or “emergency preparedness,” public policy has changed dramatically, human resources issues have changed and grown, customer issues have changed and grown, and—in general—preparedness and response policies, procedures, and processes have changed.
Definitions of the terms “emergency” and “disaster” vary as well. They separate workplace emergencies from home emergencies and describe activities as events or accidents that are unanticipated, unexpected, and/or unforeseen. These workplace events are characterized as resulting or occurring from man-made and/or natural factors threatening the workforce and constituents as well as events that cause operations to cease and/or the interruption and possible altering of workflow or services to customers, and/or the cause of damages to the physical, virtual, and/or digital workplace. Also included in most definitions is the impact on the organization and individuals working in the environment as well as using services and resources provided by the organization.
Other twenty-first-century issues include “Are disasters occurring at a greater rate, in greater numbers and—if so—why?” “Why might some natural disasters also be categorized as man-made?” “What are the contemporary challenges to preparedness and prevention of disasters?” “What are preparedness and prevention elements?”
Are disasters occurring at a greater rate, in greater numbers and—if so—why?
Yes, disasters are occurring at a greater rate and in greater numbers and, of course, we now know much more about the number and type of disasters happening everywhere given twenty-first-century communications. Although there are many reasons for these changes—in general—climate change, waning legislative protection, use of land, changing population patterns, and increasing populations are thought to be the primary reasons.
Why might some natural disasters also be categorized as man-made?
“Man’s” use of natural resources, the changing nature and growth of cities and diverse building patterns are just a few of the reasons why some disasters—historically thought of as natural—might now also be caused by man or considered “man made.”
What are the contemporary challenges to preparedness and prevention of disasters?
The preparedness and prevention of disasters has always been and continues to be challenging. Although most people would identify the United States as a country that could always successfully respond to disasters, given recent natural and man-made disasters, this is no longer a commonly held belief. Challenges for all countries then include aging infrastructures, lack of funding, changing natural resources, lack of coordination among the stakeholders, and lack of designated partnerships as well as—whether alone or cooperatively—a lack of strategic planning.
What are preparedness and prevention elements?
Although the basic elements of disasters have not changed appreciably over the past decades, certain elements are of more concern—depending on the disaster. For example, the impact of disasters has always been anticipated, but now, more than ever, the impact on human beings has been so much greater given contemporary knowledge of the medical and physical effect of disaster elements. Besides the human factor and immediate care, long-term care and rehabilitation, the social factor, and the economic impact and environmental impact are critical elements. Keeping this broad picture of the effect of disasters, the best preparedness and prevention elements include significant, strategic planning.
Categorizing examples of emergencies and disasters used to include relatively clear-cut divisions between natural and man-made. In twenty-first-century emergency preparedness or emergency management, however, several areas that used to be clearly defined as natural, now—in fact—could also be man-made.
Emergencies and/or Disasters
There are a myriad of lists of emergencies and disasters in emergency management literature. Many lists attempt to categorize these events into the standard “natural” and “man made,” while others—obviously—list only those events they “handle” or “cover” in their service or support. The following list is an attempt to merge all lists into one under general, umbrella terms. Obviously, emergencies and emergency recovery content overlap, and one event does not exclude another. For example, content on “fire” will more than likely include content from “water damage” and treatment for water damage might be a blend between “fire” recovery—even though materials may be burned or smoke damaged first—and flood recovery information.
That being said, general categories for emergencies include the following:
• Civil disturbances, conflicts, terrorism, and/or wars
• Earthquakes
• Explosions
• Fires (forest fires, wildfires, building/ground fires)
• Hazardous Materials (chemical spills/accidents, human elements, nuclear, oil spills, radiological accidents, toxic gas releases)
• Landslides
• Mass population displacement/refugee emigration/migrant encampment
• Pestilence/pest control
• Volcanic activity
• Water (dam failure, floods, tsunami)
• Weather (cyclones, droughts, heat, hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornados,
• Typhoons, winter)
•