Global Perspectives in Emergency Management - Admission/Application Essay Example

Global Perspectives in Emergency Management of the Over the years, countries have suffered enormous losses after the occurrence of a disaster. A disaster may result from man-made or natural hazards that cause significant damage of property, environment and loss of lives. This has prompted various countries to adopt disaster risk reduction so as to mitigate the impact of the disaster. Disaster Risk Reduction involves risk analysis, assessment, awareness and disaster risk management. Although they are expensive to implement, they are effective in cost reduction in the event a disaster. This paper will focus on discussing environmental management, land-use planning, safe construction building and early warning systems as functions of disaster risk reduction. Environmental management The environment is directly linked to disaster. This is because the changes in the environment predispose to the occurrence of a disaster. Deterioration of the environment reduces its capability to deal with the impact of a disaster and thus increase the community’s vulnerability. Environment management seeks to reduce a community’s vulnerability and the occurrence of environment related disasters. It involves the strategic conservation of the ecosystem. Environment management involves the coming up of strategies that facilitate sustainable development and use, conservation and fair sharing of the returns accruing from the use of the resource (International Strategy for Disaster Management [ISDR], 2004). Environmental management involves the use of various tools. These include environmental laws and policies, impact assessment, ecological economics and implementation of standards and codes. These tools are effectively applied in the wetlands where disasters include storms, floods, pollution, tides and hurricanes. The tools applicable include control of soil erosion, storage of water, flood mitigation and shore stabilization (ISDR, 2004). A country tremendously benefits from the adoption of environmental management tools as a form of risk reduction. This is because environmental management uses the risk management approach to develop the tools. This means that a country identifies and assesses a risk as early as possible then comes up with a project or plan to address the risk. An example is the China National Wetlands Conservation Action Plan which consists of laws aimed at preserving the wetlands. The adoption of environmental tools leads to the preservation of one resource, which also contributes to the risk reduction of other forms of disaster. In Switzerland, the preservation of the natural forest has significantly contributed to protection against landslides, floods and draught. The adoption of these tools is also effective in reducing the overall cost of rehabilitation. In addition to risk reduction, environmental management also advocates for sustainable use and development of the eco-system. It also advocates for fair distribution of the resources accrued from utilizing these resources. This contributes to poverty alienation and improvement of the economy. For example in flood mitigation, the water stored can be used for farming and thus preventing draught. Although environmental management tools are applicable in various countries, it is difficult to evaluate environmental services. This is crucial in determining the risk to give priority (ISDR, 2004). Land Use Planning According to the ISDR, land use planning involves establishing a relationship between the available land for use, physical demand for the land and the population growth in an area (2004). Proper utilization of this parameter saves the land and environment in case of an impending disaster. This model involves three stages: proper planning, provision of materials to oversee the completion of the task and finally the evaluation and keeping track of progress (ISDR, 2004). The principal advantage associated with this model is that it plays a pivotal role in disaster mitigation if it is meticulously applied. However, the proper implementation remains elusive as it faces a number of economic, cultural and social challenges. An example of such conflict is planning for land which the community relies on as a source of income e.g. areas around volcanoes are a tourist attraction site. This can also be observed in the establishment of industries and residential places in the wetland areas. Moreover, the process of planning for land utilization remains a challenge since most times there are conflicting interests with people involved placing their personal benefits first (ISDR, 2004). In addition, the dynamic growth of the population will also pose as a challenge to this model and hence it may require regular evaluation and modification. The dynamic nature of parameters like vulnerability, the cost of land and cost of services also pose a challenge to the successful implementation of this model (ISDR, 2004). Various countries have implemented and executed this model successfully. In Switzerland, the land is assigned three color codes based on the risk of incidence of a disaster. In areas coded red no constructions are allowed as they are areas with high potential for disaster to occur. Blue coded areas signify moderate risk and hence constructions have to adhere to the stipulated building codes. In yellow coded areas, the risk is minimal thus no building codes are enforced. Safe Building Construction and Protection of Critical Facilities It entails the establishment of safe housing and infrastructure in disaster prone areas. This can take various forms: construction of new and strong buildings resistant to disasters potential disasters, strengthening of already existing infrastructure in these areas or repair of old buildings that had been affected by a previous disaster. It requires merging of professionals from different fields e.g. engineers, architects, urban planners and the relevant stakeholders. Emphasis is placed especially in the strengthening of the infrastructure of crucial facilities to improve safety e.g. hospitals, government facilities, educational facilities, social places and monuments which should have their unique building codes. The implementation of this model would lead to mitigation of the impact felt after a disaster; however, there are many challenges faced. Though the documentation of these measures is easy, the process of implementation remains elusive as many people remain non-compliant. The concerned stake holders e.g. investors and local politicians, may not be enlightened or motivated enough to adhere to these codes and hence the measures remain futile. Moreover, the inability of the professionals assigned to work collectively to the development of better infrastructure may further frustrate the efforts. Furthermore, the rise in the number of informal settlements and non-engineered buildings, which mainly is in disaster prone areas, may also slow down the implementation of this model (ISDR, 2004). The use of substandard materials with the aim of reducing costs has also markedly impaired the realization of disaster resistant infrastructure. Implementation of this model has shown to be successful in a number of cases. In Saint Lucia, building codes are a success story following the efforts by the National Research & Development Foundation availing funds for the strengthening of infrastructure. On the other hand, failures have been observed. An example of such a failure is Algeria which failed to observe seismic building codes despite to being a seismic prone area. This led to massive loss of lives following the collapse of many buildings in an earthquake that occurred in May 2003 in that country. Another example of such a failure is Turkey which suffered massive loss of lives in 1999 and 2003. Despite the 1999 earthquake that claimed 20,000 people in the country, adequate measures were not instituted hence leading to the avoidable loss of lives four years later (ISDR, 2004). Financial and Economic Tools The occurrence of a disaster leads to a heavy financial burden to those that it impacts. Therefore, it is safer to allocate funds to prevent the disaster from happening as this would be less expensive than the cost of the disaster (ISDR, 2004). Although, insurance would be considered an effective tool to cushion people from disasters, it is not reliable as most of the natural disasters that occur are not covered. The best way to combat disasters using this model is the acquisition of funds that will facilitate preparedness and enhance mitigation measures. Though many governments set aside funds for disasters, they are mainly for emergency incase the disaster happens and hence mitigation and preparedness funds are hardly available. The additional funds can be acquired from international lending bodies. The funds are mainly used for reconstruction of buildings and infrastructure or reconstitution of the public service for social service delivery. The major demerit of this model is associated with the new methods associated with analysis of risk that may complicate funding. Success stories associated with this model include the money that had been allocated as disaster in Honduras and Nicaragua following the October 1998 Mitch Hurricane that hit these areas (ISDR, 2004). The kitty enabled the people acquire basic needs and enabled them to reconstruct after the disaster happened. Early Warning Systems This refers to the processes and activities put in place in anticipation of a disaster, so as to reduce the loss of property and lives. The process of disaster mitigation using this model is via three steps. In the first step, there is the utilization of scientific methods to identify and gauge the severity of an impending disaster. This is followed by the process of disbursement of the information to the population at risk and the relevant authorities. The final step entails the implementation of adequate measures by the authorities and the population at risk so as to avert the possible dire effects of the disaster (ISDR, 2004). The benefits associated with this model is acts as a rapid preparedness tool and leads to salvage of loss and time especially associated with unanticipated disasters (ISDR, 2004). This has been advanced by the development of rapid ways of communication and milestones that have been made in technology that allow rapid forecasting of disasters. There are several challenges that face the EWS model. To begin with, there is a breakdown in sending of information to the people affected by the disaster as it is not simplified in a manner that they can comprehend. In addition, there is a lack of necessary resources and infrastructure to respond to the EWS. Nevertheless even in situations where the resources are present, the lack of proper planning or training may further hinder the aversion of the impact of the disaster (ISDR, 2004). Indeed the response remains either panic or indifference with many people more concerned with loss of property through looting rather than the loss that is due to the disaster. An example of a success story is the Phillipines 1991 volcanic eruption story at Mount Pinatubo. In that disaster, the implementation of EWS contributed to aversion of deaths of many people (ISDR, 2004). Another success story involves the Bangladesh who came up with the cyclone preparedness program that has reduced the impact associated with cyclone disasters in the region. On the other side of the coin, an example of failure of EWS was observed in Australia where despite an alarm to evacuate residents in the flood stricken town of Grafton, most people were not compliant and refused to evacuate. Reference List International Strategy for Disaster Management (ISDR). (2004). Living with Risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives, vol 1. Retrieved from http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/657 Read More