The relevance of academic knowledge to emergency management practice - Essay Example

It shall utilize references from articles published in the International Journal of Mass Emergencies & Disasters. This paper hopes to come up with a better understanding of the roles which academic knowledge plays in the management of emergencies and in the appropriate assessment of disasters and emergencies. Academic knowledge is relevant to emergency management practice because it helps to provide evidence and practical information about the options of medical care during emergencies. These studies or academic knowledge establish theories which serve as bases for practice and applied interventions.

The studies which shall be discussed below are academic studies or researches which provide relevant information which now and has since been used as basis in emergency practice. In a paper by Clason (1983), she attempted to evaluate the role that family plays in a person’s ability to cope with disaster. Specifically, this study sought to evaluate the assumption that family is an important factor which helps support societal organizations. In this regard, the best approach in helping families cope with disaster is through the family.

This study then sought to answer the question on whether or not individuals can cope better with disaster on a large scale when they are living in family units; and if the individualized conjugal family unit with clear-cut divisions of labor roles offers better chances as compared to other family types (Clason, 1983). This study used the situation of Japanese camps for civilians during the Second World War where the Japanese built allied camps for men only, for women and children only, for men and boys, and for families.

Camps built in Indonesia, Shanghai and the Philippines were the main focus for this paper. Materials for this study were mainly taken from accounts of Dr. D. van Velden, from accounts of inmates, and from accounts of the author