The Disaster Management Cycle - Essay Example

PHYSICAL SECURITY Ans To answer to the first question one needs to have a proper understanding of the disaster management cycle. Given below is the image of the Disaster Management Cycle (which is not a standardized representation as many authors have different break-ups of the cycle): Figure 1: Disaster Management Cycle As can be seen from the afore-mentioned picture, there are essentially two parts to the entire process of disaster management namely, Risk Management and Crisis Management. In context with the problem statement, the afore-depicted points stand true as well. The emergency management plan should cover the following key aspects for the safety of the Maracana Stadium during the Olympic Games: Risk Management Crisis Management Mitigation & Prevention Impact Assessment Preparedness Response Prediction & Warning Recovery & Reconstruction The prevention & mitigation of any sort of risk should be the first priority in the disaster management process. The steps taken to prevent any risk are stringent security checks, surveillance, detection and raids. Security checks at all the entries are a must before as well as during the event. Security checks of the entire premises are also very important throughout the course of the games. Simultaneously, the preparation for averting any kind of emergency should start months before the event is about to occur. Constant vigilance should be the need of the hour. Swift medical attention should be ready to be dispatched if need be. Investigative and preventive raids in the shady areas of Rio should take place so as to curb the nefarious elements living in those places who could pose security threats during the games. In spite of all these preventive measures, it may happen that a potential security threat may surface up. At such a time, it is important to predict the phases of the threat and issue a warning. Safe exit of the spectators from the stadium in this case becomes very important. In case, the security threat does materialize and occur, crisis management steps are to be taken in that case. The first and foremost step of the crisis management is to assess the impact of the disaster. The casualties and the damage will need to be tapped because then only the disaster management can be planned. The critical path to establishing safety and security needs to be formulated as quickly as possible which can only happen after a proper impact assessment. The response to the security threat is the next significant step. I feel a safe evacuation of the stadium shall always be an inherent part of the response. Apart from that, medical aid should also be provided thriftily to the afflicted. In case there has been damage to the stadium building, technicians and fire-fighters also need to be at hand. The recovery from this security lapse needs to be quick so as to hamper the confidence of the perpetrators of the security breach. Nothing can be more discouraging to them than a speedy recovery and reconstruction after the disaster. Ans-2) The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games are very important part of the entire event. It receives a lot of viewership both in the stadium as well as in the TV audience. The parade of the participating nations during the opening ceremony is a popular custom of the Olympic Games and consequently, a possible point of security threat. If one remembers the Munich Games in 1972, when the Israeli athletes were attacked and executed in their hotels by a group of Palestinian terrorists. The attack on the Israeli athletes was in the hotel and not during the opening ceremony parade but which is very much possible. There is a possibility that during the opening ceremony a certain country’s athlete may get attacked by a terrorist group. It may also happen that the opening ceremony may get sabotaged altogether by a terrorist or militia group so as to defame the pride of the host country. In any of these cases, it becomes very important to understand the fact that security breaches are possible and consequently, security needs to be tightened. The steps taken to prevent such mishaps are as follows: a) Proper background checks of the people who are going to perform in the opening and closing ceremonies. b) Issuing of proper access cards and limited access to an individual except if he/she happens to be an important authority. c) Proper electronic surveillance of the stadium by putting up CCTV cameras. d) Security guards in plain clothes should be made to sit amongst the crew so that they can surreptitiously keep an eye on the proceedings and people. e) Proper background checks of the players/participants who belong to the various nations. f) Proper frisking of the spectators that are going to attend the event. g) Proper scouring of the venue so as to prevent the possibility of any kind of weapons or arms/ammunitions which may be used to create a disaster during the course of the event. h) Proper background check of the TV crew, support staff and people who are working for the games i) Proper searching of the sports village so as to eliminate the chances of any security breach. j) Limiting the use of any combustible/hazardous substance during the ceremony. Fireworks to be executed by a proper pyro-technician. k) Proper fencing and cordoning off the spectators with the players/sportsperson. Equally important is upholding the security during the medal distribution ceremony all for the same reasons which have been mentioned above. Again, it might happen that to hamper the national pride of the host nation or the participating nation one may try to attack the winning team/sportsperson during the medal-distribution ceremony. Also, it may happen that a winning participant or sportsperson maybe a terrorist supporter or a terrorist itself in guise. All the above steps hold true in such a case as well as the following: a) The medal distribution should take place in an open space soa s to prevent any damage by explosion. b) The VIP who is presenting the medals to the people should not get in touch with anyone prior to the meeting with the winners. c) Proper background check of the support staff/TV crew is important in this case as well. d) One needs to frisk the spectators who enter the stadium during the event. e) Investigative teams along with trained dogs should be on surveillance all the time so as to prevent any kind of security breach. f) The control on goods/objects that are being used during the event should be cautiously exercised by having a stringent security check on the logistics as well. Ans-3) CBNRE stands for Chemical, Biological, Nuclear, and Radiological Exposed Threat. The Maria Lenk Aquatic Center is the venue for all the watersports that is going to take place during the Olympics. The biggest security breach that can happen in the Aquatic Center is due to CBNRE because of the presence of water. As is known to many, water is the medium agent for all sorts of chemical and biological reactions. Many disease are water-borne, many pathological agents are water-borne. Therefore, it is very important to safeguard the water of the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center. The most likely security threats that can happen in the Aquatic Center are as follows: a) The spread of water-borne diseases or maladies by the introduction of noxious chemical agent in the water of the aquatic center. b) The spread of water-borne diseases or maladies by the introduction of noxious biological agent in the water of the aquatic center. c) The spread of water-borne diseases or maladies by the introduction of noxious nuclear and radiological agents in the water of the aquatic center. d) The possibility of other mishaps that can occur using water as the vector. e) There is a possibility of people getting afflicted by serious health hazards when they come in contact with the polluted water for e.g. there may be a chemical agent surreptitiously introduced in the water by a notorious person/group which may damage the skin of the swimmers and cause it to scald. f) There may also be a threat of explosion in the water tanks which may cause insta-flooding and deluging of the premises for some time. All these potential security threats need to be analysed and checked prior to the possibility of any of them happening. The steps that needs to be taken so as to prevent any of these are as follows: a) There needs to be a proper authorization over entry to the water-housing room. b) There needs to be a proper cleaning of the water tanks by emptying them completely. The tanks need to be sanitized and completely purified before letting in the water in them. c) Similarly, the swimming pool and the indoor tank also need s to be completely sanitized a week before the commencement of the games. d) Proper searching of the objects/stuffs that are being used for the games. Chemical inspection of any suspicious object should take place. Care should be taken esp. in the case of sports gear like water polo ball. e) Proper frisking of the spectators should take place. f) Proper electronic surveillance of the stadium by putting up CCTV cameras. g) Security guards in plain clothes should be made to sit amongst the crew so that they can surreptitiously keep an eye on the proceedings and people. h) The spectators should be cordoned off from the swimming pool and the tanks. Utmost care should be taken that no unauthorized person comes in contact with the water at all. i) Background check of the people who are working in the Aquatic Center needs to be done. j) A mental health report of the people who are working in the Aqautic Center needs to be demanded apart from any other qualification deemed necessary. k) Regular testing of the water in the swimming pools and the tank needs to be done so as to check whether or not it’s unadulterated and free from any CBNRE agent. l) Care should be taken to ensure that the changing room is well scoured and sanitized as well. It may happen that the security flouter may think of polluting the changing room than the water of the swimming pool or the tanks. Similarly, the participating swimmers need to be searched for any malevolent intent or substance use. Ans-4) The security assessment of the nearby hospital or medical center is also very significant and critical to the overall security process. Hospitals are locations of maximum vulnerability if compared to other locations which are part of the entire event. There is a possibility that a minor disaster may lead to the hospitalization of some people (sportsters/spectators/organizers) and a major disaster can be planned to be executed in the hospital because it provides a good vantage point to the perpetrators of the security breach. As such it becomes mandatory to have a proper physical security assessment of the hospital in question. The hospital in question is the Hospital Mayer which is just 1.2 kms away from the Maracana Stadium. The steps to be taken in the assessment process are as follows: a) The physical security of the hospital needs to be spiked up more than regular in lieu of the games. b) The security of the wards, the labs, the OTs event the washrooms needs to be spiked up more than usual. c) No entry without proper authorization should be administered. d) Proper electronic surveillance of the stadium by putting up CCTV cameras. e) Security guards in plain clothes should always be present in the hospital premises so that they can keep a watch on everyone/thing. f) The access to the labs should only be to the lab assistants and the concerened doctors of the department. g) Proper background checks of the doctors/nurses/supporting staff working in the hospital. h) Proper background check of other patients that maybe admitted to the hospital as there is a possibility of terrorists present in the hospital under the guise of patients waiting to execute their plan of wreaking disaster. i) The drugs and medicines present in the facility needs to be verified by a games committee authorized medical expert team before they are administerd on any individual. j) The securing of the building by armed security personnel and safeguarding of all sorts of entry/exit points. k) Proper scouring of the facility twice a day during the games for the presence of any noxious substance. l) In case of an emergency, a safe exit should be planned and properly executed. m) The hospital should have resources so as to combat an outbreak of fires. n) Communication with other hospitals that are nearby in case of any emergency and a fleet of ambulances in running condition which are properly equipped. REFERENCES Khan, H., Khan, A., & Giurca, L. (n.d.). Disaster management cycle – a theoretical approach. Retrieved from www.mnmk.ro/documents/2008/2008-6.pdf Disaster management cycle. (2009). Retrieved from http://ertsarhq.webs.com/epdm.htm Hospital Mayer. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hospitalmayer.com.br/ Maria Lenk Aquatic Center. (2012, MARC 11). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Lenk_Aquatic_Center Read More