Emergency Management and Private Sector Research Paper

Introduction to Emergency Management

Emergency management is a very broad topic that deals with the avoidance of risks. In case of a risk occurrence, it is also responsible for dealing with that risk. Emergency management also makes efforts that how can one be prepared for the emergency before it takes place. The response to the disaster, supporting and rebuilding is also the part of the emergency management. It is a very broad field and it cannot be kept under the boundaries. The more you know about this field, the more you explore. Emergency management is also providing skilled and experienced people who are capable of dealing with the emergencies. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) gave rise to the emergency management in the year 1979. Since then many organizations whether state or local have included within them the department of emergency management. This inclusion shows the need of the emergency management. There are many different kinds of hazards that the society can face in the daily life. These hazards can be technical, environmental or natural hazards. Emergency management makes efforts for dealing with these risks so that they can survive and manage the various hazards. The hazards sometimes also cause disasters, and emergency management is also responsible for making the people to deal with these disasters. Government is not responsible for providing emergency management. It is required that individuals should also try to make efforts for protecting themselves from the affects of the hazards as well as disasters. In some situations, emergency management also needs some financial favor from others. So a wide network support is required by the public, organizations, government and other countries in order to manage emergency. The protection of society, environment, public and life is a very critical issue and for this reason the emergency management holds much importance. It is recommended that the government and the organizations should take equal part in solidifying the field of emergency management. In this paper we have discussed that how the local or state emergency management involve the private sector for the provision of resources that may help to deal with the disasters. It describes the involvement of private sector in the local or state emergency management. (Waugh, 2000)

Phases of Emergency Management

Since very long it can be seen that emergency management majorly focused over the preparedness. Still the emergency management has got more elements as it is not necessary to keep yourself prepared for the disaster. The emergency management also needs to have a response and recovery plan as well as the mitigation strategies. Special trainings and courses are provided for each of the phases of the emergency management. Following are the major phases of emergency management:

1. Mitigation: Mitigation is the phase that comprises of the activities that may help in avoiding the occurrence of an emergency. It basically aims to reduce the chances of happening of some emergency. The mitigation strategies also involve the strategies that may help in minimizing the affects of the hazards that are likely to take place. These are the strategies that should be kept ready before the chances of any hazard or emergency. For example preparing your home from the hazards of fire as a precaution.
2. Preparedness: This is the phase where it is necessary to develop the plans that will suggest that what would be done in case of emergency. It decide all the aspects that in case of emergency where to move, whom to call and also what to do for the purpose of protection. Preparedness includes all the activities that allow dealing with the emergency successfully. For examples distribution of emergency telephone numbers or to keep in mind some place for shelter in advance.
3. Response: A proper response is quite essential for saving the life or society from the affects of the emergency. The response that is given to the emergency or problem is very crucial. The response should be given in such a way that the people, society, environment and very other thing in the surroundings can be made safe. For example the response of the people that they give during the earthquakes by holding each other tightly and moving out of the houses.
4. Recovery: When the time period of happening of some disaster is over then the time of recovering the society, people and environment from the affects of the disaster comes. It is necessary that a person may have the abilities to recover himself and his surroundings so that he can have safe life in future. This phase is quite necessary as it crucial to rearrange the things after the disastrous time is over. In this time period special care should be given to everyone who is affected. Also great care should be made for renovating the environment and surroundings as it was earlier or better than that.

All the above defined are the essential tasks that have been divided in to these four phases. All the tasks are having equal importance and ignoring any of these tasks is not affordable. (Phases of emergency management, 2008)

Local/ State Government Responsibilities for Emergency Management

It can be said that emergency management is one of the essential tasks of the government whether local or state. The local government is responsible for developing the plans for the protection of their people. Along with developing the plans the government is also responsible for providing the people with different resources. These resources can be provided by applying the various mitigation strategies and having all the resources that will be required for responding, recovery and preparation. It is very necessary that the local governments must provide the people with emergency management resources because this government plays a role of intermediary between people and the state government. The local government will also make it clear that in case of emergency people should report to whom. Also many emergency effective services are developed and made available for the people by the local government. (The four phases of emergency management, n.d)

On the other hand, the state emergency management deals with the protection of communities as well as all the people residing in the state. The responsible level of state government is high as it has to maintain the activities and plans that can help and prevent the people all over the state. The state government is also responsible for protecting and funding the people if they lack the resources while dealing with some emergency. In this case, the state government will provide the people with the funds and resources. (The four phases of emergency management, n.d)

Involving Private Sector for Providing Resources for Disaster Management

In the today’s world, it is necessary and crucial to provide people with emergency management plans. The disasters of different natures may occur at any time and these can be technical as well as natural disasters. These kinds of disasters may take place at any time and no one can predict these disasters. So, for this reason it is necessary that the governments of the countries should develop sound and strong emergency management plans. Governments should provide a great deal of funds and resources for dealing with these emergencies. It can be observed that in some of the disasters, huge losses are made and which are not possible for the government to overcome. Because of the lack of funds and resources in these situations, the recovery process becomes slow. In these cases, it is suggested that the local or state government should involve the private sector for providing more funds and resources. The private sector can be used in a number of ways for helping the emergency management plan. Few of these ways in which the private sector can be sued by the local as well as the state government for providing sources in the emergency management are given below:

• Developing the tent cities which are able to provide the people with the shelter as well as with the food.
• Providing the people with the access to the emergency houses that are to be used in the time of emergency.
• Providing the people with the facilities of the transport and other supplies.
• Providing the people with the necessary financial aid.
• Providing the people with the necessary first aid and drug facilities.
• Relief funds should be introduced.
• Training sessions should be introduced for the people so that they can deal with these emergency situations.
• The teams should be prepared that can help the people for dealing with the emergency management.
• Training sessions should also be arranged for the team members so that they can help the people.

In short, the private sector can help in many ways for helping the people with the process of recovering their lives. (Private sector disaster response, n.d)

It is suggested that private sector should be involved more as the aftereffects of the disasters are faced by everyone whether from the public sector or from the private sector. The private sector should be involved in developing the mitigation strategies by investing a large amount of fund. In most of the countries it has been seen that the private sector is major factor that drives the socio economic development. The private sectors can invest a great deal of money for arranging the training sessions and tent cities. The private sector should work voluntarily for helping out the people. The local and state governments should involve the private sector in order to protect the nation, communities and economies. In many situations it has been seen that the private sector has proved to be very useful and helpful in mitigating the risks and recovering the communities and environments. (Private sector activities in disaster risk reduction 2008, 2008)

The Main Responsibilities of Emergency Management

There are many responsibilities of the emergency management; in each phase, a number of different activities are required to be performed in order to make sure that the emergency management program is effective. Following are some of the major responsibilities that should be carried on y the local or state government. It is also suggested that the emergency management should involve the private sector so that proper emergency management is being done.

• The identification of hazards, disasters and risks.
• The assessment of the possible risk or loss that may occur in case of some emergency or disaster.
• Finding out the ways that may use for the mitigation and reduction of these hazards and disasters.
• Preparing the communities and societies for preparing, responding and recovering the hazards and its after effects.
• Identifying and developing the various methods that may be used and deployed for protecting the communities and societies from the various disasters.
• Finding the effective and efficient sources and then utilizing these resources for the benefits of the people.
• Implementing the coordination and cooperation so that all the different communities and societies may get helped.
• Developing the mitigation strategies that can be used by the various emergency management programs.
• Generating the various plans for preparing the people for any disaster.
• Warning systems should be developed so that people can get attentive.
• Developing the huge stocks containing all the emergency equipments and supplies.
• Introducing the training sessions for the people as well as for the teams that are working for the emergency management.
• In case of emergency, the damage that has been caused should be identified.
• Response plans and operations should be developed and provided to the people so that they can face the emergencies with the most positive response. This will help to reduce the amount of damage that may be caused.
• Providing the people with the access to the medical and drug facilities in case of emergency.
• The people should be provided with the shelter facilities as well.
• Helping and supporting the communities and societies to recover from the disasters and coming back to their normal lives.

All these are the most common responsibilities of any emergency management plans. Almost all the local and state governments aim to fulfill these responsibilities. It has been highly observed that fulfilling all these responsibilities highly need the involvement of the private sector for the improved facilities that are being provided the people. (The four phases of emergency management, n.d)

Services Provided by Private Sector in Emergency Management

It can be seen that sometimes the emergencies leave the long lasting affects over the nations and people. It becomes very difficult for the nations to stand up again and struggle to get back their same position. These nations empty out the resources that they have in the form of finance and also every other kind of funds are also being used by these nations for the reconstruction process. In the times of emergency, it is also seen that the business and other activities are also stopped or decreased which also makes the people to have issued in earning their livelihood. Hence during the emergency a number of risks are supposed to arise like unemployment, hunger, loss of shelter, diseases and so on. In order to meet and reconstruct all the destruction it is felt quite necessary that not only the government but private sector should also involve and help the people to struggle and rebuild their own lives. The private sector can provide its resources, funds and services for developing the mitigation strategies, risk reduction strategies, economy development strategies, human life development strategies, development and implementation of the protective and security measures. All these activities are essential to have a support by the private sector so that the people do not have to face the emergency and if so then they can become able to cope up with this emergency. The private sector can play a great role in fulfilling the needs of the community as well as of the business. The private sector has also got the ability that it can provide a team of technical members who can deal with the situation. Also a team of doctors can also get arranged by the private sector for the treatment of the people who are affected. Donations and funds that are useful for the situation of after the emergency and also before the emergency can also be provided by the private sector. The private sector can play a role that is multifaceted as well as multi disciplinary. It must take part in helping to manage the situation. The general help tht can be provided by the private sector is given below:

• It can help in explaining, assigning, and also deploying the role of institution that can be played in the emergency management.
• It can help in training the people for teaching them that how they can effectively deal the risky conditions.
• It can also help the institutes to arrange the training sessions and provide the institutes with the equipments and teams.
• It can help in developing the programs that may support the organizations and people to develop the security measures.
• It can also help in creating the awareness regarding the emergency among the public.
• It can also provide the people with the information about the disasters, hazards and emergencies. The information providing is important as it will make the people to have an awareness before.

The above mentioned are the activities in which the private sector can help a lot in fighting with the emergencies and disasters. (Srinivas, n.d)

Conclusion

In the end it can be concluded that this study made an in depth exploration of the emergency management and its importance. The various responsibilities of the emergency management have been stated in this study which clarifies the need of emergency management for any society. The emergency management is required to be performed y the local or state government of the country. In this study, we have found out that how the governments can involve the private sector in the emergency management. It is an obvious fact that private sector can provide with a great deal of funds and resources. The various resources that can be provided by the private sector have also been given in this paper. As the private sector is financially a very strong sector, thus, it is recommended that in case of huge disasters the governments should involve the private sectors for improved resources.

References

Haddow, G. D. Bullock, J. A. Coppola, D. P. (2006). Introduction to emergency management. Published by Butterworth-Heinemann.

Phases of emergency management (2008). Web.

Private sector activities in disaster risk reduction 2008 (2008).

Private sector disaster response (no date). Web.

Srinivas, Disaster management: A role for the private sector. Web.

The four phases of emergency management. Web.

Waugh, W. L. (2000). Living with hazards, dealing with disasters: an introduction to emergency management. Published by M.E. Sharpe.