When jurisdictions are not sufficiently prepared, response and recovery still happens: It just does not go as well for those impacted nor for those who are trying to assist.
Response refers to the period immediately before, during and immediately following a hazard event wherein an attempt is made to minimize injuries, save lives, minimize further damage to property and meet the immediate other needs of survivors. This period tends to be very short—often five or fewer days—although there is no definitive cut-off where response ends and recovery begins.
Local government will actively monitor the hazard event and assess what operations can be undertaken before, during and after impact to save lives and treat injuries. It will attempt to avoid further damage within the jurisdiction by shutting off utilities, conducting search and rescue and triage, fighting fires, providing security, clearing debris, controlling traffic, etc.
It also will assess what resources (human, material, equipment, etc.) will be needed to address the needs. As it does so, it must also evaluate if the jurisdiction has enough resources and where they will come from if it doesn’t. If outside resources are needed, the local government entities will make requests and manage the received resources.
Who’s In Charge?
Keep in mind that for government, one of the defining features of a disaster is that the resources of the jurisdiction aren’t enough to meet the needs. So in disaster situations, multiple entities—both from within and from outside the jurisdiction—will usually be involved.
When multiple entities are involved, there is not only a need to conduct operational tasks, there is also a need to:
- Manage all the resources
- Make policy decisions to support response efforts
- Coordinate and communicate between the entities, jurisdictions and the levels of government involved in providing assistance
- Communicate with the public and the media about what is going on
As you might imagine, without a system to coordinate everyone’s efforts, problems like poor communication, conflict, confusion and redundancy occur when multiple individual agencies and departments are working together.
Local government entities employ the Incident Command System—better known by its acronym ICS—to support achieving these goals and respond in a safe and coordinated manner.
Organizational Structure
The system relies on a common organizational structure built around functions that must be accomplished in the response, like logistics, operations, planning, finance and administration. It includes procedures to select and form temporary management hierarchies to control funds, personnel, facilities, equipment and communications. Related to those functions, there are clear leaders within the hierarchy and clear reporting relationships between everyone involved. There are processes and structures to ensure that everyone works within this structure. ICS is designed to be used from the time an incident occurs until the requirement for management and operations no longer exists.
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An emergency response plan includes:
- Which local entities will participate
- What each will be be responsible for
- How tasks will be managed on-scene and off-scene
- How communication will work with those involved and with the public and media and much more
Local emergency response plans are often integrated with the plans at the state and federal levels with the goal of aligning understandings about and approaches to response at all levels of government. Understanding emergency response plans and the process that lead to their creation, as well as actually practicing the plan can be very helpful guides, particularly for the people and organizations for which hazard events are not a central daily activity.
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Providing Mass Care
All of this is not to say that voluntary organizations have no role in response. One common role that voluntary organizations often assume during response is providing mass care, like managing an evacuation shelter or providing warm food, to those affected. Mass care may also include supervision, specialized medical, mental health, transportation and communication support to those impacted by disaster.
Providing Mass Care
All of this is not to say that voluntary organizations have no role in response. One common role that voluntary organizations often assume during response is providing mass care, like managing an evacuation shelter or providing warm food, to those affected. Mass care may also include supervision, specialized medical, mental health, transportation and communication support to those impacted by disaster.
Mass Care means providing the food, water and shelter for impacted people and pets during the response period.
Managing Short-Term Recovery
At times, local government emergency response plans may also include short-term recovery-planning, like volunteer and donations management or emotional or psychological care. If an emergency response plan has these, it is likely that a voluntary organization(s) will be identified to provide these services or resources in a response. The plan may describe how these tasks are expected to be carried out.
For example, a plan might:
- describe the organization responsible for coordinating volunteers
- outline how volunteer opportunities would be identified and communicated with the public
- suggest a volunteer reception center be set up
- make provisions for ensuring safety on worksites
- describe how a volunteer’s skills would be evaluated
- how volunteers are connected to, supervised in and transported to tasks
- how volunteers are fed or housed while serving in the community
People working in local voluntary organizations have a wealth of local geographic, sociodemographic and historical knowledge, which can be an invaluable resource. They also have a network of relationships that they might draw upon to get contacts, resources and so on as needs arise during response.
Takeaways
- Government and first responders utilize the Incident Command System and Emergency Operations Centers to provide structure to their response. Without a system to coordinate everyone’s efforts, problems like poor communication, conflict, confusion and redundancy occur when multiple individual agencies and departments are working together.
- While voluntary organizations are less likely to participate in a response as compared to government, it does not mean that there is no role for them at all. One common role that voluntary organizations often assume during response is providing mass care, like managing an evacuation shelter or providing warm food.
- Voluntary organizations that participate in a response should be in communication with each other and the local government to ensure that help is needed and valued. When organizations do not communicate and self-deploy with out a defined role, their help may be underutilized and can even create additional complications and risks for already overburdened emergency responders.