Disaster Response and Recovery. David A. McEntire
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Goals and Outcomes
Predict the actions of the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
Evaluate the different types of services provided after disasters.
Assess who can help you fulfill response and recovery functions.
Analyze and overcome the challenges of coordination.
Employ the “whole community” concept in post‐disaster operations.
INTRODUCTION
After Hurricane Andrew devastated Miami Dade County in 1992, one local emergency manager asked, “Where the hell is the cavalry on this one?” This so‐called disaster “cavalry” includes many organizations and people. There are numerous agencies, groups and individuals involved in response and recovery operations. By understanding these stakeholders, you will be better able to harness their knowledge, skills and abilities after a disaster. These actors include organizations and persons from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. The public sector is a segment of society that is made up of government departments, agencies and offices. Indian tribes may also be considered a segment of the public sector, although there are some significant differences between federal and tribal governments. The private sector is the part of society that includes corporations and businesses. The nonprofit sector of our communities is comprised of humanitarian, charitable, religious and voluntary organizations. Citizens also join in disaster response and recovery activities too. A typology created by scholars at the Disaster Research Center (DRC) may help you comprehend the difference among the many organizations that are involved in post‐disaster operations. Harnessing all of the participants described in this chapter will help you to promote disaster resilience.
2.1 The Public Sector
As an emergency manager, you should be aware of the many participants involved in disaster response and recovery operations. The aftermath of the April 20, 2010, British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon explosion/oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provides a glimpse of this breadth and diversity. The first people on scene at the drilling platform were employees who helped to evacuate fellow colleagues, extracted those who had escaped the burning rig from the water below, and provided basic first aid to the injured. Helicopter crews from the Coast Guard took the most seriously injured victims to the hospital to receive treatment from medical personnel. Meanwhile, the media and government leaders provided updates to the public on the emergency while a number of engineers started to consider ways to cap the leaking well 5,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Specialized companies started to skim the oil that was accumulating on top of the water and do what they could to protect marine animals and the natural habitat. The government launched an investigation while lawyers showed up to protect the rights of victims. Charitable organizations delivered relief to those who had lost their jobs in the fishing and tourism industries.
Other disasters have many similarities and differences as compared to the BP oil spill. A host of people and organizations become involved when different disasters occur and the list can be expected or quite surprising. In addition to those who are normally involved in disasters, participants may range from the American Library Association, Brethren Disaster Ministries, and the National Heritage Emergency Responders to leaders and employees of amusement parks, museums, the National Park Service, and school districts/universities. It is difficult to fully describe all of those who are or may be involved in a variety of functions during and after any incident or disaster. In fact, a disaster may have hundreds or thousands of participants who become involved in response and recovery operations.
Nonetheless, some of the most important participants in emergency management emanate from the public sector (McLoughlin 1985). As mentioned earlier, the public sector includes government entities at the local, county, state and federal levels as well as tribal nations. No two government jurisdictions operate or are organized alike. However, city personnel, county administrators, state agencies, federal officials and tribal groups all form part of the public sector.
2.1.1 Local Government
Local governments – whether towns, cities, or special districts ‐ are among the first official organizations to react to disasters from the public sector (McEntire 2006). Local governments are municipal organizations within county/parish jurisdictions that perform important public functions to address community‐wide response and recovery needs (Henstra 2010). In a disaster, these rely on emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, firefighters, police officers and emergency managers. Some of the EMTs may work for private companies and certain firefighters may volunteer for the departments they serve in rural communities. But, many of these individuals in the public sector are paid government employees—especially in larger, urban areas. Diverse departments and public leaders also play a role in response and recovery operations at the local level.
For their part, EMTs and paramedics provide vital emergency medical care to the injured on a daily basis. However, when larger emergencies or disasters occur, they may also provide treatment to victims and transport these patients to hospitals. Such EMT’s and paramedics often work as or with firefighters. Firefighters therefore provide emergency medical care in some cases, but those employed by fire departments logically extinguish fires and investigate their causes. Firefighters likewise get involved in responses to other types of disasters. They might extract people trapped in vehicles or perform search and rescue operations after floods, for example. Firefighters may clean up hazardous material spills when they occur too. Besides EMT’s/paramedics and firefighters, police officers – and other law enforcement personnel ‐ are also labeled as first responders. Whereas EMTs and firefighters deal with medical emergencies and fire suppression issues, the police oversee traffic control after disasters and close off dangerous areas to the public. Police and other first responders are present at the scene in virtually all types disasters, and they play an even more important role when there are mass shootings or terrorist attacks.
Official first responders – such as police officers and fire fighters – will be present at the scene of a disaster and will work diligently to help those in need. Bryan Dahlberg/FEMA.
If local first responders are not able to cope effectively with the demands of a particular disaster, mutual aid agreements can be activated. Mutual aid is the sharing of equipment and facilities given by nearby local governments. In many cases, this includes personnel and the services of first responders. The activation of mutual aid often occurs through the support of neighboring jurisdictions. However, in major disasters, regional, state and federal government entities will also share resources as well. Mutual aid is clearly essential after major disasters. Cities may not be able to cope independently without the assistance of unaffected jurisdictions. Even affected states may require aid from their counterparts and the federal government to cope with the impact of disasters.
As stated in Chapter 1, emergency managers are employed by local and other governments to help communities and other jurisdictions mitigate and prepare for disasters. When a disaster occurs, emergency managers issue warnings, communicate with leaders who supervise first responders, and coordinate with others to ensure evacuation occurs when needed. These public servants also collaborate with those who are in charge of shelters, help to assemble statistics on damages, and share information with citizens through the media. Emergency managers likewise acquire resources for the organizations that need them after a disaster. These professionals make sure that departments are working together to address response and recovery challenges. The public servants known as emergency managers also help determine response and recovery