PUBPL306:

Lesson 1: Introduction to Emergency Management

Introduction and Objectives (1 of 7)
Introduction and Objectives

Introduction

This first lesson provides a basic introduction to the increasing vulnerability of people, property, and places to disasters, which are becoming more frequent and more destructive. The readings place emergency management within a social and political context and the emerging ways that all sectors—public, private, and nonprofit—work within the governance system. Distinctions are made among emergencies, disasters, catastrophes, and incidents of national significance.

This week’s readings put forth the “Principles of Emergency Management” that have been developed by practitioners and scholars of emergency management. These principles and the standards developed for handling crises by emergency managers help explain emergency management as a profession. Also presented are the major journals and websites useful to emergency managers and those studying emergency management.

Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

Road Map (2 of 7)
Road Map

Lesson Road Map

Assigned Readings:
Assigned Videos:
To do:

In this lesson, you will complete the following activities:

Lesson Topics:

 

Getting Started (3 of 7)
Getting Started

Getting Started

Every inch of land, its resources and structures and all of our air and water are vulnerable to disaster. This includes 100,000 miles of coastline, 2,000 miles of land border with Mexico and 4,000 miles of land border with Canada. It includes more than 500 million people passing through the U.S. each year through 420 U.S. aerial ports, with more than a million international aircraft entries annually. It includes 300 land and sea ports through which 127 million autos and 11.5 million trucks enter annually, Two hundred ships dock at U.S. ports annually depositing 6 million containers that are redistributed throughout the U.S. and 2.3 million rail cars cross into the U.S. annually.

Our vulnerability includes a wide variety of natural hazards and human-made accident or terrorist events. Natural hazards include flood, tsunami, tornado, hurricane, blizzard, drought, mudslide, earthquake, and wildfire threats. Human-made disasters include chemical spills or attack; chlorine tank explosions; nuclear accident or intentional attack; dam or levee breaks, breaches, or attacks; bridge failure or attack; pandemic influenza or pneumonic plague; agro-terrorism to the food supply or disruption of production; bio-terrorism through, for example, anthrax; and cyber-terrorism   

Emergency management provides a structure for anticipating and dealing with emergencies. It involves participants at all governmental levels and in the private and nonprofit sectors. Individuals, in addition, are of central importance to emergency management. They are often the victims of disasters and also the first responders on the scene of an event. Their preparations in anticipation of disaster occurrences often prevent or reduce (mitigate) the consequences. The emergency management professionals deal with all phases before, during, and after an emergency and their effectiveness is based on a smooth network of relationships within the system.

Principles of Emergency Management (4 of 7)
Principles of Emergency Management

Principles of Emergency Management

The Principles of Emergency Management provide an outline for the topics covered in this course. Emergency management creates the framework within which communities can reduce their vulnerability to a myriad of hazards and cope with disasters resulting from those hazards.  The vision of emergency management is to promote less vulnerable or safer communities, with the capacity to cope with hazards and disasters.

The eight principles of emergency management that were developed in 2007 guide the development of emergency management today both as a professional field of practice and as an academic discipline for the training and education of emergency managers. Below, the eight principles are outlined:

  1. Comprehensive—necessitates the emergency managers consider all types of hazards (natural, technological, human made); all phases of disaster management from prevention or mitigation to preparedness and training, to response, and both short and long term recovery; all stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors at every level; and the impact of disasters.
  2. Progressive—means that emergency management is anticipative of future disasters in taking protective, preventive and preparatory measures targeted at disaster-resistant and resilient communities.
  3. Risk-Driven—means that emergency managers use risk management principles and state-of-the-art tools to identify hazards, analyze their risk and impacts, and assign priorities and resources for dealing with those risks.
  4. Integrated—necessitates a unity of effort among all levels of government and all stakeholders.
  5. Collaborative—Relationship building is a major part of what emergency managers do to build trust, build teams, build consensus, and facilitate communication among all involved in emergency management.
  6. Coordinated—means that the actions of all stakeholders must be synchronized toward achieving a common purpose.
  7. Flexible—means that to solve disaster challenges emergency managers use creative and innovative approaches that can adjust to trends and changes in the disaster environment.
  8. Professional—emergency managers value science and knowledge-based approaches in the effort to constantly build the field through education, training, learning from experience, applying sound ethical practice and continuous improvement while being a public steward.

These eight principles should be embraced by all emergency managers and cross-cut all specializations within emergency management. It is important to note, however, that emergency management positions include highly specialized areas of expertise also. Those specializing in mitigation or the prevention of disasters have a different focus and set of skills than those who might respond to a disaster or do an aspect of rebuilding during the recovery phase of a disaster.  Similarly, local communities are first on the scene of a disaster through the work of the police, fire, and medical personnel, while national emergency managers play supportive or supplementary roles unless the magnitude of an event requires more activity. Government coordination of private and non-profit actors is different than leading a private or non-profit.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Video: "Principles of Emergency Management: The Role of the Emergency Manager"
 

Total Time - 36:10
Emergency Management Resources (5 of 7)
Emergency Management Resources

Resources

Emergency Management Internet Resources:

Students are encouraged to use Internet information sources to supplement readings and develop course writing assignments. Students may subscribe to discussion lists for a variety of disaster organizations and related professions and receive email notification of major earthquakes and other disasters, federal disaster relief announcements, job announcements, research opportunities, and other relevant professional news from the field. The United Nations conducts Internet conferences periodically and information is also available in English on emergency management programs and activities in Canada, Australia, Japan, and other nations.

Students should become familiar with the following websites, although additional websites will be added as the course progresses:

Emergency Management Journals:

Selected emergency management journals from which articles may be assigned or that can help with student papers:

Activities (6 of 7)
Activities

Activities

Getting Started Activities:

Ensure you have completed the required Getting Started Lesson activities:

  1. Complete the First Day Questionnaire.
  2. Introduce yourself in the Class Introductions Discussion Forum
  3. Submit your Academic Integrity Statement

Writing Assignments:

  1. Write a 1-2 page essay that explains your understanding of the reasons for the increasing vulnerability to disasters. Provide your initial thoughts on how to deal with the increasing threats. Submit the paper to the Lesson 01 Dropbox.

Discussion Forums:

  1. Participate in the Follow-up to Class Sessions Discussion Forum. "Follow-Up to Class Sessions," is used both by students and the instructor throughout the course to post news or other articles relevant to course topics. Comments on contemporary events or follow-up questions from the previous week’s Lesson readings and assignments are also appropriate. Students are expected to participate in the “Follow-Up” Discussion Forum throughout the semester.
     
  2. Review the website of your state’s emergency management agency (and local agency website, if available). All state emergency management agency websites may be found here: http://www.fema.gov/.  Comment on the types of hazards for which your community or state is most vulnerable. Would you expect that most residents are familiar with their community’s greatest vulnerabilities? Why or why not? What suggestions do you have for increasing individual and community awareness of hazard vulnerabilities? (Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the learning resources you used for Lesson One.)

    Post your responses to the Lesson 01 Question 1 Discussion Forum.
     
  3. Post at least 3 questions or comments about professional associations, research centers or Internet resources related to emergency management that you have reviewed. Post your responses to the Lesson 01 Question 2 Discussion Forum.

Discussion Forum Guidelines:

While everyone will post on the Discussion Forums each week, each student is required to participate in at least 8 threaded discussions throughout the semester. That is, during a minimum of 8 weeks you must not only post but also respond to other students’ posts.

How to participate in a threaded discussion:

  1. Post your response to the question. (NOTE: The lesson discussion forums require you to post first before you can see the posts of your peers.)
  2. Read a selection of your colleagues' postings and within 3 days of your initial posts
  3. Respond to one of your colleague’s postings in one or more of the following ways:
  1. Return to this Discussion Forum in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
Summary (7 of 7)
Summary

Summary

The eight guiding principles of emergency management reviewed in Lesson One are developed within the legal framework established to prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from the wide spectrum of events that challenge communities and regions. First responders at the community level must work within a unified and coordinated national approach to planning for major crises and incidents. Details of the unified approach are the focus of Lesson Two, but you have already examined parts of our national unified and coordinated program. Your review of major associations and their websites, as well as emergency management journals has shown you a variety of tools for continuous improvement in emergency management.

In addition to the core principles of the emergency management profession—and introduction to the key associations and their websites, as well as key journals--Lesson One introduced the concept "vulnerability to" and made the point that major disasters are occurring more frequently than in the past. You were asked to think about why major disasters are occurring more frequently and to write an essay on that topic.  After you have submitted your writing assignment, see the instructor’s PowerPoint that comments on the increase in disaster vulnerability. (Note: You will only be able to access the PowerPoint after first submitting your paper to the Drop Box.) Use the PowerPoint to assess your essay. As the course progresses, think about what changes you’d make to your original comments.

Self-check Exercise:

Can you identify and explain the significance of each of these lesson topics?


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