PUN454 Leadership in Disaster Management : Key Issues of Strategic Sig

NB: An executive brief is a means of providing high-level advice to senior executives or government Ministers. You may use any structure you are familiar with but if you do not have an alternative structure then simply structure it around the above points; Background, significance, issues and recommendations.

Your response will be expected to be strategic in its approach and to demonstrate your understanding of the principles of leadership and strategic lessons to be learned. Your response should be within the limits of 2500-3000 words. If you fall outside these limits, it is likely you will lose marks for a lack of information at one extreme or for not being clear and concise at the other. The final submission is to be made on blackboard.

Answer:

Introduction:

A disaster is any sudden occurrence of the events that cause damage, disruption of the ecological system, loss of human life, health and health services deterioration and demands an extraordinary attention from individuals who have not been affected. Natural calamities and disasters are among the major challenges that are faced by many countries of the world today. Some experience long periods of draught and famine, others tsunami and waves and others flooding caused by heavy rainfall, earthquakes, cyclones, typhoons, tornadoes rock and snow avalanches and wild fires Mochizuki and Komendantova (2017). This essay discusses how Trinidad and Tobago responded to the heavy downpour of October 18-19.

Background and context

The torrential rainfall experienced by Trinidad and Tobago on the 18^th and 19^th day of October brought about flooding. Over 100,000 people were misplaced from their homes. Some sought refuge from collective centers due to the 48 hours heavy downpour according to Pei, Xia, Yan, and Yang (2017). Many parts of the country were flooded. Landslides were common in most prone areas and many of the roads were blocked. Gusty winds were also experienced amidst the downpour. Reports of deaths and injuries were not received at any moment since the government agencies were alert and issued alerts early in advance. The meteorological department issued the red riverine flooding alert to warn people to take precautionary measures to protect lives and property. Many people whose resident was near rivers were able to swiftly respond since rivers were already spilling over and this type of flooding would last for longer time (Terti, Ruin,  Anquetin & Gourley, (2017).  

Rescue operations were spearheaded early in advance to ensure that people who have been overcome by events are put in safe custody. These operations helped to ensure no loss of lives is witnessed. Protective service and regional corporations worked diligently throughout the period to respond to the disaster. According to Quarshie & Leuschner (2018), the disaster preparedness office should be working to supply the necessary requirements to the people and to the agencies that are carrying out the rescue task. Interventions and assistance were made without major delays hence the ability to curb the situation. Motorists were urged not to drive in flooding waters since they can be swept away. Since they are also not aware of the depths of the flood waters use of motor vehicles was completely discouraged.

The effects of a disaster when it occurs are; many people lose their lives due to slow response by government agencies. Properties are damaged therefore many of the people leave in abject poverty (Andergassen & Sereno, 2016). Development projects are interfered with in an adverse manner which leads to starting all over again when the disaster subsides. The state of infrastructure and art is damaged to a greater extent major repairs or reconstruction has to be done. The emergency system of a nation is influenced to a greater extent that pushes the nation either to borrowing or selling of property in order to respond to the disaster and save the lives of its citizens.

Significance of disaster health management

Disaster management is very much important since no country is immune from disasters. Either natural or manmade disasters find their way to occur in any country. The only variance between countries is the vulnerability to disasters. From the background information on how Trinidad and Tobago responded to the flood disaster, we learn the significance of disaster health management (Behera & Hassan, 2017).

Mitigation is the process of making adequate interventions to reduce loss of human life and damage of property. McNaughton, and Rao, (2017) give the aim of it as to try and lessen the impact of the disaster by taking an action at that particular time. This helps to prevent financial constraints in the future by safeguarding the properties which when attention is given then they can comfortably survive the disaster to serve individuals later. Human life is also saved to ensure the future generation has people to rely on and reduce the cries and scars caused by the disaster on families. Andergassen and Sereno (2016) discuss how risks are analyzed to ensure families, companies and individuals are educated on how to avoid unnecessary risks. The study denotes that risks are also reduced and measures against risks are introduced to help people to sustain the lowest level of risks. Coordination, planning and mock activities are essential for effective mitigation to take be employed in any particular country.

Relief is provision of help to the persons affected by the disaster. Gearing (2018) explains that relief should kick off immediately the disaster strikes. The injured are provided with medication to ensure they sustain life. Emergency health care services are set strategically to help individuals who might develop health complications as a result of fear or exposure to adverse conditions (Perry, Noe, & Stewart, 2018). The misplaced are provided with shelter and temporary accommodation as the rescue and reclamation process goes on. Food and clean drinking water is also provided to all the people to curb starvation and thirst which might lead to unnecessary demises. Interventions to attain warm and clean shelter are made to reduce the risks of sicknesses that might result from dirty environment. Security is also provided to ensure no individuals terrorize the vulnerable people and threaten or take their lives by taking advantage of the situation caused by the disaster. Repairing of vital telecommunication and transport network is done with an aim of accessing affected areas in order to conduct rescues. The supports teams are notified to be ready, available, and prepared to handle any case that may arise amidst the process as supported. They attain it by proper coordination and teamwork which when established, it avoids discrepancy of any order and it attends to all the people regardless of their social class, ethnic background or race.

Rescue involves taking out the people from the affected area in the event of the disaster that occurred (Majchrzak & More, 2011). The study denote that local bodies should be the first to intervene before the other organizations show up. This is because local organization may be much nearer to the scene hence they help minimize the number of deaths that occur. Provision of basic first aid attention should be given to victims who are injured in order to sustain life before proper medication is sorted out. In an event of an earthquake or flooding, removal of debris also takes place to ensure those who might have been overcome by the situation and are inside buildings or collapsed ones are saved. The dead are moved out of site in order to reduce trauma that the victims might do through in the events of time. This is also done to ensure safety of their bodies before final laying to rest. Security may also be provided to reduce or ensure there is no looting during the rescue period since some disgruntled elements might take advantage of the situation and steal from the victims of the disaster.

Rehabilitation is restoration of the normal state of being of a place and of the people affected as it was before the disaster stroked. Jeong, Law, DeMatteo, Stratford  & Kim (2016) provide rebuilding of infrastructure as a way that helps in accessing areas which were inaccessible during the time of the disaster. Heath care and other basic necessities are restored to their normal stature so that the community affected can continue getting services as before. Policies are developed to ensure the same disaster does not recur in the future. Reconstruction is done efficiently and effectively to ensure no major mistakes are made to prevent further damages and wastage in the future.

Proper planning and funding as discussed by Bhavsar, Esbitt, Yon  & Gorman (2018) should be established as an agency by governments to deal effectively with disasters that can emerge at any time. This will help to ensure there is no time wasted writing proposals for financial slot in when such disasters strike according to Orhan (2017). This level of preparedness minimizes losses of both lives and property since the situation is amicably handled once it emerges. Specific bodies to deal with disasters can be set up to carry out detailed studies on the history of the country, weather and possible causes of disasters and issue adequate notices and information so as to make people ready to counter attack any disaster that might emerge. This helps people who leaves in areas prone to these disasters to take precautionary measures to avoid risks.

Key issues of strategic significance

Many nations have tried to put up measures to reduce the impact of disasters but amidst those measures, there are several challenges which still hamper the effectiveness of the measures. Orhan (2016) explains how lack of health infrastructure safety means that when disasters occur, the health facilities are not strong enough to absorb the shock resulting from the impact of the disaster. Many health facilities either collapse or the physical structures available can accommodate more than a given number of casualties (Mochizuki & Komendantova, 2017). This leads to some of the casualties losing their lives in the eyes of their helpless supporters. Many health facilities too lack adequate personnel who can handle more than two or three cases at a time. It’s found that each department has got only one or two experts.

Disaster unpreparedness significantly shows that most individuals are caught unawares since governments lack basic history and weather guidelines on possible emergence of disasters (Day, 2014). Many health facilities are always unprepared to receive disaster casualties therefore a lot of time is wasted looking for support which may not help since it’s too late. Inadequate portable medical devices contribute to the mass loss of lives during and after disasters. Disaster response capability is where by too much time is taken before responding to an onset disaster (Khan & Jr.Burkle, 2015). Organizations with professional help take too long to respond giving the locals who have no notion of what is happening time to loot and engage in sympathy actions which by any way can’t help the casualties. At their arrival a number of casualties have already suffered enough and others have already lost their precious lives. Lack of disaster management education and skills also plays a major role in enhancing loses.

Recovery after the disaster takes quite a longer time since the entire affected population has to be sustained until the rehabilitation has been effectively done and the victims can go back to a normalized life (Hoossein et al., 2016). Post injury and stress due to losses of close family members  and property remains in the minds of the victims since many a times no one talks to them to sedate the experience. Several support systems are wanting since most of the support staffs lack the basic skills and are uneducated. This leads to undertaking activities which does not help the victims in any way and some of the activities even lead to deaths and further sufferings. According to Hoossein, Tandlich, Whittington, Laubscher, Madikizela and Zuma (2016), fragmentation of emergency disaster services leads to slower rate of response to disasters since major bodies may think that the department responsible for the management of disasters in that area will respond. The emergency responding teams are also fewer and if for instance a disaster occurs in all parts of the country at the same time then covering up to assist all the victims is next to impossible.

Lack of specific legislations on disasters management leads to difficult implementation in the local areas. Howe and Bang (2017) denote that there are numerous obstacles that hinder appropriate disaster health management such as lack of  guaranteed reimbursement to disaster healthcare services leads to high mobility and mortality rates. Further, without the legal enforcement to release details to the public about the use of donations aimed at assisting those affected by the disaster, embezzlement of some of the donations becomes the order of the day. This comes as a result of corrupt individuals occupying the highest finance offices. Money aimed at compensating the losses of the disaster victims goes to the pockets of corrupt individuals.

Disparities in funding distribution for disaster management is also a major challenge since funds are majorly concentrated in the urban areas than the rural areas (Jeong, Law, DeMatteo, Stratford, & Kim, 2016). Modern disaster health management resources are concentrated on the urban areas compared the rural areas. This puts people leaving in the rural areas at a higher risk of mobility and mortality (Hoye, Smith, Nicholson, & Stewart, 2018). Inadequate cost-effective considerations in the management of disasters, has led to neglecting effective considerable ways of managing disasters during seasons when disasters haven’t stroked for a long period of time. When the disaster comes striking then the decisions about whom and what will be send to the disaster zone might be dictated by the current situation rather than scientific analysis.

Recommendation and improvement

Organizations dealing with disaster management should seek to adopt existing technology to notify its people on expected disasters and how to respond to them appropriately to minimize loss of lives and property. McGowan (2012) raised an awareness that should improve modes of living and health care facilities distribution to prevent further extent of damages and losses in case a similar thing happens in the future. Yungnane (2010) also recommends embracing diversified methods of dealing with disasters is most appropriate since new tactics which are effective are employed hence reduction of loses compared to the old orthodox ways which have been used over the years and have not yielded any profitable results. Rescuing, mitigation and rehabilitation should be carried out in an organized manner to reduce extra expenses which might lead to more financial loses.

References:

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Bhavsar, T. R. Esbitt, D. L. ., Yu, P. A. ., Yon Yu2, & Gorman, S. E. . (2018). Planning Considerations for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Partners to Receive Medical Countermeasures From CDC’s Strategic National Stockpile During a Public Health Emergency. American Journal of Public Health, 108, S183–S187. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304472

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Gearing, A. (2018). Post-disaster recovery is a marathon, not a sprint: The need for a state-sponsored recovery scheme. Pacific Journalism Review, 24(1), 52–68. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=130903883&site=ehost-live

Hoossein, S., Tandlich, R., Whittington-Jones, K., Laubscher, R., Madikizela, P., & Zuma, B. M. (2016). Disaster Management Policy Options to Address the Sanitation Challenges in South Africa. Journal of Environmental Health, 78(7), E1–E7. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=112931076&site=ehost-live

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Hoye, R., Smith, A., Nicholson, M., & Stewart, B. (2018). Sport Management?: Principles and Applications (Vol. Fifth edition). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1662348&site=ehost-live

Hoye, R., Smith, A., Nicholson, M., & Stewart, B. (2018). Sport Management?: Principles and Applications (Vol. Fifth edition). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1662348&site=ehost-live

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