Thomas E. Drabek, disaster researcher and prolific author of disaster literature, has been my favorite in both of those categories since I was introduced to his work in one of my first Crisis and Disaster Management (CDM) courses at the University of Central Missouri. His disaster research work and writings have motivated and inspired me to entertain the idea of becoming a disaster researcher. Prior to reading Drabek’s work and especially his book, The Human Side of Disasters, (Drabek, 2010), I was uncertain about my future role in CDM. As I worked towards completion of my undergraduate degree in CDM I had hoped that along the way I would discover a particular passion in the field that would in turn lead to a vocation. My interests have always leaned toward human behavior and the reasons for it and the processes involved in its evolution and I wondered how I would integrate that into the work of Emergency Management.
Upon exposure to Drabek, my interest in disaster research was sparked. His approach to research as explained in Chapter 5, “Following Some Dreams”, in Stallings’ Methods of Disaster Research, is worthy of emulation:
Always, my work has been guided by three goals: (1) to test and extend sociological theory related to human response to disaster; (2) to identify insights relevant to emergency management practitioners; and (3) to communicate the results to both the academic and practitioner communities. (Stallings, 2002, p. 127)
For over 4 decades, Drabek’s goals have been driven by his curiosity, facilitated by his flexibility in the use of research methods and have propelled him to contribute voluminously to the knowledge base regarding the diverse aspects and conditions of human responses to disaster. His adv...
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...l of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 1: 277 – 305.
Drabek, T.E. (1987). The Professional Emergency Manager: Structures and Strategies for Success. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science, Program on Environmental and Behavior.
Drabek, T.E. (1990). Emergency Management: Strategies for Maintaining Organizational Integrity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Drabek, T.E., Hoetmer, G.J. (eds.) (1991). Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government. Washington, DC: International City and County Management Association.
McEntire, D.A. (Ed.) (2007). Disciplines, disasters, and emergency management: the convergence and divergence of concepts, issues and trends from the research literature. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Stallings, R.A. (Ed.) (2002). Methods of Disaster Research. International Research Committee on Disasters.
Waugh, William L, and Gregory Streib. "Collaboration and Leadership for Effective Emergency Management." Public Administration Review, 66.6 (2006): 131-140.
Drea Knufken’s thesis statement is that “As a society, we’ve acquired an immunity to crisis” (510-512). This means that humans in general, or citizens of the world, have become completely desensitized to disasters, we think of them as just another headline, without any understanding of their impact upon fellow
middle of paper ... ... The. “Hurricane Andrew: The Human Side of Recovery.” Disaster Recovery Journal, System Support Inc. 1 Sept. 2001. Web.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
An activity that we participate in on a daily basis is belonging and being part of a community. We live in a world where associating and identifying ourselves with certain groups is how we share common interests, and we are responsible for facing whatever may come our way. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences and similarities between the approaches seen from the Chicago Heat Wave and Buffalo Creek Flood. The main differences are historical groundwork, relationship to land, physical/social vulnerability, problematic development, choices we make and media coverage. Kleinberg and Erikson both offer a greater variety of what exactly a disaster or community consist of. Although, both have some overlapping themes and ideas, their methodological approaches and expectations of a community dealing with a disaster differ significantly.
Introduction Natural disasters include flood, wildfire, earthquake, tornado, extreme heat, hurricanes, landslides and mudslides, lightning strike, tsunami, volcano, winter weather, and windstorm (CDC, 2014). They affect thousands of people every year and give little or no warnings. These natural disasters come with many risks and preparation efforts by individuals, families, communities, cities, and organizations are needed to properly survive, combat, and be ready for them. Steps should be taken before, during, and after the disaster (CDC, 2014). There are steps that apply to all disasters, such as assembling a supply kit and developing a family emergency plan, that will be effective in being prepared and assist with recover (CDC, 2014).
This paper seeks to show that FEMA is no longer simply natural disaster management but crisis emergency management to help the entire country survive and rebuild from any major crisis to hit our borders. It will cover the history of FEMA and show the progression of this agency into what is now a division of Homeland Security. Introduction: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is an agency that was originally developed to respond to natural disasters. Natural disasters are but not limited to; earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.
Emergency management was institutionalized in 1979 with the creation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It purposes is simply the creation of plans through which communities can reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Five Federal agencies that dealt with many types of emergencies consolidated to form FEMA. Since that time, many State and local organizations have changed the names of their organizations to include the words: “emergency management”. The name change indicates a change in orientation from specialized preparedness for single or narrowly defined categories of hazards toward an all-hazards approach that includes potential threats to life and property through environmental and technological hazards,
It would be perceived as disrespectful or even deranged to consider disasters as being positive or even joyous. However, this perspective is challenged with the progression of disaster research. In mid-20th century, sociologist Charles Fritz illustrated the positive effects of disaster on societies in his research and Russell Dynes provided evidence that contrary to the popular conceptions of panic, aggression and looting in human behavior, the reality of disasters is that people converge in solidarity to help each other (Knowles 229,238-239). This provided the public with a new perception of the idea of disaster and provided us with an opportunity for disaster to show us how we can alter our
Thesis Statement Catastrophic events come in all shapes and sizes, from natural disasters to pandemic emergencies as well as industrial and technological accidents. Furthermore, disasters can take the form of man-caused events like terrorism and civil disturbances. As researchers identified, “the preparedness for these catastrophic events, however, are influenced by several factors including some heightened hazards awareness and risk perception, normalization of risk and assumption that a disaster will not occur, complacency and inaction driven by previous disaster experience, and a false sense of confidence. Shortsightedly, “the local responders often assume that all disasters can be handled by simply expanding their steady state day-to-day
The need to be trained in trauma response appears to be greater today than any previous time in history. Since the 21st century, traumatic events, due to natural disasters have been occurring more frequently. Vivid memories remain of the terrors of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis; 2005 Hurricane Katrina; and in the Caribbean- the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It is believed that we are likely to experience more devastating natural disasters especially in light of global warming, population growth and increase land usage (Riebeek, 2005; Charvériat, 2000). To provide a framework for discussion, a definition of natural disaster, in simple terms, is provided as “a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014). Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (hereafter referred to as ODPEM) refers to a natural disaster as “rare or extreme events in the environment that can adversely affect human life, property or our way of life; the impact exceeds a community’s or a nation’s capacity to respond to them” (2008). According to Child (1995), any conceptualization of the term natural disaster must include people as no hazard exists apart from the human response to it. Child (1995) further states that “the study of environmental hazards is an examination of the complex interactions between physical and human systems”. The focus of this paper is to examine the trauma related functions of this human response, how they impact individuals as well as societies with a close examination of the Caribbean context.
Context: Success and failure of any organizations or professions rises and falls on the leadership. Thus, the need for good leadership remains critical for organizations’ efficiency and growth. Leadership and team-building are essential and is the key to the success of organizations or professions. Emergency management leaders should judiciously use leadership, effectively and productively to influence people in all phases of disaster management (FEMA, 2005). The list provides a guideline to top-ten competencies that make up professional emergency management.
Background Emergency management, also known as EM, is the function of government charged with creating the framework to cope with disasters and reduce the vulnerability of hazards . To accomplish this mission, DHS has created an emergency management cycle – a series of pillars used as an outline to handle disaster scenarios. The cycle is as follows: preparation, prevention, response, recovery and mitigation. Hypothetical Disaster A strong, category five hurricane is headed toward the gulf coast of Alabama and Florida.
Every emergency incident that occurs varies in size and complexity based on the elements involved. However, through effective planning and use of comprehensive emergency management involved agencies can prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate incidents as part of the all-hazards approach. First, an examination of the preparedness phase will be conducted. Then, we will discuss the response phase. Next, we will analyze the recovery phase.
The increase in unpredictable natural disasters events for a decade has led to put the disaster preparedness as a central issue in disaster management. Disaster preparedness reduces the risk of loss lives and injuries and increases a capacity for coping when hazard occurs. Considering the value of the preparatory behavior, governments, local, national and international institutions and non-government organizations made some efforts in promoting disaster preparedness. However, although a number of resources have been expended in an effort to promote behavioural preparedness, a common finding in research on natural disaster is that people fail to take preparation for such disaster events (Paton, 2005; Shaw 2004; Spittal, et.al, 2005; Tierney, 1993; Kenny, 2009; Kapucu, 2008; Coppola and Maloney, 2009). For example, the fact that nearly 91% of Americans live in a moderate to high risk of natural disasters, only 16% take a preparation for natural disaster (Ripley, 2006).