EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT :

A COMPREHENSIVE AND COORDINATED WAY

TO DEAL WITH DISASTERS

By
Ronald Wong

Abstract
In the new millennium, the world has been faced with more destructive disasters both natural
and human-caused. The huge number of casualties and the severity of damages resulting
from the earthquakes and tsunamis occurred in the South Asia on 26 December 2004 reveals
that any community and its people are getting more vulnerability from these disasters ever
than before. The knowledge, skill and ability to handle disaster of such magnitude by the
governments and their emergency departments of the affected nations must promptly be
reviewed.
Emergency management is a range of measures to manage risks to communities and the
environment and it is also the ultimate solution to minimize the damage from disasters. In
this article, the concept of emergency management is introduced. Four different approaches
in relation to basic emergency management concept including the Comprehensive Approach,
the All Hazard Approach, the All Agency Approach and the Prepared Community are
discussed in detail. Also, the key of success for emergency management are examined.

Table of Contents

Page
Abstract
Table of Contents
Introduction
Definition of Emergency, Disaster and Emergency Management
Basic Concept of Emergency Management
The Comprehensive Approach
The All Hazard Approach
The All Agencies Approach
The Prepared Community
Key of Success for Emergency Management
Conclusion
References

2
3
4
6
9
12
18
19
20
21
23
24

Introduction

Disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis may not be too familiar to many of us, but when they
hit, they hit hard and the outcome may be disastrous. On the morning of 26 December 2004,
an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter Scale and several aftershocks erupted in
the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This underwater
earthquake caused destructive tsunamis that devastated the province of Aceh in Indonesia and
many neighboring countries. More than 290,000 people were killed, thousands miles of
shoreline were ravaged and hundreds of villages and cities were severely damaged. The
earthquake had been recorded as the fourth largest earthquake in the world in the past 100
years (USGS 2005). Recall the scenes of destruction and devastation that had become all
too common in newspapers and television programs within the past few months. Many
non-affected countries mounted comprehensive relief operations of different scales as part of
the international response to the tragedy. International aid organizations like the Red Cross,
UNICEF and many others organized huge humanitarian assistance to support for the relief of
emergency and supplemental food aid, water and sanitation facilities, vaccination and health
facilities, and psychosocial assistance for those who suffered from post-traumatic stress
disorder.

From the severity of this tragedy, it was questionable for the amount of manpower and
resources had been invested in managing disasters of such magnitude by the emergency
departments of the affected communities. Furthermore, it was debatable that the local
governments and their agencies of the affected countries had adequate knowledge, skill and
ability to handle such disasters. For those nations who suffered and nearby countries who
were lucky to escape from the recent earthquakes and tsunamis, review of the current
emergency management practices to such disasters are imminent and expected to be a key
issue to be discussed in the coming international conference.

Nobody can argue that the world has constantly been faced with different kinds of disasters
both natural and human-caused.
These disasters reveal their physical and social
vulnerabilities to the community and its people. In response, the government and its
emergency agencies engage in certain operations/activities and develop advanced
technologies that are designed to provide protection from such threats. However, such
measures and contingencies are sometimes not as effective as the responders expected and
may also become a source of added vulnerability when extreme events occur. Those
3

policies and plans to be designed to provide protection against some specific types of disasters
may do little to reduce vulnerability resulting from the others. Even if those who survive
after the initial disaster impacts may subsequently become victims should those events result
in widespread social and economic disruption. While some disasters can never be avoided,
there are plenty of planning/preparation works the community can do to lessen the loss of life
and property damage. For many countries, there has been a lack of a comprehensive
emergency management program which can properly manage the resources so that the
government and its fire departments/emergency units can have the ability to perform
efficiently and effectively in the event of disaster.

Emergency management is not a new concept as it has been developed in several countries.
It provides a full spectrum of actions to be taken before, during and after a disaster. In
Australia, many Fire Services have adopt or made reference to the emergency management
concept in formulating the corporate strategy. For most firefighters who have frequently
been engaged in firefighting and rescue operations during an emergency, they are only
involved in a small portion of the emergency management cycle.
This research article is
produced for the purpose of broadening the scope of professional knowledge in emergency
management to all who are not familiar with the concept. Moreover, it is a valuable piece of
information to the community and the public who like to have a better understanding of how
the government and its agencies may perform before, during and after a disaster.

Definition of Emergency, Disaster and Emergency Management

Before discussing the concept of emergency management, it is useful to derive a common
definition for emergency and disaster. Both of the words, emergency and disaster
have frequently been used to describe a catastrophic event either natural or human-caused in
newspaper and magazines but they may have a slightly different meaning according to the
context. From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the two words are defined as:
Emergency (i) an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state
that calls for immediate action,
(ii) an urgent need for assistance or relief.
Disaster

a sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or destruction;

broadly : a sudden or great misfortune or failure.

American disaster research pioneer Fritz (1961) defines disasters as:

Actual or threatened accidental or uncontrollable events that are
concentrated in time and space, in which a society, or a relatively
self-sufficient subdivision of a society undergoes severe danger, and
incurs such losses to its members and physical appurtenances that the
social structure is disrupted and the fulfillment of all or some of the
essential functions of the society, or its subdivision, is prevented.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (1997) defines an emergency as any event
that threatens to, or actually does, inflict damage to property or people. Emergencies may be
different in magnitude, and large emergencies are defined as disasters. Disaster may include
hurricanes and floods, explosions and toxic chemical gas releases, major transportation
accidents such as airline crashes.
Emergency Management Australia (EMA) Glossary states that a hazardous event may be
variously labeled as accident, incident, emergency, and disaster; depending upon the
magnitude of the event, the number of organizations involved, and the ability of the
organizations to cope within their normal resources etc. Disaster is defined as a serious
disruption to community life which is beyond the day-to-day capacity of the prescribed
statutory authorities and which requires special mobilization and organization of resources
other than those normally available to those authorities whereas emergency refers to an event,
actual or imminent, which endangers or threatens to endanger life, property and the
environment, and which requires a significant and coordinated response.
5

In United Kingdom (UK), the Home Office (1997) suggests that the contemporary definition
of disaster is any event (with or without warning) which causes or threatens: death or injury,
damage to property or the environment, disruption to the community which, because of the
scale of its effects, cannot be dealt with by the emergency services and the local authorities as
part of their everyday activities. Since defining a word may be subjective, the emergency
services in UK tend to use the term major incident rather than disaster in their daily
operational activities. The Cabinet Office (2004) works out a newer definition for
emergency in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Emergency is defined broadly to include events and situations which
threaten serious damage to human welfare in the United Kingdom, a Part
or a region, the environment of the United Kingdom, a Part or a region
or war or terrorism which threaten serious damage to the security of the
United Kingdom.
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 further elaborates emergency as:
An event or situation threatens damage to human welfare only if it
involves, causes or may causez Loss of human life,
z Human illness or injury,
z Homelessness,
z Damage to property,
z Disruption of a supply of money, food, water, energy or fuel,
z Disruption of a system of communication,
z Disruption of facilities for transport, or
z Disruption of services relating to health.
An event or situation threatens damage to environment only if it involves,
causes or may causez Contamination of land, water or air with biological, chemical or
radio-active matter, or
z Disruption or destruction of planet life or animal life.

Although different ways of interpretation exist for emergency and disaster, certain
variables such as cause, frequency and risk, duration of impact, speed of onset, scope of
6

impact, destructive potential, predictability and control and human vulnerability are often
being used to determine the magnitude of a disaster (EMA 2001). For any community, the
government is responsible to develop its own comprehensive emergency management system,
contingency plans and other necessary arrangements in order to deal with all possible
emergencies and disasters.
Management is a very broad subject and it has frequently been connected to business-related
or other entrepreneur activities. In general, the purpose of management is to organize
resources such as people, money and time to turn plans, concepts or dreams into reality.
Four major functions of management are planning, leading, organizing and controlling. In
the context of emergency or disaster, emergency management is the combination of facilities,
equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common
organizational structure with responsibility for the management of assigned resources to
effectively accomplish stated objectives pertaining to an emergency. The purpose of the
emergency management is to form a coordinated and organized effort to prevent or mitigate
against, prepare for, respond to and recover from an emergency (FEMA 1995).

Waugh (2000) defines emergency management as the quintessential governmental role.

Prime responsibility for the protection of life, property and the environment rests with the
governments. It is the role for which communities are formed and governments are
constituted in the first place for providing support and assistance when the resources of
individuals and families are overwhelmed. As many countries in the South Asia did not
develop a comprehensive emergency management program for tsunami, it was not surprised
that the number of casualties was huge in past tragedy.

EMA (2004) defines emergency management as a range of measures and concepts to manage
risks to communities and the environment.
It involves the plans, structures and
arrangements which are established to bring together the normal endeavors of government,
voluntary and private agencies in a comprehensive and coordinated way to deal with the
whole spectrum of emergency needs including preparedness, prevention, response and
recovery. Emergency managers are those people who carry out any tasks before, during or
after a disaster or emergency, which contribute to creating or maintaining the safety of the
communities from disasters. By definition, they include not only the police, firefighters,
ambulance personnel, but they also include doctors, engineers, social workers, public health
employees, land use planners, trainers, etc.
7

Basic Concept of Emergency Management

The two words, hazard (H) and risk (R), may have appeared regularly when discussing
topics related to emergency or disaster. Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand
(2003) defines hazard as a source of potential harm or a situation with the potential to cause
loss. Hazards that may become an emergency event to be considered at a minimum shall
include, but shall not be limited to: natural hazards (geological, meteorological and biological)
and human-caused events (accidental and intentional).
NFPA (2004) illustrates natural hazards and human-caused events as follows:
Natural Hazards z Geological hazards (does not include asteroids, comets, meteors)
(i)
Earthquake
(ii)
Tsunami
(iii) Volcano
(iv)
Landslide, mudslide, subsidence
(v)
Glacier, iceberg
z Meteorological hazards
(i)
Flood, flash flood, seiche, tidal surge
(ii)
Drought
(iii) Fire (forest, urban)
(iv)
Snow, ice, hail, sleet, avalanche
(v)
Windstorm, tropical cyclone, hurricane, tornado, water spout, dust/sand storm
(vi)
Extreme temperatures (heat, cold)
(vii) Lightning strikes
(viii) Famine
z
(i)

Biological hazards
Diseases that impact humans and animals (plague, smallpox, anthrax, West Nile virus,
foot and mouth disease)
(ii)
Animal or insect infestation
Human-caused events z Accidental
(i).
Hazardous material (chemical, radiological, biological) spill or release
(ii).
Explosion/fire
(iii). Transportation accident
8

(iv).
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(ix)
(x)
(xi)

Building/structure collapse
Energy/power/utility failure
Fuel/resource shortage
Air/water pollution, contamination
Water control structure/dam/levee failure
Financial issues, economic depression, inflation, financial system collapse
Communications systems interruptions

z
(i).
(ii).
(iii).
(iv).
(v).
(vi).
(vii).
(viii).
(ix).
(x).

Intentional
Terrorism (conventional, chemical, radiological, biological, cyber)
Sabotage
Civil disturbance, public unrest, mass hysteria, riot
Enemy attack, war
Insurrection
Strike
Misinformation
Crime
Arson
Electromagnetic pulse

Risk is the chance of something happening that will have an impact upon objectives. It is
measured in terms of likelihood and consequences (Standards Australia and Standards New
Zealand, 2003). Within the context of emergency management, risk is a function of hazard
(H) and vulnerability (V), i.e. R = f(H x V). Pardy and Daly (2002) suggests that risks
arising from hazards change depending on the nature of both the physical events and the
characteristics of the community under threat. Risks to the community and the environment
must be managed in a rational manner before an event occurs, rather than waiting for the
event to occur and then reacting.
All hazards elicit a response in planning and management from governments, agencies and
community. In basic terms, the function of emergency management in routine emergencies
and non-routine emergencies are managing emergencies in daily situations faced by citizens
and providing overall pre-disaster planning and other programs such as training and exercises
for natural disasters and human-caused events that can affect a community respectively. The
Government and its emergency agencies are responsible for performing the functions of
emergency management successfully.
A community may have the opportunity to deal with emergencies before they strike and
responsible to assist in recovery after a disaster. With reference to EMA (2003), the
9

measures and concepts of emergency management are generally divided into four different
approaches:
z
z
z
z

The Comprehensive Approach;

The All Hazards Approach;
The All Agencies (or integrated) Approach; and
The Prepared Community.

10

The Comprehensive Approach

The Comprehensive Approach is one of the fundamental concepts of emergency management
of which relies on strategies for emergency prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
It is also known as PPRR and originates in the work of the National Governors Association
in the United States (1978). It was first espoused as Comprehensive Emergency
Management (CEM) suggesting a policy framework encompassing mitigation, preparedness,
response and recovery. Later on, mitigation was substituted by prevention as it often
appeared appended to, or a part of, prevention. In order to obtain a common definition,
Natural Disasters Organization (1992) has defined prevention, preparedness, response and
recovery as follows:
Prevention means those regulatory and physical measures to ensure that emergencies are
prevented or their effects mitigated. Examples of prevention would be:
z
z
z
z
z
z
z

building/fire codes,
building/fire regulations,
tax, insurance incentives/disincentives,
public education/campaign,
levee banks or debris control for flood control,
zoning/land use management, and
fuel reduction for wildfires.

In the United States, the word prevention is often interpreted to mean the total removal of a
hazard. However, this is not possible in many cases. It is necessary to increase the
perception of prevention to include measures that may be taken to lessen the effect of the
hazard impacting on a community, i.e. mitigation. Mitigation activities may take place
before and after emergencies occur. It includes any activities that can reduce the chance of
an emergency happening or the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. Some
pre-disaster mitigation programs like Planning for a Sustainable Future : The Link Between
Hazard Mitigation and Livability (www.fema.gov/fima/linkmitliv.shtm) developed by FEMA
has shown that communities can do a lot to prevent disasters from affecting them negatively
or at least reduce the damaging impact if the disaster cannot be prevented. Five simple steps
for promoting mitigation in the community are as follows:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)

Prevent the creation of the hazard in the first place.

Change the nature or the size of the hazard.
Separate the hazard from that which it might affect.
Modify the basic characteristics of a hazard.
Research what others are doing.
11

Nevertheless, the government is crucial to monitor how the involved departments are carrying
out their mitigation functions that affect the safety of the community. The government must
motivate the society to practice mitigation through hazard awareness and assist to ensure
continuing enforcement of hazard reduction measures.
Preparedness means those arrangements to ensure that, should an emergency occur, all those
resources and services which are needed to cope with the effects can be efficiently mobilized
and deployed.
Examples of preparedness are:
z planning,
z mutual aid agreements,
z public information,
z communication systems,
z public education,
z warning systems,
z training of personnel and exercising,
z stockpiling of resources, and
z earmarking of funds.
Since prevention or mitigation may never eliminate risk and vulnerability for all hazards and
emergencies often occur without any notice, preparedness is the only step of which a
government can successfully discharge its emergency management strategies by taking
appropriate actions in advance. Low levels of preparedness not only serve to compound the
effects of the emergency, but also leave recovery arrangements lacking, owning to an absence
of pre-planned contingencies and strategies. Preparedness includes establishing authorities
and responsibilities for emergency actions and gathering the resources to support them. A
jurisdiction must have a plan for assign or recruit staff for emergency duties and designate or
procure facilities and equipment.
Emergency operations plan (EOP) illustrates the scope of activities required for community
response. It must be realistic and allows the society to respond to a threat and engage in the
first step toward long-term recovery. An EOP includes three major components which are:
(i)
The Basic Plan - serves as the overview of the jurisdictions approach to emergency
management, including broad policies, plans, and procedures,
(ii)
Functional Annexes - address specific activities critical to emergency response and
short-term recovery efforts that support the basic plan, and
(iii) Hazard-specific Appendices - support each functional annex and contain technical
12

information, details, and methods for use in emergency operations.

The plan should be written in clear and simple language to avoid possible misunderstanding
or misinterpretation. FEMAs State and Local Guide for All-Hazards Emergency Operations
Planning is an example of the EOP. (http://www.fema.gov/rrr/gaheop.shtm)
After the preparation of the EOP, it is important for the official and related agencies to be
familiar with and test out the plan by exercise. Five types of exercises are recommended for
these purposes and they are as follows:
z Orientation,
z Table-top Exercise,
z Functional Exercise,
z Field Drill, and
z Full-scale Exercise.
Response means those actions taken in anticipation of, during, and immediately after an
emergency to ensure that its effects are minimized, and that people affected are given
immediate relief and support.
Examples of response are:
z implementing plans,
z activating emergency communications,
z implementing warning systems,
z mobilize resources,
z firefighting,
z flood rescue,
z medical assistance,
z search and rescue,
z community service,
z repairing broken power and gas lines, and
z
activating welfare services.
Response is putting your preparedness plans into action and it takes place during an
emergency. It includes actions taken to save lives and prevent further property damage in a
disaster or emergency situation. There are five stages of response to an emergency or
disaster namely:
(i)
alerting and notification,
(ii)
warning,
(iii) protecting the citizens and property,
13

(iv)
(v)

providing for the public welfare, and

restoration.

Setting up of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) is crucial in the response phase as the
officials responsible for responding to major emergencies and disasters assembles there to
direct and control the jurisdictions response. The EOC should be capable of providing for
continued operations throughout the disasters and emergencies. It goes into operation when
the elected/designated officials think that the situation is serious enough to require a
coordinated and unusual routine response.
One of the urgent tasks in any emergency is to quickly assess the situation to determine if the
size or severity warrants activating the EOC. A scale of the emergency is a good indicator to
gauge the staffing level and quantity of resources. The National Response Plan prepared by
the Homeland Security (2004) indicates that incidents are generally handled at the lowest
jurisdictional level possible. Police, fire, public health and medical, emergency management,
and other personnel are responsible for incident management at the local level. When an
incident or potential incident is of such severity, magnitude, and/or complexity that it is
considered an Incident of National Significance according to the criteria established in this
plan, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with other Federal departments and
agencies, initiates action to deal with the incident. These actions are taken in conjunction
with State, local, tribal, nongovernmental, and private-sector entities as appropriate to the
threat or incident.
Recovery means the coordinated process of supporting emergency affected communities in
reconstruction of the physical infrastructure and restoration of emotional, social, economic
and physical well being.
Recovery activities include:
z financial support and assistance,
z medical care,
z counseling services,
z public information,
z temporary housing,
z restoration of essential services,
z health and safety information,
z physical restoration and reconstruction, and
z review of prevention.
Recovery activities take place right after the beginning of an emergency and it includes
14

actions taken to return to a normal or even safer situation following an emergency.

Recovery activities are classified as short-term and long-term. Short-term recovery is
immediate and tends to overlap with response. Long-term recovery may involve some of the
same activities, but it may continue for a number of months, sometimes years, depending on
the severity and extent of the damage sustained. Recovery also includes getting financial
assistance to help pay for the repairs.
The four components (PPRR) referred to within the emergency management framework must
not be viewed as separate parts. In general, the aspects that occur before an emergency are
referred to as prevention and preparedness, during an emergency as response and afterwards
as recovery but as there will always be emergencies of some sort it is best to consider it as a
cyclical process. Each component may affect and be affected by the others. They are best
treated as different functions or aspects in which the whole community is involved to different
degrees at different times.
Prevention and preparedness has no beginning and no end, they are constant activities that
will assist the response and recovery to be more efficient and effective. Prevention and
preparedness are activities generated by the perception of the value of being proactive.
These components take the long-term view of management, and their motive is to improve
community capabilities to withstand emergencies.
Response is probably the shortest aspect and most often will only last a few hours or days.
Recovery can be either short-term or long-term. It is important to keep in mind that
recovery does not start at a point when the response to the emergency finishes. In fact
recovery is an ongoing process and in most cases the process for recovery within a
community will start on impact of the event. It is therefore necessary that those involved in
recovery be involved from an early stage in order to be best prepared. Response and
recovery are reactive and they are orientated towards immediate action in improving
emergency coordination and decision systems to cope with the disruption to a community by
an emergency. They require effective tactical skills, communication, command and control.
The Comprehensive Approach has been promoted as best practice to international markets
through at least one publication sponsored by the Asian Development Bank and drawn from
largely Australian sources (Carter, 1991). The Queensland Fire and Rescue Authority, in its
1998/99 annual report categorizes its services using Prevention, Preparedness and Response
(leaving off Recovery as an applicable service) (QFRA, 1999). The Metropolitan Fire and
Emergency Services Board (Melbourne) similarly lists PPPR as a corporate strategy (MFESB,
1998).

15

Preparedness

Prevention

Emergency

Response

Figure 1

Recovery

The Comprehensive/PPRR Approach

16

The All Hazard Approach

In some countries, a huge amount of money and effort have been invested into the prevention
of a single hazard, however, this may be considered as neither economical nor efficient.
When considering any hazard in the emergency planning stage, it may be more practical to
think of all other possible hazards and the possibility of new hazards emerging as a result of
the prevention strategies. The All Hazards Approach concerns arrangements for managing
the large range of possible effects of risks and emergencies. In effect, this approach means
that one set of management arrangements is in place for both circumstances and for all
hazards. This concept is useful to the extent that a large range of risks can cause similar
problems, and such measures as warning, evacuation, medical services and community
recovery will be required during and following emergencies. Other unusual risks will,
however, require specific response and recovery measures, and will almost certainly require
specific prevention and mitigation measures.
Advantages of the All Hazard Approach are:
z Attention is directed towards the full range of hazards which require some form of
prevention and mitigation strategies;
z It allows for other issues to be addressed which may arise if a specific hazard impacts on
a community;
z Efficiencies are evident in terms of the use of finances, people and specific resources,
duplication is prevented;
z

By including all involved individuals and organizations a commitment to the strategies to

be put in place is heightened.

In recent years, FEMA (1997) has implemented the concept of an all-hazards approach to
emergency management in its Integrated Emergency Management System (IEMS). This
effort depends on the principles of comprehensive emergency management while focusing on
four specific goals:
z

Fostering a full federal, state, local, and tribal government partnership and providing for
flexibility at all levels of government for achieving common national goals.
z Emphasizing implementation of emergency management measures that are known to be
effective.
z Achieving more complete integration of emergency management planning into
mainstream state, local, and tribal policy-making and operational systems.
z Building on the foundation of existing emergency management plans, systems, and
capabilities to broaden their applicability to the full spectrum of emergencies.

17

The All Agencies Approach

The All Agencies Approach is about a partnership that establishes counter disaster
arrangements between different levels of government and the community.
The
responsibilities for these specific agencies vary, and may include:
z
z
z
z

Ensuring the continuity of their business or service.

Protecting their interests and personnel.
Protecting the community and environment from risks arising from the activities of the
organization.
Protecting the community and environment from credible risks.

Via the All Agencies Approach, emergency management measures may be couched in a
number of organizational and community contexts, including risk management,
environmental management, occupational health and safety, quality management, and asset
management.

18

The Prepared Community

The Natural Disaster Organization (1992) has defined the Prepared Community in the
Australian emergency manual: Community emergency planning guide as follows:
In order to protect life, property and the environment, it is necessary to
have:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)

an alert, informed and prepared community;

an understanding of hazards that the community faces;
a program for prevention and mitigation of emergency events;
identification of those responsible for controlling and
coordinating emergency management;
acceptance of support roles and responsibilities;
cooperation between emergency services and others, and acceptance
of their roles in emergency management;
a coordinated approach to the use of all resources; and
arrangements to enable communities to recover from emergencies.

The concept of the Prepared Community concerns the application of the Comprehensive
Approach, the All Hazards Approach and the All Agencies Approaches at the local level
(typically the Local Government level). As disasters affect communities, from a community
viewpoint, the linkage in dealing with disasters are individuals, voluntary organizations and
the Local Government. Individuals can lobby Local Government and participate in
voluntary organizations. Voluntary organizations being supported by the community plays a
vital role in disaster management. Local Government provides essential services and
undertakes disaster mitigation as part of its planning processes. Moreover, local government
also has a leadership role in the area of community recovery following an emergency/disaster
impact.

19

Key of Success for Emergency Management

Emergency management generally exists within a complex political, economic, and social
environment which often explains the lack of a coherent, coordinated policy framework in
many developing countries. Designing and implementing comprehensive emergency
management procedures is always easier said than done. This is because of the obstacles to
effective action created by the low salience of disaster issues and the vertical and horizontal
fragmentation of the government system. Hy and Waugh (1990) suggest that the obstacles
also include technical problems involved in identifying disasters, defining risk, designing and
implementing mitigation and preparedness programs and responding to and recovering from
the disasters themselves.
A modern emergency management system should integrate the ingredients from the
all-hazards approach and the comprehensive approach together with a movement toward risk
management and a disaster resilient focus. Moreover, the system should be maintained by
full-time emergency managers who must be knowledgeable, dependable, sensible and
credible and skillful in facilitating. The inclusion of information from the study of human
and organization behavior during disasters is essential in the planning stage of the process.
Response agencies and service providers should not expect people to change longstanding
cultural practices and ways of adapting when faced with disaster.
Rather, they should seek
to better understand those patterns and develop and adopt their programs accordingly.
Planning models are doomed to failure when they are based on the assumption that a situation
as complex and rapidly changing as a major disaster can be centrally controlled by a single
decision-making entity. In fact, the trend is in the opposite direction. As disasters become
larger and more complex, and as the media and technology make information more widely
available, the number of entities that can become involved in emergency response also will
grow, and decision-making will become increasingly decentralized. Therefore, policies and
plans should conceptualize disaster response as a loosely-coupled set of activities carried out
by a highly diverse set of entities such as official emergency management organizations,
voluntary groups, community-based organizations, emergent citizens groups, and the public at
large.
An essential feature of both conducting hazard analysis and emergency planning is the
importance of involving not only the experts in the process but also the community directly
affected by the possible threats. Through the involvement all affected parties in the process
of hazard analysis and emergency management planning, a sense of ownership for the plan
will be developed which in turn will cause the community to be committed to achieving a
20

good outcome. Other reasons include acceptance, understanding of planning and response
measures. Also it is worth keeping in mind that if the subject experts and key community
figures are not involved from the start, these people will have strong critics later on mainly
because they will feel that they should have been consulted. It is essential that the plan
should be evaluated and validated to see if it the plans achieved the desired outcomes. Some
of the ways in which this may be achieved are through various types exercise or simulation.

21

Conclusion
Emergency events or disasters that cause disruption and damage to the community may occur
at any time and without any warning. It is not difficult to recall instances where people have
been seriously injured or killed in accidents or where communities have been destabilized by
such tragic events. In all circumstances, individuals and communities are affected in certain
ways which interfere with their normal functioning and their physical environment. It is
important that emergency managers and personnel are adequately trained and prepared to deal
with such events as they arise, so that all appropriate actions are taken to enable individuals
and their communities to return to normal as soon as possible. Moreover, it is essential to
ensure that all the affected people may recover from the painful experiences and be prepared
for the next challenge ahead.
Since prevention, preparedness, response and recovery are core functions of emergency
management, they should always be presented within the emergency planning structures set
out in the existing guidance. It is a fundamental aim of the four functions that they should
be coordinated across all the authorities and organizations, in accordance with the local
emergency management methodology.
As most disasters are impossible to predict, it becomes difficult to estimate likely costs in
terms of mitigating the effects of damage to the people and property. Thus, the Government
must develop disaster assistance programs to help the victims recovering from the disasters.
In addition, the Government should also act as a liaison between the victims and the
Non-profit Volunteer Charitable Organizations such as Red Cross, Salvation Army and the
others. This would definitely speed up the process of identifying the resources, conditions
and client focus.
Emergency management comprises of knowledge, skills, courageous, leadership full of
risk-taking ability, vigilance, motivation, sense of urgency, commitment and creative thinking
with a long-term strategic vision. Successful emergency management also requires both
persistent and consistent liaison and coordination among a large diversity of governmental
agencies, response organizations, and the community support resources. In managing
disasters, established organizational norms, culture, rules, and procedures become major
obstacles. Those involved in emergency management must persevere for resolution.

22

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