Re: Proposal for a domain

Hi All,

If I wasn't in head-down mode working on a proposal for an infectious 
disease mapping, tracking and forecasting application as a web 
service operating within an ontologically-enabled Semantic 
Interoperability Service Oriented Architecture Registry Repository 
(SISOA-RR), I would be joining this discussion in a more focused and 
intense manner. That may be possible sometime later this week.

I think that for practical purposes "Emergency Management" more or 
less as Don has defined it, does indeed cover the basic needs for the 
top level name of the domain. It is also what I happen to use when 
referring to it as one of the two domains in this particular 
SISOA-RR: Health Informatics and Emergency Management. So I have a 
stake in the sand in this discussion.

However, I usually describe the domain as encompassing the 
preparation(s) for, response(s) to, mitigation of and recovery from 
emergency incidents. I state it that way to include the lifecycle of 
both the emergency and the overall response effort(s) which need to 
include preparation(s).

I'm not sure if the distinction between an emergency incident and a 
larger disaster, except in terms of time-period and scale, is 
particularly helpful. However, I am willing to accept these 
distinctions for the purposes of aligning political jurisdictions in 
order to support better coordination of services during emergencies 
and disasters. I agree that this area needs improvement.

Cheers,
Rex

At 4:34 PM +0700 6/10/07, paola.dimaio@gmail.com wrote:
>Hi Don
>thanks for assisting
>
>I do believe we should try to understand, analyse and define the 
>various terms, as to use them properly and objectively, ie to create 
>a term of reference that is acceptable by all as opposed to our 
>subjective preferred views.
>
>I am not sure my brief description was complete nor accurate, just a 
>reminder of some of the conversations we had so far on various 
>forums, somewhere to start from..
>
>(The tsunami was first and emergency and became a disaster
>I do not intend to make polemics, but the warning systems wer not in 
>place, or were not fired, etc, this is why the emergency became a 
>disaser, there were 2 hours to evacuate etc etc - just examples,)
>
>My  opinion on the state of the disaster mangement sector 
>unfortunately, is shared by many, who have suffered inefficiencies 
>that could be avoided that appear deliberatelly built into the 
>system to create business opportunities for some, at the expenses of 
>others.
>
>some public references here
>
><http://www.transparency.org/content/download/6474/38543/file/working_paper_humanitarian_aid.pdf>http://www.transparency.org/content/download/6474/38543/file/working_paper_humanitarian_aid.pdf
>
>  It is a painful, uncomfortable issue that need to be faced sooner or later.
>
>I ll make it a point to expand the proposed draft mission statement 
>to cover these points when I have a mo
>
>thanks
>PDM.
>
>
>On 6/10/07, Don Cameron 
><<mailto:rural.life@gmail.com>rural.life@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  > emergencies properly managed do not escalate,
>>  crises are emergencies  gone out of hand,
>>  disasters are crises that have gone out of hand,
>
>Paola - I hope to assist.
>
>The practice of emergency management embraces events, crisis and disasters
>of any scope. Emergencies are expected to escalate, and almost always will
>escalate regardless of the effectiveness of management. The function of
>Emergency Management is to restore normality. That an emergency escalates is
>not demonstrative of a failing of management process, it's an expected part
>of the cycle of emergencies and an aspect incorporated into the field and
>study of emergency management planning.
>
>An emergency is a situation that poses immediate threat to life or serious
>damage to property. An emergency is not constrained by scope. The SE Asian
>Tsunami was an emergency. The storm-surge grounding of the Pasha Bulker
>Tanker on Newcastle beach this week is also an emergency. That one of these
>events is beyond the capacity of local resources to control; that one is
>within local capacities is irrelevant to the definition. Both are
>emergencies.
>
>A disaster is an event or crisis that has escalated beyond the capacity of
>local resources to control. The SE Asian Tsunami was a disaster; the
>grounding of the Pasha Bulker Tanker is not.
>
>A crisis is undefined in the context of Emergency management and should not
>be interpreted as an 'emergency that has gone out of hand'. This is just
>invention.
>
>>  {my personal opinion: disaster management is a money making machine (snip)
>
>I do not believe this comment adds real value to the conversation.
>
>Don Cameron.
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>
>
>
>Paola Di Maio *****
>School of Information Technology
>Mae Fah Luang University
>Chiang Rai - Thailand
>*********************************************


-- 
Rex Brooks
President, CEO
Starbourne Communications Design
GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison
Berkeley, CA 94702
Tel: 510-898-0670