Re: focus on the functions, not whether it's an "emergency", "crisis" or "disaster" [was] Re: Proposal for a domain

Dear colleagues,

I'm wary of proceeding too quickly to any "top-down"
view.  I sense this field is in flux.  I include a lot
of links and quotes below from the US, Canada, UK and
NZ which I'll comment on separately.  I suggest the US
"resilience networks", "ABIDE", and NZ "comprehensive
emergency management" and UN "resilient cities and
communities initiative" are more reconcilable with
each other and with the facts on the ground in poor
countries (which by definition have more people
capable of dealing with outages and breakdowns) than
conventional top-down "emergency management" thinking.

An excellent functional breakdown would have to wait
on a glossary analysis and review of definitions like
the following.  I did not post my breakdown which
Paola quoted in reply because it isn't intended to
serve as more than a guide to this more official work.

-- US --------

Several approaches seem to be competing, the most
advanced of which de-emphasize command hierarches
entirely (as in the ABIDE framework and so on) and
seem to evoke the real or imagined natural resilience
of a community that relies mostly on informal ties or
credentials.  But this coexists with "emergency
managers" of the FEMA sort.  No comment on how well
each approach served the US in its recent challenges
but obviously the debate now exists for a reason.

---- resilience network ------

http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/2007-01/msg00106.html

"The Resilience Networks are a non-hierarchical,
non-controlled system supplement to hierarchical,
closed incident command systems.  Hierarchical command
and control systems are by their nature slow to evolve
and brittle in large-scale disasters, especially when
cross-sector and cross-jurisdiction communication is
essential.  The Resilience Networks are particularly
useful in a rapid prototyping mode for quick growth in
building very local infrastructure engaging citizens
and their communities in situational awareness and
acting on mission critical gaps --  especially in the
most vulnerable communities. 

- Michael D. McDonald

Coordinator, National Disaster Risk Communication
Initiative

Co-principal investigator
Psychosocial Dimensions of Biosecurity Preparedness
and Response Initiative"

McDonald' is also interested in "ontology applications
in intelligent social networks used for providing
citizens and their communities with prospective best
practices, situational awareness, coordinated focus 
on mission critical gaps, and smart swarm capabilities
to anticipate  and address small and large-scale
social crises.  Special emphasis  would be on the
needs of vulnerable populations incident command  
systems often do not address and on situations where
command and control systems fail (e.g., Katrina,
mental health response to the  2004 Hurricanes in
Florida, Indian Ocean Basin Tsunami, South Carolina 
Ricin incident).

---- emergency management --------

Illustrating the more conventional FEMA approach is a
fairly elaborate list of credentials and training for
"emergency managers".

http://www.theicor.org/pages/disc/em.html

"Emergency Management is the terminology usually
associated with government agencies and focuses on
addressing events, conditions or situations that
threaten life safety, assets, or the community at
large. 

In the private sector, Emergency Management addresses
the safety of personnel, the facility or physical
assets and is usually event driven. It is essential
that all organizations in a community plan and provide
for interaction and partnerships with those agencies
that provide emergency management services.

The discipline of Emergency Management addresses the
following elements:
1. The Incident Command System (for use by both public
and private agencies)
2. Emergency Responder Training (public sector)
3. Basic Emergency Management (public sector)
4. Emergency Operations Center Management (both public
and private)
5. The Incident / Emergency Response Plan (private
sector)
6. The Resilient Community (both public and private)"


http://www.iaem.com/certification/generalinfo/intro.htm

"Levels of Certification and Credentialing
There are five levels of ICOR certification

1. Certified Organizational Resilience Executive
(CORE)

2. Certified Organizational Resilience Professional
(CORP)

3. Certified Organizational Resilience Manager (CORM)

4. Certified Organizational Resilience Specialist
(CORS)

5. Certified Organizational Resilience Associate
(CORA)"

-- Canada -----------------------------------

http://www.fcm.ca/english/policy/pdb.pdf

FCM Policies

Emergency Management

As first-line responders, municipal governments play a
critical role in public safety and emergency
preparedness. To ensure the safety of Canadian
communities, emergency management systems must be
appropriately funded and coordinated across
jurisdictions.  These systems must account for the
unique hazards associated with sensitive
infrastructure, such as airports, ports, borders and
embassies.

Other orders of government must recognize the distinct
threats posed by the new security environment and the
load this places on municipal services, including
police, fire, paramedic and public health agencies.

Protection of critical infrastructure, such as
airports, ports, borders or embassies, consumes
significant municipal resources. Emergency planning
must account for these unique hazards.

Increasingly, municipal governments must review their
emergency response plans and adapt local
infrastructure to deal with severe weather, as climate
change is widely expected to bring more frequent and
more severe extreme weather events, such as floods,
hail or wind storms. 

In addition to all of this, public health authorities
must play an integral role in emergency management, as
demonstrated by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) outbreak in Toronto. 

The roles and responsibilities of each order of
government in national security and emergency
management planning should be re-examined.

Strategies:
[lists some institutions involved including]

Canadian Public Health Agency and Public Safety 

Emergency Preparedness Canada 

Canadian Emergency Preparedness College (training)

Canadian Standards Association ( comprehensive and
national set of standards for emergency management and
business continuity planning)

Joint Emergency Operations Centre (disaster
mitigation)

(more agencies involved in a resilience approach)

Infrastructure Canada (standards and practices, best
practice exchange, see http://infraguide.ca and

http://openpolitics.ca/CEG+recommendations+to+Infrastructure+Canada+2004-12-21
)

Finance, Public Works (see
http://openpolitics.ca/open+letter+to+Ralph+Goodale+from+Civic+Efficiency+Group
)

-- UK ------------

(excellent list of publications relevant to
resilience)
http://www.ukresilience.info/publications.aspx

(example of an emergency plan for a municipality)
http://www.hertsdirect.org/infobase/docs/pdfstore/HRERPpub.pdf

------------
NZ

(the best paper of the lot)
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN019477.pdf

"Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM)... covers
reduction, readiness, response and recovery"

"Sustainable hazard management has five components:
environmental quality; quality of life; disaster
resilience; economic vitality; and inter- and
intra-generational equity. Reducing the risk from
hazards, reducing losses from disasters and working
toward sustainable communities go hand-in-hand"

"...future emphasis on natural hazard reduction needs
to take into consideration the following four specific
lessons:

1. Integrated risk management: Emergency management
must be part of the wider economic development
framework and not isolated from it.

2. Eco-system vulnerability: Links must be developed
between natural and technological hazard
characteristics so they can all be managed in a
systematic way, and from an environmental management
perspective.

3. Mega-disasters will occur: There will be
intensifying relationships between large
population concentrations, increased hazards and
heightened vulnerability, and hence there is a need to
anticipate the likelihood of mega-disasters.

4. Promotion: There needs to be more recognition of
the increasing relevance of emergency management"

"six likely areas of activity that future emergency
managers will pick up and augment their customary
response management functions:

1. Emergency managers will assist in the creation and
management of community resilience by being able to
recognise resources and risks, and help communities
choose a level of risk appropriate to their
circumstances.

2. Emergency managers will help manage communities as
sustainable entities, with the understanding that
reducing losses from disasters alone is too narrow a
goal.

3. Emergency managers will link emergency management
concepts and practices with sustainability through
long-term hazard and loss reduction and through
employing public risk management processes.

4. Emergency managers will not only help reduce
community losses but they will also assist in the
process of enhancing the long-term equilibrium between
human and natural environmental interactions. 

5. Emergency managers will help ensure appropriate
emergency management mechanisms are in place, are
operable, and are capable of responding to the overall
risk environment. 

6. Emergency managers will link emergency management
concepts and practices with wider community management
practices and processes"

---- UN --------

Resilient Cities and Communities Initiative
(UN-HABITAT, Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative,
UNDP, UN ICLEI, etc.)

 (summary and links at)
http://openpolitics.ca/resilient+community



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

Received on Monday, 11 June 2007 06:15:47 UTC