Crisis Management Concept & Theory

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is interchangeable with disaster recovery plan. Business continuity also addresses a more comprehensive planning which focuses on long term or chronic challenges to organizational success. These problems may include supply chain breakdowns, illness or departure of key team member, critical malware infection or catastrophic failure.

Contingency Planning

Contingency planning is a course of action which is design to help an organization to respond effectively to a significant future event or situation that might or might not occur such as fire, flood, and tornado. The contingency planning process can be broken down into three questions. What is going to happen? What can we do about it? And what can we do ahead of time to get prepared.

These guides allow planners to think in a systematic way. Contingency planning is most of the time assumed that when there is a particular threat or hazard; how exactly that threat will impact is unknown. Scenarios are good forms of ways to think through the possible impacts. On a regular sensible scenario, it is possible to develop a plan that deals with the scale of the response and resources needed.

Preparedness

Preparedness deals with the development of plans before an event occur. The preparation may include; where to go if a disaster should happen, what to do, and who to make contacts with for help. For example, posting emergency telephone numbers in areas visible when needed, identify places where you would be able to take refuge or shelter, and preparing an emergency kit with all the necessary supplies for you and your family. The preparation for disaster helps you in improving as many chances of successfully dealing with an emergency.

Mitigation

Mitigation is activities that are carried out in order to prevent an emergency which is taken into consideration long before the disaster occurs. Mitigation uses activities that will reduce the likelihood of emergency occurrence, or the effect of damaged unavoidable hazards. For instance, mitigate fire inside of a house, use safety standards when selecting material for building such as wires and appliances. However, fire could still occur even with that done so to prevent the burden and expense of rebuilding your home you could consider a home or fire insurance.

Response

Response is the process of attending to the needs of others during a disaster. This is where the utilization of emergency planning comes in, when the need arises. This phase save lives directly as individuals who are prepared and responsible for their own safety, safety of their family and others engages in emergency rescue and medical care, firefighting if need being, and urban search and rescue.

Recover

Recovery is where actions are taken for a long time after a disaster had passed. These actions stabilize the communities and restore them back to normalcy. During a recovery, individuals are prone to stress/related illnesses and excessive financial burdens and therefore under preparation, a person would learn that their safety and welfare depends on their ability to deal with rearranging their environment and life after a disaster.

First Responder

First Responders are personnel who are considered to be contacted first or be the first on a scene when there is an emergency. These personnel include fire, police, and emergency medical personnel. First responders also serves as a role model for other member of the community, thus leading by example to encourage preparedness; building an emergency supply kit, making family emergency plan, be informed about different types of emergencies that may be called upon to respond to while teaching your family how they should respond when disaster strikes, and preparing for any special considerations like individuals with access or functional needs, older adults, children, and pets.

References

Coombs, W. T. (2007, October 30). Crisis Management and Communications. Retrieved from Institute For Public Relationship: http://www.instituteforpr.org/crisis-management-and-communications/

David, N. (1997, August 2). Reconsidering the Phases of Disaster. Retrieved from International Journal of Mass Emergencies and : http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/downloads/IJEMS/ARTICLES/Reconstucting%20Phases%20of%20Disaster.pdj

Definition, Vision, Mission, Principles. (n.d.). Retrieved from Emergency Managemen: https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/emprinciples/0907_176%20em%20principles12x18v2f%20johnson%20%28w-o%20draft%29.pdf

Folk, R. (2013). Crisis Management Planning. Retrieved from Paradigm Solutions International: http://www.paradigmsi.com/?white-paper=crisis-management-planning

Jr., W. W. (2007). Local Emergency Management in the Post. In Principles and Practice for Local Government (Second Edition). Washington: CMA Press.

Rouse, M. (n.d.). business continuance (business continuity). Retrieved from TechTargt : http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/business-continuance

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