The All-Hazards Approach
Introduction
Organizations need to come up with a form of an emergency preparedness plan that lays out the types of emergencies that may occur in the organization, and how prepared the organization is towards dealing with the hazards that may arise. Even though the concept of emergency preparedness may seem quite simple, the plan must take into consideration the spectrum of emergencies that may occur at any particular time (Martin, 2019). The all-hazards approach is based on this line of thinking. In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for coming up with the relevant emergency preparedness and response plans. It is important to note that while the all-hazards concept aims at incorporating a vast majority of hazards, it does not include all the hazards. Therefore, well-detailed emergency preparedness and response plan should incorporate terrorist attacks, non-terrorist attacks, natural hazards and technological hazards.
- Terrorist Attacks
In today’s world, terrorist attacks have become a significant issue of concern, especially to national security. According to Chung (2013), terrorist attacks claim approximately a hundred American lives annually and many more worldwide. Terrorism attacks are conducted by religious extremists who use conventional weapons and sometimes weapons of mass destruction to propel their extremist beliefs. While coming up with emergency responses and mitigation measures that relate to terrorism, certain factors are taken into consideration. The first is the psychological impacts of terror attacks. Terror attacks are generally unpredictable, uncontrollable, involuntary, and indiscriminately fatal to everyone (Martin, 2019). This makes impacts of such attacks to be very costly, going to the extent of affecting the future generations. Therefore, the mitigation measures should take into consideration measures that are aimed at taking care of the survivors past the attacks.
The other factor is maintaining a balance in emergency preparedness and management. On top of highlighting all the hazards that may occur, the all-hazards concept also ensures that all the hazards are equally taken care of (Chung, 2013). While the Department of Homeland Security may invest heavily in ensuring that adequate measures have been put in place to take care of terror attacks, focusing too much on this particular threat may lead to a reduced focus on other hazards. The result is that the general population is left susceptible to other hazards, especially natural hazards. Finally, when dealing with terrorism, the focus should not be on conventional weapons alone. Technological advancements have led to other forms of terrorist attacks, which include chemical and biological attacks (Chung, 2013). These attacks fall under five general classifications; chemical agents, biological agents, radiological agents, nuclear weapons, and explosives. The all-hazards approach should, therefore, put in place the mechanisms needed to take care of every one of these attacks individually.
- Non-Terrorist Attacks
In this concept, the primary non-terrorist attacks of consideration are the human-initiated crises like mass shootings. The incidences of mass shootings have become too familiar in the present world, owing to the increased ease of acquiring firearms in the U.S for sporting and hunting purposes. Unlike terrorism, the perpetrators of mass shootings generally do not have specific reasons for undertaking these attacks and therefore, they are not classified as terrorists (Vernon, 2018). In many incidences, the perpetrators of these attacks are individuals who illustrate mental instability. A majority of recorded non-terrorist mass shootings in the U.S have been recorded in education institutions and have led to dozens of lives lost and scores injured.
Based on the rising number of mass shootings in the U.S, there is a need for inclusion of a response and mitigation mechanism in the all-hazards response concept. One way of doing so is educating Emergency managers and public safety agencies on how to deal with such incidences. These should need to be aware of the changing social trends, and they should, therefore, be in a position to respond to such occurrences within no time (Vernon, 2018). Additionally, the all-hazard response plan should take into consideration the importance of interagency corporation as the need requires a coordinated effort between the relevant agencies to come up with a safe and effective response.
- Natural Hazards
By definition, natural disasters are typically the phenomenon occurring due to nonhuman causes. Generally, the occurrence of natural disasters is predictable using modern technology and techniques, therefore, helping in preparing for their occurrence. However, the impacts of such disasters may be challenging to predict. Additionally, these impacts may be devastating, leading to the destruction of property and infrastructure, not to mention leading to displacement and even loss of human life (Martin, 2019). Hence the importance of the inclusion of natural hazards in the all-hazards approach.
Since natural hazards and corresponding disasters cannot are uncontrollable, the aim of the inclusion of these natural hazards in the all-hazards approach is to come up with a way of reducing the impact of these natural hazards to the human population. One way of reducing the effect is the development of warning systems. The result of using these warning systems is that the number of human lives lost to natural disasters has significantly reduced, especially in Latin America (Lundgren & McMakin, 2018).
The inclusion of natural hazards in the all-hazard approach should take into consideration certain factors. The first is the speed of onset of the natural hazard. The onset time refers to the time taken by the natural disasters before they occur and thus affecting preparedness for the disaster. Some disasters have rapid onset time, for instance, volcanic eruptions while others have a slow onset, for example, drought. The other factor is whether or not natural hazards are controllable using available technologies. These are referred to as controllable and immutable events (Lundgren & McMakin, 2018). Finally, it is crucial to consider the severity and frequency of occurrence of these natural disasters. The all-hazards approach should incorporate measures to be used to mitigate the effects of recurrent hazards such as floods as well as severe natural disasters that have a high probability of recurring, such as hurricanes.
- Technological Hazards
Technological hazards originate from activities such as accidents and human errors, dangerous procedures and infrastructural failure in industries which lead to jeopardized human livelihood and natural environmental conditions. Examples include nuclear radiation, factory explosions and fires and pollution from toxic industrial wastes (Martin, 2019). Based on the growing urbanization and industrialization, these hazards are bound to increase. Despite this, little or no efforts are being made to deal with this issue either on a local or even on a global level. For this reason, preparation and mitigation measures need to be included in the all-hazards approach.
The all-hazard approach, however, provides a golden opportunity to change this narrative. Certain factors should be considered when coming up with a framework that will address the technological hazards. First is improving on the risk assessment methodologies used (United Nations Development Program, 2015). Tools and methods used in the assessment of technological hazards need to be refined to include the impacts on the natural environment and the socioeconomic impacts as well. Additionally, the framework should be designed in a way that it improves on preparedness and response to incidences of technological disasters, including the most appropriate recovery and mitigation measures. Finally, the framework should allow for public education and community engagement in preparedness and mitigation procedures to ensure that the general public is well aware of the risks involved and the actions that need to be taken in the instance of a technological disaster (United Nations Development Program, 2015).
Whole-Community Approach
The all-hazard approach is a complex and very demanding approach to dealing with the common hazards and disasters that occur in the modern world regardless of the group under which they are classified. Depending on the type of hazard, several approaches can be used in emergency management and mitigation. One of the strategies that have been used and proven to be very useful in emergency management is the Whole-Community Approach to Emergency Management (Sobelson et al., 2015). The whole-community approach involves engaging the private sector, which includes business enterprises and the general public not only in emergency management but also in creating sustainable industrial development. This not only helps in emergency management, but it is also a mitigation measure by itself that works towards ensuring that all forms of hazards are controlled where possible. This has led to an increased realization of the benefits that the community at large stands to benefit from as long as they practice a proactive approach to risk management and the overall social responsibility (Sobelson et al., 2015).
References
Chung, J. (2013). Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Management: Keeping a Proper Balance. Brookings Institute, May.
Lundgren, R. E., & McMakin, A. H. (2018). Risk communication: A handbook for communicating environmental, safety, and health risks. John Wiley & Sons.
Martin, G. (2019). Understanding homeland security. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Sobelson, R. K., Wigington, C. J., Harp, V., & Bronson, B. B. (2015). A whole community approach to emergency management: Strategies and best practices of seven community programs. Journal of emergency management (Weston, Mass.), 13(4), 349.
United Nations Development Program. (2015). Technological hazards: From risk reduction to recovery. United Nations Development Program. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/blog/2015/2/12/Technological-hazards-From-risk-reduction-to-recovery.html.
Vernon, A. (2018). Planning, preparation needed to respond to mass shootings. Emergency Management.