Principles of emergency planning and management

An emergency response is the act of making the necessary plans by coordinating and directing the necessary resources in order to salvage the situation at hand by protecting the affected communities and limiting the disaster's effects. The Boston Marathon bombing occurred during an event that was attended by a large number of people, so emergency personnel were readily available when the bombing occurred. Additionally, the presence of many medical centers in Boston with highly skilled employees and well-organized procedures and plans aided in the rescue of the event's victims. Emergency situations can be classified into different levels depending on the type of response needed so as to save the condition. The first level is known as a minor level which is characterized by minor incidents such as contained floods or even small fires. These occurrences do not need a lot of attention and are generally dealt with at the department level. At this level of emergency, there is no any planning required and the situation is easily managed without any casualties. There is the second level which is known as the major level and it is characterized by those major events such as major flooding, an explosion or even fire. The events at this level usually affect the normal life of the people around and it requires adequate planning. At this level, the incidents can lead to confusion among the people around and some minor injuries may be reported from the incident. The last level is known as the catastrophic level which is characterized by incidents of terrorism, natural disaster, and earthquake. The situation at this level may require the emergency response team present to seek help from other external sources. It requires serious planning and may lead to severe damages. The incidence at this level may lead to the death of very many people and also injuries (Xue & Zong, 2005).

There are several principles which governs the emergency operations and which should be supported by resources for the resources to be successful. The emergency planners should analyze the kind of hazards which a particular community can suffer from. This, therefore, enables the emergency department to be fully prepared in case of any emergency. During the Boston Marathon, the emergency operations were well organized and coordinated due to the fact that this event was always conducted in Boston and therefore they were prepared. There was very good coordination between the different departments and also the hired organizations which were called upon to help with the situation. There should be good training and practices for the officers to ensure that they are able to save the public in case of any emergency even when following the command authority from the deployed organizations. (Alexander, 2002).

There should also be constant communication from the senior officials to the public. This is to ensure that the community is well informed about what is ongoing and to avoid any false or inaccurate information being spread to the public. There should also be specific systems for helping and updating the families whose members are missing or have been injured during the incident (Alexander, 2002). The community should be trained on how to be resilient in case of emergencies as this will help them to be able to save their lives as much as possible. For example, during the Boston Marathon bombing, the people of Boston were very strong and defiant and this was some of the factors which led to many lives being saved.

The research based on the emergency management during the time of disaster response contains several ways in which life and property can be protected and how people can continue to leave despite the disruption caused by disasters. This research talks of self –protective actions that should be taken by the affected communities in case of any disaster. People should be able to learn from the impending signals of dangers with or without formal warnings and make quick decisions on how to escape and also help others. This research also shows that during the evacuation process in case of an emergency is affected by many factors (Alexander, 2002). For example, most women will be willing to follow the orders due to fear while most men will be resistant in following such orders. Also, those people who need to be evacuated will always agree to do so following information from different sources of how severe the situation is and maybe if they had previous experiences concerning the same. According to this research based on the emergency management, it is also true the fear and several behaviors of individuals are usually depended on how the disaster response institutions manage the disasters. It is therefore evident that through encouraging the people to trust and also understand the several measures set by this institution for the preparation of any disaster can really help in reducing the fear.

During the Boston Marathon, there was an explosion of two bombs at an interval of twelve seconds whereby three people were announced to be dead and several were injured. Just after the explosion, the people who survived including the police on duty and also the emergency medical personnel all availed themselves in order to save those who were injured. There was the presence of highly trained doctors at the finish line who were ready to help the runners who needed any kind of treatment. The medical personnel were therefore ready and handled the situation carefully by giving first aids to those people sustained injuries. The police officers who arrived at the scene teamed up with the medical doctors in transporting the injured people to the hospitals. All the victims were helped and taken to the hospitals in less than thirty minutes (Brunner et al, 2014).

The police officers were suspecting more explosions and therefore they kept on clearing the other areas to ensure there is safety. There was a plan for evacuating people who occupied the nearby buildings. There were so many sources of inaccurate information which made people be more confused. The police were, however, conducting further investigation by collecting more information from the people who witnessed the scenario. There was a press conference which was organized after two hours and the public was addressed about the situation.

The decision-making process which was used during the boson marathon bombing was a good one because after the explosion the available personnel together with the police officers teamed up and saved the injured people and this saved the lives of many people. The decision to examine the people ambulances that were entering the hospital was a good one since it was possible for the attackers to take the advantage of the confusion and cause another attack in the hospitals. The decision to evacuate the people occupying the nearby buildings helped the police with investigations and also ensured them that everybody was out of any danger. It’s a good idea for any country to be prepared in either way in case of any event because the fact that Boston was fully prepared before the marathon helped in handling the situation. (Brunner et al, 2014).

During the Boston Marathon bombing, the implementation of the incident command system was not fast as it was expected to be. They took some time in finding ways of managing the emergency response in a more effective way. The cell communications at the finish line were too much loaded and they could not be relied on. There were so many conflicts in forming the command system and therefore this should be addressed in a more serious way so as to ensure that the implementation of such a system is done in a better and faster way. The management of the support personnel was at its best as the medical personnel and the police officers teamed up very fast and helped those who were injured. (Brunner et al, 2014). The medical team in the hospitals helped very much in treating the victims without hesitations. The management was very nice and the reason why people were saved.

In conclusion, the emergency response management should always be prepared in order to act accordingly in case of any incident. It’s good for the command system to have well set of processes and procedure so as to enable quick decisions and implement the same for the response. Again in the case of such incidents different institutions and organizations should coordinate themselves and work together as a team so as to ensure that the situation is handled carefully and people are protected from any danger (Alexander, 2002).

References

Alexander, D. E. (2002). Principles of emergency planning and management. Oxford University Press on Demand.

Brunner, J., Rocha, T. C., Chudgar, A. A., Goralnick, E., Havens, J. M., Raja, A. S., & Sodickson, A. (2014). The Boston Marathon bombing: after-action review of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital emergency radiology response. Radiology, 273(1), 78-87.

XUE, L., & ZHONG, K. B. (2005). Classification of types, levels and stages for emergencies: managerial foundation of government emergency response system [J]. Chinese Public Administration, 2, 032