Free Essay: Emergency Response and Disaster Recovery

Introduction

Following man-made and natural disasters or catastrophes, there are certain courses of action, policies, strategies, processes and activities through which the government, government agencies, NGOs and corporate organizations make the attempt to regain normalcy in activities and life of the victims. Health, infrastructure restoration and environmental are part of the goals for disaster recovery process. Unfortunately though, not enough time, finances, human resources and attention is allocated to emergency preparedness, disaster management and recovery in the country. An efficient and all inclusive road map is supposed to be proposed and implemented for purposes of improving disaster recovery in the country. The purpose of this paper is to outline the road map by which improvements can be made in Emergency Response and Disaster Recovery. The right allocation of more human resource, financial, time, equipment and human resource is needed in order to come up with a definite strategy for disaster recovery in the US.

Roadmap to Disaster Recovery

The aspect that is most important in disaster recovery initiatives or road map is hastening the restoration of disrupted environmental, infrastructural, health and physical systems in the areas affected. The current trend, in fact in which there is a lot of emphasis laid is business continuity which needs to be reversed since normalization and continuation of life, health as well as overall welfare is of great importance. Additionally, there is an approach that is more cost effective and holistic to disaster recovery which is recommended. The following are the proposed disaster recovery policy elements.

Measures of control

There needs to be mechanisms established through which threats of disaster and risks can be eliminated or reduced. Majorly, Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is ideal in any processes of recovery. Control measures will include preventive controls or measures which keep disasters from occurring, detective measures for discovering and identification of disaster before they happen and corrective measures, which restore systems and correct damages.

Disaster Recovery Strategies

Overemphasis cannot be made on importance of strategies in disaster recovery. The strategies applied in disaster recovery and strategies proposed are supposed to have core objectives of being able to respond to life interruptions and services efficiently and effectively. First, all the preparations and plans necessary for minimization of losses, assurance of continuity as well as restoration of normalcy need to be readied. The first DR process action needs to be impact analysis through which the potential effects of a specific kind of disaster in consideration. The DR plan in this case is supposed to take into account and propose the best way to deal with different kinds of acts of terrorism like mass destruction weapons, natural disasters like fire, earthquake, storms, power outages and failures as well as flood. Importantly, impacts of these events as well as magnitude of interruptions need to be ascertained in order to aid in determination of interruptions caused and aid in determination of likely scenario in the event of occurrence and the right disaster recovery process.

Several categories of services of disaster recovery need to be planned for and implemented with immediate effect when disaster arises.

These courses of action and services include but are not limited to determination of options available, risk assessment, audit business and DR plan testing, impact analysis, and DR plan development, DR plan implementation and cost benefit analysis.

Just as a country has numerous plans for socioeconomic growth, cultural, political and empowerment, it is supposed to have a recovery and continuity plan, designed to address recovery needs and unique risks. Hence, the country’s DR or continuity plan need to be designed in a manner that only reduced the exposure to risks of unexpected disasters but as well as the manner in which it responds to disruptions of critical functions, services and operations to the citizens. In this case, the following factors are integral to continuity and recovery and need to be addressed in the plan of disaster recovery, management of systems’ capacity and performance, vulnerabilities, redundancy, threats internal systems disruptions like telecommunication and environmental systems. Core components of proposed disaster recovery plan include continuity and implementation of the policy of disaster recovery. It also involves analyzing the impact, classification of the disaster, how critical the operation is, disaster recovery procedures, stringent continuity plan, training, awareness and continuous testing as well as monitoring.

Process of Emergency Response Plan

The initial step in development of emergency response plan is supposed to be risk assessment. The process helps in identification of emergency or risk situations and empowers those who are concerned so they can understand when disasters are likely to arise. Consequently, resources like human labor, humanitarian aid, materials and equipment can be determined and availed prior to or immediately disaster happens^.

Performance objectives need to be clarified and consistent emergency plan prepared. It is highly recommended that every institution develops, changes and implements emergency plan in order to protect employee, clients and visitors in such facilities. In this case, evacuation or drills, shelter from hurricanes tornadoes and chemical hazards as well as lock down are the strategies individuals and facilities need to be conversant with.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the nature of disaster and type of facility, it is important to have a sound emergency plan that emphasizes on preservation of life, safety, incident stabilization, and well being as well as life continuity. The adequate and right amount of material, human, financial, humanitarian and equipment resources need to be availed. Most importantly, preparedness in sense of mitigation of occurrence of disasters is a must for disaster emergency plans that are sound.

Bibliography

Buchanan, Sally, Emergency Preparedness. From Paul Banks and Roberta Pilette: Preservation Issues and Planning. (Chicago: American Library Association, 2000) 165.

Federal Emergency Management Agency “Emergency Response Plan.” Retrieved on October, 18, 2013 from http://www.ready.gov/business/implementation/emergency.

Karanasios, S. New and Emergent ICTs and Climate Change in Developing Countries. (Manchester: Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester, 2011).