RESEARCH TOPIC

POST DISASTER INFORMATION MANAGEMENT:

ISSUES RELATED TO MITIGATION ACTIVITIES

ABSTRACT:
The primary objective of an emergency information system is to improve the capacity of decision makers to
take needed action. Effective information management system is the key, although also a very difficult aspect of the
emergency management. Emergency information management is defined as the collection, consolidation, analysis and
dissemination of the information and to be effective, it needs to be planned, organized and controlled to insure that
information is given to the right decision maker at the right time to satisfy their needs to know. The goal of this study
was to analyze the importance of information management for increasing the efficiency of post- disaster and also
mitigation activities. In this study, 50 managers and experts who are active in the field of disaster management were
interviewed regarding their viewpoints about the defects that have adverse impact on effectiveness of their efforts to
manage a crisis. The interviewed group included a group of 40 men with average age of 36 and 10 women with average
age of 28, all experienced in disaster management, among which 30 had bachelor degree, 10 had masters and 10 had
PHD degrees in related fields. The list of the defects included factors such as the engineering measures, physical
planning, institutional management, social/economic barriers and lack of efficient information management system. In
this article, we are having a look at these defects especially the lack of efficient information management system and
will provide solutions to overcome this problem through activities such as for providing data required for contingency
planning in pre-disaster phase, operation planning during disaster response and creation of reports and utilization of best
practices in post-disaster phase.

KEYWORDS: Disaster, Information management, Mitigation

INTRODUCTION
the emergency.
Such a system may be viewed as a cycle starting with
Emergency information management- defined as the
the identification of user needs and continuing through
collection, consolidation analysis and dissemination of
the feed back of lessons learned (institutional memory)
the information – requires that the emergency manager
in to program design or modification.
be fully cognizant of the need of the eventual users of
The starting point in the design of any information
the information. Effective emergency information
management system is the identification of the eventual
management requires concerted planning, organizing,
users of the system and their particular need.
controlling, and influencing of human, material, and
The users of information in most disaster situations
information resources to endure that information is
are numerous. Each is likely to have specific information
disseminated to the right decision – makers at the right
need which the designer of the disaster information
time to satisfy those needs.
management system should consider in advance. These
An effective information system provides selective
users will include some or all of the following:
information relevant to the user’s needs, clarifies
-The affected population
particular problem and available option, and helps the
-Private donors (individuals, corporation, and foundations)
user to make reasonable choices. It dose not drown the
-Public donors (taxpayers and government funding
decision maker s activities. It provides a whole picture.
agencies)
An emergency information management system is no
different: it. Too, must select from and organize the -Government response organization (national, regional,
and local authorities
various data collected and disseminated by what is likely
-Military forces and civil defense units
to be a multitude of emergency respondents the system
-UN organization
must process that data to enable the development and
-Non-governmental organization (both international and
implementation of a clear plan of action in response to
local)
-Religious institutions
-The media (international and local)
-Clearly, with such a varied list of users, perceptions of
information needs will vary greatly.
The information needs of a particular user also differ
according to the phases of the disaster of concern to that
user.
The primary objectives of an emergency information
system are to improve the capacity of decision- makers
to take needed action. Effective information management
and telecommunications system are keys.
INFORMATION NEEDS: PRE-CRISIS
Information Needs for Contingency Planning
Most emergency managers, in preparing for disaster,
follow early warning signs and at least informally
consider the contingency scenarios that might occur.
In identifying these information needs, it is critical to
understand the links between the early warning system
and the contingency planning process.
Emergency management responsible for contingency
planning must first consider the types of hazards to which
their area of concern may be subject. They must then
make decisions concerning the particular hazards and the
phase(s) of the disaster ti which their organization can
realistically be expected to respond.
Emergency managers responsible for contingency
planning must first consider the types of hazards to
which their area of concern may be subject. They must
then make decisions concerning the particular hazards
and the phase(s) of the disaster to which their organization
can realistically be expected to respond.
This essential process of winnowing forces the
manager to reduce a universe of great uncertainty to a
smaller more manageable group of realistic contingencies.
No longer faced by an overwhelming number of
potential events, the manager can begin to identify the
information needed to monitor those contingencies; he or
she can select the indicators that should be tracked to
warn that one or more of these contingency scenarios is
likely to occur.
In short, prior to the emergency situation, an
effective emergency information management system
monitors and provides warning information to feed an
ongoing contingency planning process which, in turn,
aims to establish a realistic view of the organization's
capacity to respond to emergencies. The information
system, prior to the actual crisis, helps the organization
to make choices about its potential future responses and,
where needed, set realistic limits.
Vulnerability Analysis
Emergency planners increasingly use information on
differences in vulnerability to fine-tune their contingency
planning scenarios. Vulnerability analyses ideally
provide indications of where the effects of disaster are
likely to be the most pronounced (by region and
population), and to assist managers with future targeting
decisions. Data ideally are gathered form organized
surveys. Where feasible, precise, data are sought on
specific locales or segments of a larger population.
Most vulnerability analysis is performed using
national data sets such as censuses, and income and
expenditure surveys, which are then geographically
disaggregated to the extent possible.
Those wishing to use vulnerability analysis to help
make decisions about future emergency responses should
be aware that analyses based on existing national data
sets often cannot be performed at a low-enough
administrative level to assist actual targeting needs.
INFORMATION NEEDS: WITH ONEST OF CRISIS
Information needs for operations planning: With the
onset of an actual emergency, just as the various
contingency scenarios anticipated by managers are
reduced to one actuality, the information needs of the
various respondent seem to increase exponentially. In
preparing operations plans to deal with this new reality,
emergency managers must strive to add specificity to the
planned response in terms of composition (demographics),
needs, and numbers of affected, locations, targets, and
resources.
Where emergency conditions prevail, an effective
information system shows great flexibility in responding
to the changing needs of its users. Information gathered
by assessment, monitoring, and (on occasion) ongoing
evaluation teams is fed into the system and analyzed
with the aim of identifying needed changes in the
response. Ideally, the system provides decision makers
with a clear understanding of whether or not planned
objectives are being met and, even more importantly,
whether these objectives are still the essential ones.
INFORMATION NEEDS POST- CRISIS
Rehabilitation and recovery: Emergency response
organizations involved in the later phases of the disaster
response should, ideally, begin planning their longer-
term activities even before emergency conditions stabilize.
The information needed for this process will vary with
the type of disaster and the intended response.
In general, a decision to begin longer-term activities
requires information on the damage generated by the
disaster and the longer-term needs inflicted upon the
population. A grasp of the longer-term political, economic,
social, and environmental changes brought about by the
disaster is also needed, as is an understanding of the
coping mechanisms which the affected population still
maintains.