Running head: DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 1

Disaster Recovery Plan

Melissa Gilliam

Capella University

Practicing in the Community to Improve Population Health

NURS-FPX4060

Annie Cadet

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 2

Disaster Recovery Plan

Slide 1

Villa Health Disaster Recovery Plan by Melissa Gilliam

Slide 2

According to the United States Department of Interior, when a disaster occurs the

government led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responds. A disaster

is considered anything out of the ordinary that happens that prevents access to key processes.

Recovery is considered the activities that occur before, during and after a disastrous event.

Recovery often begins while the emergency response activities are still in process. The disaster

recovery process is focused on restoring and revitalizing communities that have been impacted

by the disaster such as the Villa Health community. The ideal disaster recovery plan will result

in solutions and not additional problems. Disasters come in many forms including but not

limited to: fire, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, lightening or air crashes (U.S.

Department of the Interior, 2020). The Villa Health Community suffered a weather-related

disaster that left them reeling and in need of recovery assistance. After speaking with hospital

and community officials it is clear their disaster recovery plan needs updated.

Slide 3

Adopted from the Health People 2020 initiative the MAP-IT framework is used to plan

and evaluate public health interventions such as disaster recovery. The first step in the process

is to mobilize collaborative partners. This means determining what the end goal of the recovery

effort should be. In the case of the Villa Health community affected by the storms, the first goal

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 3

should be collaborating with local EMS agencies to determine a plan to reach and provide care

for those who may be hurt and in need of immediate medical attention. Collaboration with

hospital personnel should include discussion on their triage process as well as what hospitals are

to receive patients. In addition, a search and rescue team should be implemented with the

assumption that they will be deployed into the community after the immediate danger is over.

Collaborative partners will also include state and government officials as the implications of the

disaster will more than likely overwhelm the community’s resources (“MAP-IT,” 2020)

Slide 4

The second step in the MAP-IT framework is to assess. Questions asked during this

process are as follows: who is affected? What resources are needed to meet goals? What

resources are on hand to meet the goals? Asking these questions gives the team a sense of what

can and can not be done versus what the team would like to do. Working together as a team is

also an important part of this collaboration process. This involves in each community leader and

key stakeholder determining what the important issues are and working together to resolve

them. Community leaders in this situation should include EMS leaders, hospital administration

and clinical leaders, utility company leaders and other invested community members “MAP-IT”,

2020) The Villa Health population is a diverse population that requires unique needs and

resources. There is a significant number of elderly people residing in either nursing homes or

assisted living facilities. These people will need access to their medications as well as electricity

to run things like oxygen tanks. There is also a high number of uninsured patients without

adequate income, making them especially disease prone. Finally there is a moderate number of

homeless people in the Villa Health community that will need assess to shelters before the storms

arrive.

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 4

Slide 5

During the assess phase it is important to consider the determinants of health that will

impact the recovery efforts of the community. Just as public health providers have recognized

that there needs to be a consideration of these social determinants when providing high-quality

health care, there should also be this same consideration to ensure that disparities are not created

or exacerbated during disaster recovery efforts. This involves the following: Collaboration with

city managers as informational resources to social services. Having them in the same room to

facilitate communication is important. This increases collaboration and provides both with

immediate assistance and the potential for long term improvement on resources. The

engagement of community members is also an important aspect to decreasing the effects of

social inequalities. This can be done by implementing a Community Emergency Response Team

made up of people living in the community. This can be done before disasters strike so the team

can be mobilized during the recovery phase. To ensure community members are willing to

participate, the courses and training should be all inclusive and accessible, in a building that is

centrally located and accessible to all including those with disabilities. Translators should be

available and training times should be varied to accommodate those who work or having school

aged children. And finally, including appropriate members of the community as representatives

from these vulnerable populations in the community planning meetings is important. This allows

planners to recognize the vulnerable community strengths and needs (Wolkin, 2018).

Slide 6

Those who have pre-existing social, health and economic disparities often find

themselves especially vulnerable during disasters. Addressing the needs of these vulnerable

populations during disasters includes focusing on barriers that may exist. These barriers can

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 5

include a general mistrust of the government. Diverse communities sometimes do not feel

respected and not have the political power to gain support for resources. Another barrier could

be the problem of what is considered a layered disaster. Disasters tend to harm communities

that were previously disadvantaged before a disaster to begin with. Vulnerability exists

according to where people live, work and play. Finally, organizational resilience also plays a

key factor in a population’s ability to recover. Organizations that meet the needs of vulnerable

populations may also find themselves in a vulnerable position after a disaster as well. They may

find that they use up all of their own resources which does not allow them to provide a disaster

response. Because of this they may not be able to provide the day to day needs of the population

they serve (Wolkin, 2018).

Slide 7

During the assessment phase it is determined that the Villa Health community will need

access to EMS and the hospital as soon as the immediate danger from the storms have passed. It

is also determined that there will need to be search and rescue teams assembled and standing by

to seek out those who are unable to garner help for themselves. Power and utilities companies

will need to be ready to mobilize.

Slide 8

The planning part of the MAP-IT framework involves several steps. In this scenario the

implementation and mobilization of an incident command center is imperative. The location of

this command center should be central to all and should include EMS administration and hospital

administration. The command center should also be staffed with those familiar with disaster

recovery as well as community members such as 911 operators, nurses and other key members.

The center should be responsible for mobilizing the utility companies to the must vulnerable

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 6

areas as needed. This includes nursing homes and assisted living facilities as well as facilities

that rely in a power infrastructure to provide care and facilitate storm communication.. In

addition, they should also be responsible for fielding calls for help. Hospitals should be

prepared by having staff on stand-by ready and waiting. Most hospital systems have storm

protocols in place that allows for staff to report before the storm and stay for the duration. Once

the storm passes a second team reports and takes over. Proper triage training before the storm is

crucial to ensure all those needing immediate attention receive it.

Slide 9

Health and government policies effect disaster recovery in a variety of different ways.

The Stafford Act provides the legal authority for the federal government to provide assistance

to states during declared major disasters and emergencies. This assistance is provided under the

Stafford Act if the event is beyond the combined response capabilities of state and local

government officials. The agency responsible for coordinating the administration of disaster

relief resources is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Once the president of

the United States declares an emergency under the Stafford Act, access to several billions of

dollars becomes available for use from the disaster relief fund. This fund provides individual,

immediate financial assistance for housing or other disaster related needs (“Stafford”, 2020).

The FEMA Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 modifies the Stafford Act by providing

greater flexibility to survivors with disabilities, decreasing the disparities associated with

vulnerable populations. This increase the amount of assistance available to individuals and

households affected by disasters, including allowing accessibility repairs for people with

disabilities without counting those repairs against their maximum disaster assistance grant

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 7

award. It also allows greater flexibility to build what is needed rather than to simply restore or

replace (“FEMA, 2018).

Slide 10

The final portion of the MAP-IT framework is tracking progress over time. In a storm

situation the recovery efforts have to be organized and trackable. Search and rescue teams

should be divided into groups and then given mappable areas to conduct search and rescue

activities. Once an area has been searched notification to the command center is imperative so

duplicate efforts are not made. The same should be done with utility companies in an effort

to restore power and water. Mappable areas should be given so that progress on repairs can be

tracked. Unfortunately during disasters such as storms communication barriers do exist and must

be overcome. During disasters it is crucial that the distribution of information be done in a

timely manner. During disasters and disaster crisis management researchers have reported three

different types of communication barriers. Social barriers in communication arise because of

the perceived differences among the individuals involves in the crisis response organizations or

the public. Technological barriers result from problems based on the technology uses for the

management of the crisis. Organizational barriers arise between organizations during crisis

management. The first, technological barriers, notes that technology is important during crisis

response and recovery, especially in the world we live in today. Technology if the only way that

overcomes distance and enables the communication to those responding to and managing the

disaster. Infrastructure failure is considered a technological barrier that must be overcome as

quickly as possible. This can occur because of radio and cell phone blackouts, loss of

communication systems due to wind, water or previous mismanagement, absence of back-up

communication networks, disruption of infrastructure support (Fischer, Possega, & Fischback,

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 8

2016). Overcoming these barriers requires advanced planning and back of plans. Restoring

damaged infrastructures is also a priority during disaster recovery

Slide 11

In conclusion, effective disaster recovery plans should use the MAP-IT framework in an

effort to be organized and effective. This framework includes strategies to mobilize partners,

assess the needs of the community, create and implement a plan to reach discussed objectives,

and tracking of the plan progress. A healthy relationship between the Villa Health community

and leaders can be facilitated in an effort to improve recovery objectives. An effective recovery

plan utilizes government resources while addressing health disparities, the needs of the

community, and communication barriers. Organized planning and implementation will result in

a positive outcome for all.

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 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN 9

References

Diedrich, M. (2020). The four phases of emergency management . Retrieved from

https://www.stlouisco.com/LawandPublicSafety/EmergencyManagement/TheFivePhases

ofEmergencyManagement

Disaster recovery reform act of 2018 transforms field of emergency management . (2018).

Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2018/10/05/disaster-recovery-

reform-act-2018-transforms-field-emergency-management

Fischer, D., Possega, O., & Fischbach, K. (2016, June 15). Communication barriers in crisis

management: a literature review. Association for Information Systems . Retrieved from

https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1166&context=ecis2016_rp

MAP-IT: a guide to using Healthy People 2020 in your community . (2020). Retrieved from

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/tools-and-resources/Program-Planning

Robert T. Stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act. (2020). Retrieved from

https://www.astho.org/Programs/Preparedness/Public-Health-Emergency-

Law/Emergency-Authority-and-Immunity-Toolkit/Robert-T--Stafford-Disaster-Relief-

and-Emergency-Assistance-Act-Fact-Sheet/

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2020). National disaster response and recovery. Retrieved from

https://www.doi.gov/recovery

Wolkin, A. (2018). Mission possible: preparing and responding to disasters through a health

equity lens. Retrieved from https://blogs.cdc.gov/healthequity/2018/09/06/disasters/

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