UNIT NO - 5

Disaster Response
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Objectives

 Aim of Disaster Response

 Evacuation, Migration, administrating first-aid,
transportation of affected people to hospital
 Discuss the restoration of essential services.
 Rescue work
 Ideal Command Centre
 Modern and traditional methods of response

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Aims of Response
 The mission of the response phase is to meet
the basic needs of the people until more
permanent and sustainable solutions are
formulated.

 There is growing awareness of costs

associated with improper management of
disasters and hence communities and
government are trying hard to improve the first
responder efforts.

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Aims of Response

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Aims of Response
 Mitigation and preparedness are the first two
phases of Disaster Management Cycle.

 The third phase of this cycle is the response

phase.

 It deals with the immediate reaction of the

individuals, communities and agencies
working for disaster management immediately
following a disaster.

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Aims of Response
 Disaster response is aimed at providing instant
support to maintain life and health of the
affected population.

 There is a wide array of response activities

carried out after disaster like first-aid,
transportation, shelter and food, initial repairs
to damaged infrastructure.

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Aims of Response
 The level & kind of disaster response depends
on a number of factors – the scale of disaster,
the nature and number of affected people and
site-specific conditions.

 Response comprises the decisions and

actions taken to deal with an urgent situation
that has adversely affected life and property.

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Aims of Response
 It calls for collaboration, coordination and
communication between agencies involved in
administrating rescue and relief operations.

 The main aim of response is to save and protect

human life.

 The other aims of response are-

1. To guarantee the continued existence of the maximum
possible number of affected population and ensuring
that they are in the best possible physical and mental
health in the circumstances.

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Aims of Response
 The other aims of response are-
2. To reinstate critical services and provide food,
clothing and water.
3. To restore or replace demolished or damaged
infrastructure. To make alternate housing
arrangements in camps.
4. To help in relieving suffering.
5. To protect the health and safety of responding
personnel.

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Control Process and Measurement
 Controlling is a systematic efforts by which it is
ensured that plans are strictly followed and actual
performance is measured and compared with that
standard performance.

 At the planning level, the tasks and roles are

clearly stated and responders are made aware of
their responsibilities.

 This helps them to control their behavior and

priorities their tasks.

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Control Process and Measurement
 The control process is a three step process-
1. Setting performance standards.
2. Measuring actual performance.
3. Comparing actual performance with standards.

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Security Issues
 It is vital to ensure the security of the most
vulnerable population that is women, children
and the elderly.

 Generally, it is seen that security is not always a

priority issue after a disaster because rescue
and relief operations are considered paramount.

 Along with police, military personnel are also

deployed to respond to a disaster.

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Security Issues
 Given the state of vulnerabilities of the
affected community, physical security and
public order in the disaster-affected areas
should be established.

 It helps prevent the public order from turning

into an undesirable state of panic and chaos.

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Profile of an Effective crises leader
 Disasters are situations where leaders can
work wonders.

 They can be really effective in managing the

disasters and controlling situations.

 Certain pre-requisites of an effective crisis

leader are as follows:

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Profile of an Effective crises leader

1. Understanding
2. Truthful
3. Patient
4. Suave in conduct - be tactful in dealing with victims.
5. Composed
6. Should be willing to delegate
7. Committed to selfless services
8. Decision maker

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Leading at the time of Crisis:
Competencies and Challenges
 Crisis management is the process by which a
major disastrous event is brought under control.

 There are two elements of crisis –

1. They are shocking incidents that take individuals by
surprise.
2. There is very little time to make decision.

 While dealing with these situations, a leader

should make timely, decisive and correct
decision individually and collectively.

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Leading at the time of Crisis:
Competencies and Challenges
 The three challenges of crisis situation are:
1. Unpredictability.
2. General mood of affected people.
3. Misinformation.

 The competency required for attaining this is

very simple: It is faith.
 The leader should instil confidence and faith in
his or her co-workers.

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Evacuation and Migration
 Evacuation involves the relocation of
individuals and members of the affected
community from risk-zone to a safer location.

 Evacuation can help individual and

communities avoid the aftermath of disasters
such as building collapse, outbreak of
diseases, etc.

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Evacuation and Migration
 People are reluctant to evacuate even in the
most dangerous situations because of
inadequate social or economical resources.

 The three pre-requisites of effective

evacuation are:
1. A Plan of action and place to relocate the
evacuees.
2. Clear identification of escape routes.
3. A timely and accurate warning system to inform
about the exact turn of events.

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Evacuation and Migration
 Evacuation is immediate and urgent
movement of people away from the threat or
actual occurrence of a rapid onset of a
disaster.

 This type of migration is temporary in nature

and after the crisis is over the families return to
their homes.

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Administering First-Aid
 The process of addressing the needs of a
person who is physically injured or is
psychologically distressed is referred to as
first-aid.

 Though first-aid is not substitute for

professional medical help, but still it can make
a difference between life and death.

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Administering First-Aid
 When addressing the first-aid after disasters,
there are certain aspects that need to be taken
care of –
1. Check the surroundings.
2. Seek help whenever necessary.
3. Remain with the victim.
4. Stay Calm.
5. Determine responsiveness.
6. Help to stop bleeding first.
7. Psychological support.

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Administering First-Aid
 Training in first-aid should be made
compulsory at school level.

 The kind of first-aid differs according to the

nature of disaster.

 First-aid training must be packaged in a way

that ‘clearly outlines its aims, mechanism,
when it is used, where it can be applied and
who benefits from its use, who can deliver it’.

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Handling of Injured at Hospitals:
Challenges and Issues
 Colored – coded tagging systems are used to
identify those with minor injuries, moderate
injuries or severe injuries.

 The black tag is used for the dead, red tag for
those needing immediate resuscitation, yellow
tag for those suffering from potentially life-
threatening injuries and green tag for minor
injuries or wounded.

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Handling of Injured at Hospitals:
Challenges and Issues
 It is imperative that after a disaster, the health-
care providers should do what they have
expertise in.

 The physician and nurse with special field

training should be in the field.

 Specialized medical aid should be provided to

the victims.

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Mobilization and Restoration of
Essential Services
 To ensure effective command and control of
an emergency situation, it is crucial that
essential services are organized.

1. Telephone Lines
2. Electricity and power supply
3. Drinking water supply & non-perishable food
4. Alternate roads

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Search and rescue Work
 Disaster response activities begin with the
detection of the crisis and end with the
normalization of the situation following impact.

 The response activities entail triggering search

and rescue mechanism to find the injured,
providing emergency medical care and
transferring them to safe places.

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Search and rescue Work
 The response phase differs from other phases
of disaster management in the sense that
there are two important aspects namely,
uncertainty and urgency.

 The emergency response actions should be

well coordinated with disaster recovery as they
form the foundation for carrying out recovery
activities.

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Modern and Traditional Methods of
Response
 The responses to disasters may utilize a mix
of methods from traditional to modern.

 The situation and nature of the affected

population play a decisive role in choosing an
effective response mechanism.

 Traditional methods of response have been

used since long and they are the most
common and practical methods of response.

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Modern and Traditional Methods of
Response
 They entail assistant provided in the form of food,
shelter materials, blankets, etc.

 Money is also provided so that affected people

can buy things according to their needs.

 Charitable organizations offer help to

communities that have suffered a disaster.

 New technologies can be very useful and

powerful in disaster response.

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Modern and Traditional Methods of
Response
 These basically form the basis of the modern
methods of disaster response.

 Mobile phones can act as warning devices.

 SMS provided by operators can prove to be

useful medium to send warning signals of
immediate threat.

 GPS for tracing location of victims.

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Modern and Traditional Methods of
Response
 The disaster management team also uses the
potential of mapping technologies, such as
geographic information system (GIS), remote
sensing (satellite imagery) and global
positioning system (GPS), to aid emergency
response operations.

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Modern and Traditional Methods of
Response
1. Remote Sensing: the scanning of the earth
by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to
obtain information about it.
1. Visible and Reflective Infrared remote sensing.
2. Thermal Infrared Remote sensing.
3. Microwave Remote sensing.
2. GIS – GIS is a system that collects, displays,
manages and analyzes geographic
information.
3. Other Methods – Social Media & Social
networking.

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A Model of an Ideal Command Centre
 Incident command center is a standardized,
on-scene, all-hazard incident management
concept.

 The primary role of this center is the

coordination of efforts for effective and efficient
management of incident.

 When any disastrous event occurs, they first

identify and assess the situation.

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A Model of an Ideal Command Centre
 The functions of an Incident Command Centre
are:

1. Development of objectives.

2. Preparation of Incident Action Plan to meet

incident objectives, collection and evaluation
of information.

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A Model of an Ideal Command Centre
 The functions of an Incident Command Centre
are:

3. Maintenance of resource status and incident

documentation.

4. Providing logistics support to meet operational

objectives.

5. Financial administration to monitor costs,

accounting, procurement and cost analysis.

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Review

 Aim of Disaster Response

 Evacuation, Migration, administrating first-aid,
transportation of affected people to hospital
 Discuss the restoration of essential services.
 Rescue work
 Ideal Command Centre
 Modern and traditional methods of response

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Thank You!

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