Author: Taybah Alam

Michelle Bandel was able to identify a lot of takeaways for emergency preparedness from three interviews that are part of an assignment. In the first interview with Thomas Chin, the Response Coordinator from San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management, he mentions that his team oversees the duty officer program and manages the alert, warning, and notification systems for the public.

According to Sabaa Alnsour, each of the three interviews assigned revealed a crucial aspect of emergency preparedness that can be very helpful for future disaster events. In the first interview with Thomas Chin, the response coordinator in the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, states that the primary goal of a government in disaster preparedness is communication. Service provision and alert systems become necessary during the event to organize people away from the disaster. Communication within sectors is also important to regulate the best performance of government agencies. The interview with Carmela Hinderaker, the director of Business Continuity at C&S Wholesale Grocers, epitomized businesses as being service providers by providing necessary resources and prioritizing such resources. Lastly, the interview with Peter Miller, a member of the Officers & Steering Committee in the World Trade Center Survivor Network, emphasized how individuals are often isolated from access to crucial services and first-responders. Fear and anxiety can interfere with the actions during an emergency, which is why individual training and preparation for individuals can save lives. Alnsour concludes that government, business, and community play different roles in disaster preparedness, but they all provide services for people to survive. 

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The assignment started with the description of how Yining Liu developed an understanding of the role of government agencies in the event of a disaster from Thomas Chin’s interview. Liu learned that government agencies, such as the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management,  deploy officers and first responders to aid in medical emergencies, notify the public of impending threats, and direct citizens to mitigate the disaster. The second interview with the Director of Business Continuity of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Carmela Hinderaker, taught Liu how the role of a director can involve monitoring supply chains, planning preparedness, and dealing with emergency situations. The importance of emergency preparedness for communities through individual training was stressed by Liu in the final interview with Peter Miller, a member of the Officers & Steering Committee in the World Trade Center Survivor Network. Liu concludes the assignment by reiterating that warning systems and alerts should be developed, and both government and communities need to be prepared before a disaster strikes. Ultimately, people should be aware of fire drills, evacuation periods, and business codes to have organized evacuation efforts in the event of a disaster. 

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A crucial tool for disaster preparedness and response efforts from government agencies is the Incident Command Center. This center focuses on risk assessment and resource allocation coordination, as well as disaster management drills and exercises for mitigation. Daneau reports the role and challenges of the ICC for the San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management from an interview with Tom Chin, a response coordinator; who explains the interconnectedness of preparedness, response, and recovery. Moreover, an interview with Carmela Hinderaker, Director of Business Continuity of C&S Wholesale Grocers, reveals how businesses are responsible for maintaining the continuity of operations. Government entities are focused on item tracking and transportation. An interview with Peter Miller, a member of the Officers & Steering Committee in the World Trade Center Survivor Network, made it clear that individuals should also have basic emergency preparedness training. From these interviews, Nancy Daneau identified core themes such as the importance of relationship building, collaboration and coordination, and communication during disaster events. 

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Arghya Iyengar reports on different interviews of experts in preparedness assigned during the course. From an interview with Thomas Chin, a response coordinator in the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, Iyengar observed that this department was responsible for quickly responding to large-scale emergencies by supplying trained police officers and firefighters. An interview with Carmela Hinderaker, the director of Business Continuity at C&S Wholesale Grocers, revealed the role of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact and the possibility of different states helping each other and providing mutual aid in the event of a disaster. Finally, Iyengar’s report on the interview with Peter Miller, a member of the Officers & Steering Committee in the World Trade Center Survivor Network, sheds light on the successes of the evacuation process. Peter Miller recounts that there were many improvements post-disaster, such as changes to fire codes and the role of directors in high-rise buildings.

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On August 4th, 2020, one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions devastated Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in 200 deaths, over 6,000 injuries, 300,000 people displaced, and $15 billion in property damage. An uncontrollable fire caused the explosion of tons of ammonium nitrate due to improper storage of chemicals near oil, kerosene, hydrochloric acid, and fireworks. The fireworks ignited the explosion, destroying buildings, homes, and skyscrapers for miles, reaching as far as Cyprus. 

The American University of Beirut Medical Center faced many challenges treating patients due to structural damage and limited staff from the explosion. The hospital disaster plan was enacted, but the influx of patients was still very overwhelming; victims struggled from lung damage, eye injury, bleeding, toxicity, and thermal burns. 

To manage the event, government officials made little effort to prevent the situation, despite being informed about the improper storage of ammonium nitrate, there were no attempts to safeguard the Beirut port. Fortunately, volunteers in Lebanon took the reigns to respond to the deadly explosion by cleaning up the rubble in mass groups alongside firefighters working on controlling the fire, and the Red Cross treated injuries and transported victims to the hospital.

The Beirut port explosion was a tragedy that killed many residents, destroyed infrastructure, and damaged many businesses. There was a lot of government dissatisfaction with their lack of management and corruption; it was widely believed that the explosion was preventable if Lebanon’s government did not neglect the people. The aftermath of the explosion narrowed into a political crisis focused on corruption and injustice that forced the Lebanese people to take matters into their own hands by engaging in community resiliency after the tragedy. 

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On April 21st, 2019, the Sri Lankan Easter Bombings resulted in 270 deaths and 400 injuries. This sparked the need for improvements in communication, preparedness, and mitigation efforts within public places of worship. The nature of the bombings suggests they were planned and coordinated by extremist religious groups who had access to advanced weaponry and financial support. One consequence was that of tourism; tourism dropped by 70%, causing a huge economic crisis due to businesses that heavily relied on it. 

There was little done to manage this tragedy; for instance, the government was aware of the bombings before they occurred. The Sri Lankan government was warned by countries, like India, that an extremist religious group threatened to attack the country, as well as the whereabouts of the group. They even knew that Churches would be the target of the bombings. To alleviate the consequences, the Sri Lankan government established a curfew, and immediately banned the use of social media after the attack to limit the spread of misinformation, however, it led to poor community responses and limited aid from Red Cross and FEMA. 

The Sri Lankan Easter Bombings revealed the role of controlling panic and misinformation during an emergency disaster. There was little done by leaders, government, and authorities in Sri Lanka to prepare for the disaster and mitigate its effects. With more evaluations of government structure and existing policies, there can be better methods of responding to future possible terrorist attacks.

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Mitigation through resilience is a very effective means of addressing vulnerabilities after a disaster and encouraging communities to persevere. Maddie West discusses the relationship between dependency on aid and resilience in communities post-disasters; people are more vulnerable to risks when they become dependent on relief and aid from external organizations. Maddie West uses Rio+ as an example of how communities can create solutions through interconnectedness, empowerment, and working together to target systemic and upstream change. 

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