Case Study on MHE509 SLP 3

Introduction

Response teams in the US usually work collaboratively to manage accidents and other natural disasters. The rescue groups have guiding principles that ensure they execute their roles in the best ways. The engaged partnership is one of the principles that guide the response doctrine. Under committed leadership, leaders (regardless of their levels) must ensure communication and active support of any engagements they jointly have (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017). The leaders, therefore, must develop common goals and outline their potentials so that no leader is overawed during a crisis. Leaders also operate under tiered response. The principle of tiered response requires that response to disasters start from the lowest level of jurisdiction, with the help of the next parties in the tier.

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Capabilities on a scale, flexibility, and adaptable operations is also another principle guiding the actions of leaders in managing calamities. The principle outlines that response adjusts proportionally to changes in scope, complexity, and size of incidences. All leaders at every level should also unify their effort by having a unified system of command (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017). Unified command system guarantees that roles and responsibilities of organizations that participate in disaster management neither overlap nor contradict. Lastly, readiness to act is another principle that guides operation of leaders at the local, state, and federal government levels. All parties should always have the instinct and ability to act in response to any tragedies promptly.

Disaster management happens in a cycle with four components; preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. Preparedness involves activities that leaders engage in before an emergency. These activities include improving their capabilities and effectiveness to counter emergencies. During a disaster, the parties should respond by identifying the most appropriate approach to a problem (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017). After the response, the teams then move to recover casualties and property and lastly formulate a plan to mitigate the recurrence to the tragedy.

Usually, the commitment among the teams that work together during a response to emergencies happens after the parties formulate a formal engagement called memorandum of understanding (MOU). An MOU is an established framework for a corporation to identify issues, develop possible solutions, and share best engagement practices that ensure goal-oriented operations (Raja, Irshad, & Sukarno, 2017). Natural and accidental disasters have a disaster-specific memorandum of understanding (Disaster-Specific MOU). Notably, this MOU is an agreement that federal, tribal, and local agencies use to define their relationship and roles during disaster recovery exercise. Disaster-Specific MOU identifies the parties that are agreeing, the nature of disasters that the parties respond to, and a brief statement of commitments of the parties. The roles of each party and the duration, amendment, and termination of the engagement are also included in the MOU. An example of a memorandum of understanding is that between the city of Mercer Island and the American Red Cross Chapter. The MOU served King County and Kitsap County and had an aim on placement, maintenance, and care of disaster relief supplies. The MOU, which had effect from April 2007, was subject to a yearly review unless any party requested for termination or modifications of the document. In addition, the MOU defines a number of terms that the parties used. For instance, the engagement defined disaster relief supplies as goods and materials that parties to the MOU use to give a chance to disaster victims to recover from special effects of a tragedy (Raja, Irshad, & Sukarno, 2017). This particular MOU is key since it shows a typical MOU in practice - it was effective during its operation. Another MOU is the Memorandum of Understanding Establishing the Unified Federal Environmental and Historic Preservation Review Process for Disaster Recovery Projects. This MOU also identifies parties to it, as well as the terms it uses, which should have common meanings amongst its members, as well as identifying the responsibilities of the parties.

In managing disasters, parties signing an MOU can opt to have a reciprocal/joint emergency response agreement. A reciprocal emergency agreement amerces resources that parties to the agreement use to achieve their goals. Advantages accruing due to such an arrangement include avoiding operational repeatability (Raja, Irshad, & Sukarno, 2017). Parties use table-top exercise to assign responsibilities. They also give agencies the ability to capture the knowledge and experience of the people they serve, at every level of engagement. The reciprocal emergency agreement also promotes agency-specific configurability which ensures that each agency implements their workflows based on procedures assigned since the agencies are never alike. The agreement also encourages inter-agency collaboration, and external system connectivity.

Conclusion

Disaster management uses search and rescue plan of operation to implement its objectives. The management first gives the first notice on a potential occurrence of a search and rescue incident. It then identifies relevant agencies that would best handle the situation. The agency, therefore, dispatches resources necessary for use in the tragedy (Raja, Irshad, & Sukarno, 2017). The relevant agency then strategizes on the best procedure to counter the occurrence - it needs to secure and investigate the area in which they wish to serve. After acquiring relevant information on the scene in question, the agency goes ahead to implement rescue and evacuation of victims from the tragedy. Lastly, the agency, in collaboration with others in the MOU, initiate measures to avoid any further fateful eventualities.

References

Haddow, G., Bullock, J., & Coppola, D. P. (2017). Introduction to Emergency Management. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Raja, S. M., Irshad, F., & Sukarno, D. B. (2017). Analysis of the Civil-Military Relationship to Improve Efficacy and Coordination of Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Efforts. Naval Postgraduate School Monterey United States.