Crisis Management: Author Reveals a Close Look at Emergency Preparedness in Three Disaster-prone Countries

(prHWY.com) December 10, 2011 - Wilbur, OR -- Emergency management is a scientific process that involves preparing a contingency plan, identifying a crisis, planning the response to the crisis, executing the contingency plan, limiting and preventing further damage, arranging a task force to deal with the crisis, and ultimately resolving the crisis.

Disasters come rarely, but the reliability and legitimacy of governments are often based on these events as disasters come. Very good examples include the 2011 Japan earthquake and Tsunami, and the 2011 Thailand Flooding. We can compare the two scenarios and the effectiveness of the emergency preparedness of the two countries.

Case Studies: Japan, Thailand, Philippines

Japanese 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami

In the case of Japan, we can say that the country has very good emergency alert system for tsunamis, and that is because of the range of coastal alert systems installed in the East Japan Sea. Effective communication and information dissemination are also crucial to the success of its emergency preparedness. Minutes after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the eastern border of Japan, tsunami-warning systems were already in place, and much of the public evacuated to higher ground.

In less than 20 minutes after the earthquake, people have already evacuated to higher grounds, and while millions of people were displaced, there were very few fatalities.

Thailand 2011 Flooding

Thailand, on the other hand, experienced flooding in the outskirts of its capital region due to heavy monsoon rains. Government tried to barricade the capital against the floods, but within a couple of weeks, nature still claimed its natural flow of water through the streets of Bangkok, shutting down businesses and affecting regional production of cars, including those of Toyota and Honda.

While Thailand was able to recognize the crisis and had a plan to respond to the crisis (using sand bags to block the floods from reaching the capital), they failed to prevent further damage. Moreover, they had WEEKS to prepare for the impending floods, but still failed to achieve their goal of protecting the capital.

In these two cases, we see that technology, coordination, and information dissemination plays an important role in disaster planning and emergency management.

Philippine Disaster Risk Minimization

Another prime example of good emergency management is the Philippines. The country is whiplashed by no less than 30 typhoons a year, which is a good reason for national and local governments to be prepared. While they lack sophisticated technology, simple things like early warning systems, sirens, and rubber boats save thousands of lives every year.

While National Government lacked resources to aid local governments, the local governments themselves took initiative in designating evacuation areas, installing emergency alert systems, and pooling resources to buy rescue boats in cases of floods. These are all in place until such time that National Government is able to send aid to local governments in cases of disasters. The National Statistics Office report that fatalities due to disasters have significantly gone down my 60% since the 1970s.

This shows us that emergency management is also POSSIBLE at the micro level, and does not require sophisticated technology to be effective. Being able to FORESEE disasters and allocating resources and plans for these things also helps in minimizing fatalities and infrastructure damage. For more news and information about Crises Management, visit http://www.emergencyresponsepreparedness.com.

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