Emergency management

By Héctor R. Torres, PhD, MBA, CPP, CFE*

A fraternal greeting from Puerto Rico to all colleagues and readers of this column! It is a pleasure to share again with you. A very special greeting to Carlos Ojeda B., student of Electronic Engineering and future colleague from Barranquilla, Colombia. I had the privilege of sharing with Carlos, who conducts research on new electronic security integration technologies. We wish him every success in this endeavour.

In this edition we will talk about emergency management and its importance as a managerial skill.

Before we get into the subject, we first have to define several basic concepts. An emergency can be defined as a situation that presents an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment. Emergencies typically require immediate responses to prevent the situation from getting worse.

A disaster can be defined as a natural or man-made occurrence that negatively affects health, life, livelihoods or industries often leading to permanent changes in societies and the environment.

Although the definitions appear to be similar, the context of the definitions are different. Emergencies can range from a medical emergency with an employee to disruption of the company's information systems. A disaster can include a sudden flooding of a company's physical plant by torrential rains to an explosive attack by terrorists. The way we handle emergencies or disasters becomes an important skill in security management.

Emergency management or disaster management
Emergency management or disaster management is defined as actions taken to prevent and deal with risks resulting from emergencies or disasters.

It is a discipline within security management that involves the preparation and response to the different emergencies or threats that an organization may face. Emergency management is an ongoing process of identifying threats; record risks, mitigate the effects of identified risks, and plan responses to identified threats.

Effective management of emergencies or disasters is based on a comprehensive plan that integrates the organization's resources with available external resources.

Another term used to describe emergency management in the private sector or in business organizations is "business continuity." "Business continuity" planning is done by the security department or by the operational risk department depending on the size or type of organization.

It is not important what term is used or which department runs it. The important thing to know is that it is based on the continuous planning of four phases of coordinated and intertwined activities: Mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Mitigation: Mitigation efforts seek to prevent risks/hazards from becoming emergencies or disasters. Similarly, they reduce the effects of disasters when they occur.

These efforts begin with the identification of all possible risks, through a study of risks and vulnerabilities. This phase differs from the other phases of emergency management because it focuses on far-reaching measures to reduce or eliminate risks.

There are two categories of mitigation measures; structural (e.g. the use of technology to control risks) or non-structural (the use of insurance to transfer risks). Finally, the implementation of mitigation strategies can be part of the disaster recovery process.

Preparation: In the preparation phase, action plans are developed to be taken in the event of an emergency or disaster. Some of the preparedness measures include communication plans, training of immediate response teams, developing and practicing eviction plans, stockpiling emergency supplies, and mutual aid pacts with other companies or government entities, to name a few.

Answer: The response phase includes the mobilization of resources, as well as the implementation of the response plan to respond to an emergency or disaster. The response phase includes the involvement of other external agencies such as firefighters, emergency medical personnel and police.

Recovery: The main purpose of the recovery phase is to restore areas or operations to their original states. Recovery efforts are based on the issues and decisions that have to be made to deal with the effects of the emergency or disaster. Some of the recovery measures include the restoration of electrical power, drinking water, machinery, and repairs to physical structures.

In short
Understanding emergency management as safety management skills is of importance that cannot be underestimated. As professionals in the field of safety, it is up to us to have extensive knowledge of emergency management. Prevention is better than having to regret. I invite you to continue to share your ideas and concerns of the world and security management. A hug and see you next time!!

*If you wish you can write to the author of this article at the email [email protected]