There have been countable air crashes over the years.
The Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have been described as two of the worst crashes of all time.
This presentation analyzes the response the two airlines gave after their planes crashed.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was a passenger flight.
The flight, operated by Malaysia Airlines, crashed on March 2014 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
Critics consider the crash worse than the AirAsia plane crash.
Neither the plane, nor the passengers have been located to date.
Initially, the plane was perceived to have fallen in the South China Sea. However, a search in the region did not bear any fruit. A lot of money and other resources have been used to enhance the search to no avail. It is perceived that all the 227 and 12 crew members died.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
The Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was an international passenger flight, under the AirAsia Group.
The plane, carrying approximately 155 passengers and seven crew members, crashed on 28th December 2014.
All passengers and staff in the plane were killed.
106 bodies were recovered and handed over to the families.
Airplane debris was found in the Java Sea after an extensive search, prompting searchers to look in the general region. The searchers were able to recover 106 bodies, which were returned to their respective families.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 – The crash
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed in the Java Sea due to bad weather.
The wreck from the crash was located on the floor of the Java Sea on 8th January, 2014.
The analysis of the black box showed that the plane had stalled and failed to regain speed.
It was the first crash that involved an AirAsia plane.
The crash was the first to be recorded in the eighteen years of operation of AirAsia. It was decsribed as the third worst plane crash in the year 2014.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – the crash
Flight 37o is often described as having experienced a crash:
However, no form of debris has been found.
Conspiracy theories have been formed regarding its disappearance.
It is speculated that terrorists hijacked the plane.
The airline released a press statement saying that the pilot was the core suspect in tragedy.
A lot of conspiracy theories have been formulated regarding the air crash because no debris has been recovered so far. It is thought that there was foul play involving the pilot. However, these are mere speculations.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 – Reaction
AirAsia group rebranded its web pages in mourning immediately after the crash.
The airline also established an emergency call center.
It also renamed the flight number:
¡The intention was to ease the public tension towards the particular flight number.
There were legal aspects that made the public relations strategy picked by the airline faulty. One family of the victims sued the company. The argument was that the airline did not have permission to fly on that fateful day. However, the airline took keen note of the emerging problem and used legal channels to prove that they were permitted to fly.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 – Video
AIR ASIA Flight QZ 8501 Goes MISSING – Pilot Asked for Unusual Route Before Losing Contact. By Elite NWO Agenda. Web.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Reaction
Various groups and people released statements about the plane’s disappearance.
At first, the different groups contradicted each other in attempt to save face.
The groups included the airline officials, the government, and military leaders.
One of the blunders made was giving incomplete and inaccurate information.
There was a lot of confusion after the crash, as many of the countries and officials involved tried to save their positions and companies. The confusion led to delays in conduct the search. Given that numerous countries were involved in the search, they released information differently and led to more confusion.
Looking at both campaigns, one can note several differences:
AirAsia had a more calculated public relations plan than the Malaysia Airlines.
AirAsia used legal ways to get out information and respond to accusations, unlike the Malaysia Airlines.
It should be noted that AirAsia was in a slightly different position compared to Malaysia Airlines because the latter had to deal with pressures from different countries. This made their decision-making and information sharing more difficult.
The division within the Malaysian Airlines caused a drift in its campaigns, unlike AirAsia.
The division allowed the parties to blame each other:
in turn, all the parties came out guilty.
Similarly, the involvement of many people in the case made the situation worse for the Malaysia Airlines.
Even though both airlines had a difficult time trying to deal with the crashes, they took two very different stands. Whereas the Malaysia Airlines decided to throw blame around, AirAsia decided to empathoize with the public and mourn alongside the families. This tactic made them likeable in the public eye. Additionally, as confusion mired the Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia was setting up call centers that allowed a steady and more controlled form of information sharing.
Responses in an Arab country AirAsia
The AirAsia campaign would have worked in an Arab country:
they were sympathetic to the public and the families of the passengers and crew members.
They took ample precautions and retrieved the bodies of many of the passengers.
Clear legal ways were sought to show that the airline was permitted to fly on the fateful day.
The Arabs tend to be very keen on detail. The AirAsia campaign was also keen on detail, making the information sharing easy. In the same breath, the company gave back the bodies of a majority of the victims to their families.
Responses in an Arab country – Malaysia Airline
The Malaysia Airlines campaign would not have worked in an Arab country.
The main complication would be the missing bodies of the passengers:
It led to speculations of terrorism.
Saying that the disappearance of the plane was an act of terrorism was a way of marginalizing the Arabs:
the core suspect, the pilot, was an Arab.
The airlines and authorities gave a press statement claiming that their main suspect was the pilot, an Arab. He was suspeted of terrorist actions and the airline failed to explain in detail how they came to that conclusion. People in the Arab countries would take offence of such a campaign.
Suggestions
Both airlines should always give information in a controlled manner.
They can also give out information showing legibility to avoid law suits.
The airlines should have one person relaying the information to the public:
¡it is more difficult for one person to contradict himself.
The public relations (PR) section aims at creating helpful relationships between organizations and stakeholders, and thus it ensures the good flow of communication. Organizations benefit from the PR department by creating brand awareness, advising the management, and disseminating valuable information to the public (Bernstein 2011). In the event of a crisis, the need for communication becomes essential for curbing or reducing detrimental impacts on both the organization and stakeholders. This aspect is vital for the management of emergency whereby information about the crisis developments is relayed to the relevant parties to prevent escalation (Jaques 2007). In the 21st Century, various platforms such as social media have enhanced crisis communication, hence speedy response. The occurrence of a crisis can happen in any industry, and thus organizations are required to have crisis management capacities (Ulmer, Sellnow & Seeger 2010). In this case, a crisis that faced the travel industry will be the focus of this paper. This paper is a critical analysis of the crisis communication surrounding the marooning of the Carnival Triumph Cruise ship.
Carnival Cruise Lines Background
Ted Arison founded the Carnival Cruise Lines in 1972 as an entrepreneurial venture in the travel industry. The company conducted its initial public offer in 1987 where it generated over $400 million, thus enabling it to merge with other cruise companies to form the well-known Carnival Cruise Lines. Currently, the company owns 24 ships and it manages over 100 subsidiary vessels thereby employing almost 91,000 workers (Levin, Jones & Slade, 2012). Carnival Cruise Lines has emerged to be a significant player in the travel industry accounting for 50% of the market share. In 2013, the company cruised 10 million passengers using its various ships plying different routes around the globe (Mayfield 2013).
The company’s vision is to operate in an environment where respect for the surrounding, safety, hospitality, and each other is upheld together with the essence of teamwork. Carnival Cruise Lines also envisions to provide memorable vacations of its clients through a committed shipboard team that observes the core values of the company (Garin 2006). In this light, this paper will evaluate the company’s visions in relation to times of crisis coupled with how its PR department handles crisis communication.
The Carnival Triumph Crisis
On February 10, 2013, news spread that the Carnival Triumph Cruise Ship developed technical problems before catching fire. The incident occurred in the Mexican Gulf for four days with over 4,200 people on board. The incident affected the ship’s state as air conditioning stopped functioning and bathrooms overflowed causing raw sewage to seep into the walls and carpets. As tension heightened, passengers posted photos of the pathetic conditions on social media, which results in the trending “#cruisefromhell” hashtag in both Facebook and Twitter (Rossignol 2014).
The crisis received enormous attention as media houses proceeded to air images showing passengers lying on the ship’s deck waving “help”. Media houses appeared to be seeking ratings on the crisis with repeated stories about the situation, thus creating more tension (Shankman 2013). The news about the occurrence was not reliable since the PR from Carnival Cruise Lines did not communicate properly on the issue. In this regard, the public was swayed by different reports emerging from various sources, thus creating tension among the families of the stranded families and other stakeholders.
Carnival Cruise Lines engaged its Facebook page and Twitter handles in crisis communication whereby updates on the proceedings were posted at intervals. The social media platforms were used to reply to queries from the public on the developments. However, it ignored negative comments and focused on issues such as refunds and reimbursements. Reports indicated that Carnival sent other ships to facilitate the provision of the necessary equipment required for the management of the crisis.
Two days later, the company’s CEO, Cahill, addressed the incident publicly. He apologized to the affected individuals in a press conference. This was the first time the company engaged its management in active crisis communication, thus implying the lack of urgency in addressing the crisis. During this period, the company’s executive, Arison, was not active in managing the situation with reports indicating that he was attending a sports event during the period of the crisis (Rossignol 2014). This aspect further portrayed the lack of seriousness, compassion, and urgency emanating from the company’s top management as affected families and stakeholders continued to get worried about the potentially detrimental incident.
After four days, the vessel managed to arrive at its destination. Families of the stranded passengers cheered as the ship arrived before Cahill made another apology to those affected by the situation. Cahill accepted that the management had failed the guests in providing a memorable vacation experience.
Analysis of the Triumph Crisis Communication
The contribution of the Carnival’s PR in addressing the Triumph crisis is subject to analysis to evaluate its management of the situation. In this light, the pre-crisis, during the crisis, and post-crisis management of the acts will be the central focus of this analysis whereby the developments and actions at each stage will be scrutinized to uncover the strengths and weaknesses. The various theories of crisis intervention such as the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and the Attribution Theory (AT) will be employed. Therefore, the management of the crisis at different levels is subject to critical analysis in a bid to identify the impacts and threats that it had to Carnival and the stakeholders.
The Pre-Crisis Phase
Minimizing the risks with the potential for causing a crisis in an organization is essential for protection from hazardous events. This aspect entails planning and prevention strategies for the likely unfortunate occurrences. According to Fink (2013), organizations are expected to have bi-annual updates of their crisis management plans due to the changing factors such as organizational structures, technology, environmental factors, and public policies. A team to manage a crisis should be put in place and engage in crisis mitigation exercises annually (Coombs 2013). At this phase, a draft of crisis messages should be put in place to facilitate crisis communication in the event of an unfortunate occurrence. Therefore, the preliminary stages of crisis management provide a basis for an analysis of the Carnival’s preventive and preparedness strategies before the Triumph crisis.
On the Carnival’s crisis management plan, it seems that the company did not have the required strategic plans to handle such a situation. A crisis management plan guides how an organization responds to a crisis in terms of resource allocation and communication (Coombs 2011). The Carnival’s PR department did not react promptly after the Gulf of Mexico incident. This aspect elicited questions on whether the company had communication strategies geared towards informing the concerned stakeholders about the developments in the Triumph ship crisis. Planning for a crisis saves time and enhances faster response to such situations. Contrary to speedy response, the organization’s crisis management team delayed its communication on the issue and only responded after numerous questions were raised on different social media pages.
Initial planning in the pre-crisis phase entails the allocation of responsibilities to various team members especially laying down the roles of a spokesperson. Therefore, crisis communication is planned for in the event of a risky situation thereby enhancing preparedness and preventing escalation (Ulmer, Sellnow & Seeger 2010). There seemed to be unpreparedness in the Carnival’s crisis communication since there was no representative from the company to address the affected families and concerned stakeholders immediately after the incident. A manifestation of lack of planning for communication was portrayed when the organization conducted a press conference 48 hours after the incident whereby Cahill, a top manager, apologized to the passengers and their families.
The message communicated during a crisis has a significant impact on the stakeholders as it highlights the way forward. The pre-crisis phase is characterized by pre-drafting messages that could be communicated during a crisis event. In doing so, crisis communication speed is enhanced and the affected get a clear reflection of what is happening and the intended action towards alleviating the negative implications of the crisis. During the press conference facilitated by Cahill, the messages delivered concentrated mostly on the apologies to the stranded passengers and their families. The Carnival’s messages did not emphasize on the actions that they intend to take in a bid to contain the situation.
The pre-crisis communication analysis can further be evaluated using the Attribution Theory (AT). The theory provides that people make judgments from information supplied to create causal explanations for events (Feam-Banks 2010). Therefore, the causal judgments are founded on the information collected after the occurrence of an event. Relating this aspect to the Triumph crisis communication, the public judged the Carnival’s management as not concerned with the welfare of the passengers for the failure to communicate about their well-being during the event. The public took the issue to social media platforms with the hashtag #cruisefromhell indicating how unsatisfied they were with the company’s communication strategies. In this light, stakeholders seemed to judge the preparedness and preventive measures as weak, thus affecting the Carnival’s response to the situation.
Crisis Response Analysis
In a crisis, the spokesperson is required to address the what, where, who, when, and why (Ulmer 2001). This aspect entails communicating with the current situation, the location, the responsible parties, the time of occurrence, and the underlying causes. Accordingly, an organization hit by a crisis should be in a position to convey messages that show their efforts on containing the situation and what it intends to do to prevent similar scenarios in the future (Palese & Crane 2002). In doing so, the reputation of the company is protected. The stakeholders need to know how the company is responding to the crisis in a bid to cooperate towards alleviating the situation.
The Triumph crisis evoked mixed public reactions due to how the management handled the situation. After the crisis had hit, the company used social media to address the Triumph catastrophe.
The use of social media during the Triumph crisis
Social media can be used as an effective platform for crisis communication as well as the source of a crisis to an organization. Carnival Cruise Lines has an enormous following over the Internet on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter with over 2 million likes and 72,000 followers respectively (Shankman 2013). During the Triumph Crisis, the company failed to use social media appropriately in addressing the developments of the situation. On the contrary, the company used social media to post information about a press conference and a session for airing apologies chaired by the CEO, Gerry Cahill. Despite making over 20 posts on Facebook concerning the Triumph crisis, the company failed to inform the affected families about the circumstances and status of their loved ones. The press and other stakeholders were also not provided with adequate information on the developments, hence giving a room for the spread of rumors that created more tension.
Despite the frequent Facebook posts, the company’s reputation did not benefit fully from the crisis communication since sensitive issues were not addressed. Posts on social media about promotions and compensation were not necessary at that phase of the crisis since the stranded passengers were still at sea under brutal conditions. The conditions attached to the promotions were also not favorable indicating the profit-making motive that the company had instead of providing long-term strategies that would prevent such events. Viewing the economic aspect of the situation in terms of refunds was a mistake since it was not sure that the ship would make it to the Mexican shore safely. This aspect conjured criticism, since it valued the passengers’ money at the expense of their lives, thus showing no concern for their safety. Compensating the passengers was also perceived as a redemption strategy that intended to demonstrate that the company was handling the situation.
The conveyance of unnecessary messages via Twitter also portrayed weaknesses in handling crisis communication. A tweet by Carnival affirming that the ships’ bathrobes are complimentary was perceived as a mere act of showing off (Shankman 2013). Instead of addressing how the company was dealing with the dysfunctional lavatories, the messages delivered focused on unnecessary aspects of crisis management.
The press, families, and the affected stakeholders were not updated via the different social media pages; instead, the platform was used as their CEO’s channel for conveying apologetic messages. Farazmand (2014) argues that crisis messages are usually highly meaningful if the focus is directed to the families who are worried about their relatives’ situation. For the same reason, media agencies created their stories regarding the crisis since they were no provided with first-hand information from the Carnival’s PR team.
Figure 1: Carnival’s Tweet rate during the Triumph crisis (Shankman 2013).Figure 2: Carnival’s Facebook post rate during the Triumph crisis (Shankman 2013).
Stakeholders such as investors were left out in the crisis communication throughout the Triumph crisis. Since Carnival Cruise Lines has been trading publicly, its finances were somehow influenced by the public’s perception of its operations and performance. A commendable public relations program in the event of a catastrophe is essential for adding value to the company’s stock since it builds public confidence in the company (Coombs & Holladay 2009). This assertion holds because the public evaluates how the company manages an adverse situation and reflects on the management of finances too. The SCCT theory is audience-oriented and it could be used to analyze the implications of a crisis to the investors (Coombs & Holladay 2009). Potential investors had negative perceptions about the viability of investing in such a company that seemed to be ineffective in handling the clients’ safety. However, Arison’s stepping down as the CEO before being replaced by Donald acted in the Carnival’s favor. Donald’s role as the new CEO was kick-started by appearing on CBS news to explain the strategic plans that the company had put in place to uphold the passengers’ safety and prevent crises. Consequently, this move facilitated the redemption of the investors’ confidence in the company.
Post-Crisis Analysis
The Triumph ship arrival to its destination did not mean an end to the management of the crisis. The public had to be informed of the actions that the company intends to take in order to restore normalcy. Contrary to this aspect, the social media pages stopped posting updates concerning the crisis management after the ship managed to get to the Mexican shores. Instead of utilizing the opportunity to restore its image after the crisis since the public would continue visiting its social media pages, the company remained silent for a while. In this case, Carnival was required to carry out post-crisis management strategies, involve the relevant shareholders in restoring normal operations, and enhance the safety of passengers in the future.
In a bid to improve response to crises in the future, Carnival carried out managerial changes. Arnold Donald was appointed as new CEO to replace Arison whose commitment towards the passengers’ safety was questionable (Shankman 2013). Immediately after assuming office, Donald made his plans for ensuring the passengers’ safety in the future by appearing on CBS news. Upon evaluating this move, it portrays that managerial changes had taken a decisive path towards enhancing post-crisis communication. The Carnival’s strategies towards improving safety entailed an investment of $600 million to cater for the refurbishment of its ships. This aspect involved fostering power backup systems and preventing the likelihood of both engine rooms catching fire at the same time.
The changes in management at Carnival can be attributed to the active post-crisis management strategies. Donald played an important role in facilitating the post-crisis communication promptly that seemed to win the public’s confidence in the company. Additionally, his strategic plans meant that the company was already engaging in pre-crisis management initiatives. For this reason, the company’s reputation was slowly built after being tarnished due to communication gaps during the Triumph crisis.
Conclusion
Crises are inevitable and preparedness for such events is essential for the reduction of potential threats and damage. Crisis communication plays a pivotal role in alleviating crises since stakeholders would be in a position to make enlightened decisions concerning the event. In this case, the Carnival’s handling of the Triumph ship crisis in the Mexican Gulf was not efficient, and thus it resulted in criticism from different parties, hence tarnishing its reputation. For instance, its social media pages did not address the real issues facing the stranded passengers. For this reason, the passengers’ safety was not prioritized, thus manifesting loopholes in the Carnival’s PR and crisis management departments. Analyzing the crisis based on theories such as the Attribution Theory (AT) and the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) proves that poor crisis communication creates public perceptions. The Carnival’s failure to address the Triumph issue promptly posed threats to its reputation since parties like the media and onlookers created their versions of the story. Therefore, poor management, unclear messages, and lack of response to the public’s queries on the developments of the Triumph crisis proved to be the Carnival’s missteps. However, with strategic crisis management plans, the redemption of the company’s reputation is possible.
Reference List
Bernstein, J 2011, Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management, McGraw-Hill, New Jersey.
Coombs, W & Holladay, S 2009, PR Strategy and Application: Managing Influence, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken.
Coombs, W 2011, Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Coombs, W 2013, Applied Crisis Communication and Crisis Management: Cases and Exercises, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Farazmand, A 2014, Crisis and Emergency Management: Theory and Practice, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Feam-Banks, K 2010, Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Routledge, Oxford.
Fink, S 2013, Crisis Communications: The Definitive Guide to Managing the Message, McGraw-Hill, New Jersey.
Garin, K 2006, Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes, and Showdowns That Built America’s Cruise-Ship Empires, Plume, Washington, DC.
Jaques, T 2007, ‘Issue management and crisis management: An integrated, non-linear, relational construct’, Public Relations Review, Vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 147-157.
Mayfield, T 2013, Aboard the Carnival Breeze – A detailed look inside this magnificent Carnival cruise ship, Hoover Publishing, Chicago.
Palese, M & Crane, T 2002, ‘Building an integrated issue management process as a source of sustainable competitive advantage’, Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 284-292.
Rossignol, K 2014, Fire cruise: danger lurks on every voyage – what the cruise lines don’t want you to know – how to be safe, CreateSpace Publishing, Colorado Springs.
Sellnow, T & Seeger, M 2013, Theorising Crisis Communication, Wiley, Hoboken.
Ulmer, R 2001, ‘Effective crisis management through established stakeholder relationships Malden Mills as a case study’, Management Communication Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 590-615.
Ulmer, R, Sellnow, T & Seeger, M 2010, Effective Crisis Communication: Moving From Crisis to Opportunity, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
During difficult times, communities especially need support. Various catastrophes, disasters, and crises leave people deprived of the basic needs (Pir, 2009). However, the tragic experience of earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks has led to the development of different methods to respond to such issues. There are many aspects that have to be addressed in case of a crisis, but one of the most significant is communication. The main goal of this paper is to assess alternative systems for communication and describe vulnerable populations and strategies for reaching and communicating with them during a crisis.
A crisis communication plan should be flexible in its application. There are several alternative systems for communication that might be used during a crisis. Text-and traditional pagers, e-mail, Internet and intranet systems might serve as an effective alternative to traditional communication technologies (Massey & Larsen, 2006). Also, one of the most effective devices in such cases is radio. It might be a short-wave radio or two-way radio. Another important method involves the use of public devices: electronic signs on billboards and monitors in public places such as schools, restaurants, stores and so forth. Voice systems that are used for announcements might be very useful as well. Finally, satellite communication systems become more and more relevant nowadays. However, it is necessary to implement different strategies for communication. Such activities as news conferences, media interviews, news releases might successfully manage a crisis.
All the mentioned above systems can be very useful. However, some of them are more effective. Radio that works on batteries is an autonomous device that transmits messages that can be received by means of special equipment. It is a long-distance communication system, thus it might be indispensable in case of serious damage to infrastructure. Another very important method is satellites that also work autonomically (William, 2009). If during a crisis landlines and power are down, satellites continue working. Therefore, interaction among rescue teams and population can be successfully implemented. There are two types of satellite communication. The first type is Geostationary Satellite Systems. They provide a wide range of communication services: video, sound, and broadband data. These devices usually belong to governments, thus they might be used in case of emergency. The second type is Low Earth Orbit Satellites that can provide voice and data at a low speed.
There are several most vulnerable populations that need to be reached during a crisis. Such populations include children, elderly people, and individuals with different types of disabilities (Langer, 2004). People who have sensory, mobility, or cognitive impairments should receive particular attention. Hence, it is important to design different strategies aimed at assisting such populations during a crisis. The most effective strategy is the preparation for emergency (Saunders, 2007). Services that will provide such people with necessities should be established in advance. Telephone and online crisis counseling is another effective approach (James & Gilliland, 2012). Its therapeutic effectiveness has been proved as this measure provides vulnerable populations with a support system.
The next important measure is psychological assessment to understand post-traumatic symptomology (Balaban, 2006). It is especially relevant for children and adolescents. In case of crisis, they usually experience intense anxiety and stress (Sorensen, 1989). Another important aspect is the availability of affordable housing. Strategies aimed at resolving this problem engage different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs). During a crisis, low-income populations might require accommodation, and NGOs and CBOs can offer necessary assistance (Bolin & Stanford 1998). However, to address all these issues simultaneously, it is necessary to develop a vulnerable populations model that can provide methods to a comprehensive evaluation of the outcomes of a crisis and ensure effective cooperation among all the involved bodies.
In conclusion, there are different methods to communicate with people during disasters and catastrophes. Modern technologies provide various options that are successfully applied throughout the world. Also, there are many strategies that are designed to assist vulnerable populations. They often require the participation of NGOs and CBOs. However, a specially designed model enhances collaboration between them and people in need.
References
Balaban, V. (2006). Psychological assessment of children in disasters and emergencies. Disasters, 30(2), 178-198.
Bolin, R., & Stanford, L. (1998). The Northridge Earthquake: Community‐based approaches to unmet recovery needs. Disasters, 22(1), 21-38.
James, R., & Gilliland, B. (2012). Crisis intervention strategies. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.
Langer, N. (2004). Natural disasters that reveal cracks in our social foundation. Educational Gerontology, 30(4), 275-285.
Massey, J. E., & Larsen, J. P. (2006). Crisis management in real time: How to successfully plan for and respond to a crisis. Journal of Promotion Management, 12(3-4), 63-97.
Pir, T. (2009). The transformation of traditional mental health service delivery in multicultural society in California, USA, that can be replicated globally. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 22(1), 33-40.
Saunders, J. M. (2007). Vulnerable populations in an American Red Cross shelter after Hurricane Katrina. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 43(1), 30-37.
Sorensen, J. R. (1989). Responding to student or teacher death: Preplanning crisis intervention. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67(7), 426-427.
William, C. A. (2009). Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape. London, England: Sage Publications.
Mitroff, Ian, and Can Alpaslan. Swans, Swine, and Swindlers. Stanford University Press, 2011.
In this book, the authors raise issues of crisis management and consider the causes that underlie crises. Notably, crises are seen as chaotic or disorderly processes. And in this chaos, the authors find networks of dynamically interacting processes that create problems and paradoxes. Therefore, the authors believe that the task of a manager is to open his eyes to problems and find solutions to puzzles. The search for solutions is facilitated by the analysis of conscious and unconscious beliefs, values, emotions, and prejudices. The book is especially interesting for understanding the global financial crisis, the climate crisis, the poverty crisis, and the financial crisis of 2008.
Barton, Michelle A., et al. “Performing under Uncertainty: Contextualized Engagement in Wildland Firefighting.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 74-83.
In this article, the authors provide schemes and methods of action under conditions of uncertainty. In particular, the scientists propose to use a bidirectional set of practices developed within the current changing contexts. Bidirectionality is likely to involve leadership involvement and attachment to situations. Performance gains under uncertainty can be achieved by making sense of inconsistencies as situations evolve, and deepening that understanding. Scientists have given the name to this process – “pre-emptive comprehension of the leader”. The book describes ways to deal with and confront crises, focusing more on resolving the consequences than on finding the causes.
Barton, Michelle A., and William A. Kahn. “Group Resilience: The Place and Meaning of Relational Pauses.” Organization Studies, vol. 40, no. 9, 2019), pp. 1409-1429.
In this article, the authors analyze the group dynamics of resistance to unforeseen circumstances and adversity. Scientists consider how managers often focus only on the goals of the firm and the achievement of those goals. The authors argue that the absorption of stress occurs within the relational microdynamics of relations in groups. There are two trajectories of intra-group behavior, where groups respond with defensive patterns, remaining vulnerable to the consequences of unforeseen circumstances, and when groups demonstrate resilience by reducing anxiety reduction and mitigating anxiety through reflection and “pause in the relationship”, becoming stronger and more resilient.
Baumann, Zygmunt. Liquid Fear. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
In this book, the author discusses the origin, dynamics, and uses of fear in the postmodern ‘liquid’ era. The third chapter describing the ‘horror of unmanageable’ deserves particular attention due to the description of the global catastrophes that humanity can expect. In the introduction, the author discusses the nature of fear itself. He notes that “Fear is at its most fearsome when it is diffuse, scattered, unclear, unattached, unanchored, free-floating, with no clear address or cause” (p. 6). The author also describes the paradoxical phenomenon of relief when a hidden threat suddenly comes to the surface, forcing individuals to mobilize resources and direct their efforts, or determining the futility of the struggle. The book describes the types of individual reactions to crises, which complements the previous literature, which presents the behavior of leaders and groups.
In the article, the author compares the immediate actions that countries have taken in response to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. A retrospective of the beginning of the spread of the disease in Wuhan is offered, and then a list of countries and their methods of control is presented, including Taiwan, Liberia, New Zealand, American Samoa, South Korea, Hong Kong, Denmark, India, and Finland. The author gives statistics on deaths from the virus, with a total of 3,366,140 deaths worldwide. The article explains factors that influenced the adequate or inadequate measures taken by governments, healthcare, and the informational sectors, in response to the challenges of the pandemic. The author notes that the pandemic affected medical practices, allowing doctors to learn from their mistakes, and improving the ways of communication and interaction between employees.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Burnout Society. Stanford Briefs, 2015.
In this book, the author offers a perspective on the individual emotional experiences and life in a postmodern society characterized by the dominance of technology and multitasking. The spread of consumer culture leads to the emergence of depression, attention deficit disorder, and borderline personality disorder. The author provides insights into why stress occurs and how it relates to the promotion of constant positivity and universal accessibility, viewing experiences as a social and even historical phenomenon. The book denounces the unification and standardization of human responses and the intellectualization of personal experiences. In general, the book gives another perspective on the influence of modern consumer culture on a person, which can be compared with a pandemic that affects the human psyche and emotions.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Disappearance of Rituals: A Topology of the Present. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
In this book, the author develops the idea of the harmful influence of consumer culture on modern society. In his opinion, the cult of authenticity, narcissism, and introversion are pathologies generated by the culture of consumption and are a crisis in the community. As a result of mass consumerism, people are deprived of value orientations for recognizing and identifying themselves with other groups and communities. Therefore, the existence of symbols and symbolic structures is the only way to create a foothold for understanding the objective modern world. Probably, the author speaks about ways of unity based on political, social, or cultural views that are shared by communities and consider these processes as modern rituals that support a sense of collective consciousness.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Expulsion of the Other: Society, Perception and Communication Today. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
In this book the author presents a more specific understanding of the narcissistic consumer culture. In his opinion, narcissism leads to the erasing of differences in the outside world, unifying concepts and concepts, which leads to the horror of life in a world where there are no differences. The author also suggests that the resulting disorientation leads to acts of violence and terrorism. No less important, the scientist explains that in the modern world, the problems of individuals are not associated with external suppression, but with internal depression, destructive pressure coming from within. Depression can be overcome by abandoning isolation and accepting the suffering associated with the need to accept and acknowledge the desires of others.
Heide, Mats, and Charlotte Simonsson. Internal Crisis Communication: Crisis Awareness, Leadership, and Coworkership. Routledge, 2019.
In this book, the author describes the processes of crisis management in organizations. Organizations respond to crises according to specific plans and have crisis management personnel. However, the author notes the need to pay more attention to communication between managers and employees. To do this, one needs to develop internal crisis communications, that is, guidelines for communication during a crisis, including acute phases, and phases that precede the crisis, and come after the acute phase has been completed.
Li, Qing. Immersive Communication: The Communication Paradigm of the Third Media Age. Routledge, 2020.
In this book, the author explores new ways of communication, such as ‘immersive communication.’ It marks the transition from bidirectional communication involving feedback to unidirectional immersive communication. The latter is supported by technologies and applications, that is, new means of information exchange. The book is interesting within the framework of the study, as it offers an alternative definition of the process that other authors describe as mass narcissism and consumer culture, considering the possible positive aspects of introspection.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of Idols. Penguin, 1968.
In this book, Nietzsche uses a metaphorical hammer to finally destroy the empty and now useless idols that have ruled the minds for hundreds of years. Following the refutation of religious ideals in the book God is Dead, the author declares war on the remaining idols of his contemporaries. It is noteworthy that Nietzsche changed attitudes towards traditional philosophical thought and perception of reality. The book can become a guide for overthrowing the culture of consumption and developing strategies to counter the crisis of identity, which is inextricably linked to crises in other areas of society, such as the healthcare system.
Pyszczynski, Tom. “What Are We So Afraid of? A Terror Management Theory Perspective on the Politics of Fear.” Social Research, vol. 71, no. 4, 2004, pp. 827-48.
In the article, the author studies the theory of fear and analyzes why people are afraid of what they are afraid of. It is noted that people will do anything to avoid feelings of fear and anxiety, and will make every effort to suppress these powerful feelings. The author argues that fear and anxiety are inherent states, and highlights anxiety as an emotion characteristic only of people. The book is interesting in terms of research, as the author proposes to analyze how and why anxiety arises, which can be useful for adequate management during a crisis.
Singh, Bhupen. Crisis and Communication: Mapping the Mediated Public Sphere. Mass Media, 2021.
This scholarly article relates directly to the topic at hand, presenting a critique of information policy during the coronavirus pandemic. The author condemns the spread of propaganda and misinformation, a phenomenon that was called the ‘infodemic.’ Equally important, the author emphasized the strengthening of authoritarian tendencies in society, which were covered by concern for health. These trends also included the imposition of a state of emergency and the restriction of freedom of speech. The article is relevant to the study, as it provides facts and analytics about the pandemic and the response to it.
Specter, Bert. “There Is No Such Thing as a Crisis: A Critique of an Alternative to the Dominant Crisis Management Model.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 27, no. 3, 2019, pp. 274-79.
The author of the article proposes an alternative model of responding to crises, and, seeking to eliminate the reasons for authoritarian behavior, derives the concept of urgency, which is being applied by leaders as representatives of power. It is noted that the concept of urgency should not be legal in itself, but should have objective prerequisites. This article is relevant for the study, as it reinforces the argument about the negative impact of the authoritarian approach to state information policy and crisis response policies.
Trachsler, Tara, and Wouter Jong. “Crisis Management in Times of COVID-19: Game, Set or Match?” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 28, no. 4, 2020, pp. 485-486.
Scholars analyze crisis management using the metaphor of an elite sport and apply relevant ideas. The authors emphasize that society pays insufficient attention to the role of individual participants and team interaction, criticizing the bureaucracy with its procedures and responsibilities. The article is relevant for the study, as it analyzes the most optimal ways to respond to the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. Equally important, the use of sports analogies allows other non-traditional analogies to be used to develop crisis response strategies.
Vidal, Renaud. “Managing Uncertainty: The Engineer, the Craftsman, and the Gardener.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 106-116.
The scholar uses the metaphors of an engineer, a craftsman, and a gardener as key archetypes for understanding the ambiguity of social phenomena. To quickly and adequately respond to crises, organizations should use the craftsman archetype, including in cases of firefighting. This article applies to the topic of the study, as it provides a guide to responding constructively to social crises. Like the other articles reviewed above, it emphasizes the importance of practical application of strategy and tactics to implement the required actions.
Weick, Karl E., and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty. Jossey Bass, 2007.
In the book, the author considers the types of stunners, ranging from small oversights to global disasters. The scholars also provide an analysis of how organizations operate in times of crisis, with a focus on their functions and structure. The authors give examples of responding to crises and surprises in hospitals, fire departments, and flight control. The book is relevant for research, as it informs about methods of responding to crises.
Weick, Karl E. “Ambiguity as Grasp: The Reworking of Sense.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 117-123.
This article reveals the topic of ambiguity as a phenomenon. The author proposes to include abstract perception for a better understanding of reality and the ambiguity included in it. Ambiguity is understood as the bidirectionality discussed earlier in the context of information media communication. In other words, ambiguity and the ability to understand it can be seen either as self-immersed bidirectionality of communication or as an independent parameter of self-immersion. Remarkably, ambiguity cannot be present in the planes of communication unified by the narcissistic culture of consumption and is a sign of healthy communication. Interestingly, ambiguity is very difficult to fake or imitate, as it usually involves imprints of information that are too unique for each instance of information transfer. Within the framework of the study, respect for ambiguity may indicate a rejection of authoritarian approaches in responding to crises, including within organizations or at the state level.
Williams, Trenton A., et al. “Organization Response to Adversity: Fusing Crisis Management and Resilience Research Streams.” Academy of Management Annals, vol. 11, no. 2, 2017, pp. 733-769.
In this article, the author discusses ways to respond to and overcome adversity, including unique approaches to crisis management. The crisis is opposed to sustainability and is seen in the context of organizations. The scholars also introduce the notion of ‘the dark side of resilience’, analogous to critiques of authoritarianism or stagnation in responding to crises. This article is relevant within the scope of the study as it explores the dynamics of the interaction between crisis and resilience, which applies to the analysis of response strategies in private companies and public institutions such as hospitals.
Works Cited
Barton, Michelle A., et al. “Performing under Uncertainty: Contextualized Engagement in Wildland Firefighting.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 74-83.
Barton, Michelle A., and William A. Kahn. “Group Resilience: The Place and Meaning of Relational Pauses.” Organization Studies, vol. 40, no. 9, 2019), pp. 1409-1429.
Baumann, Zygmunt. Liquid Fear. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Burnout Society. Stanford Briefs, 2015.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Disappearance of Rituals: A Topology of the Present. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
Han, Byung-Chul. The Expulsion of the Other: Society, Perception and Communication Today. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.
Heide, Mats, and Charlotte Simonsson. Internal Crisis Communication: Crisis Awareness, Leadership, and Coworkership. Routledge, 2019.
Li, Qing. Immersive Communication: The Communication Paradigm of the Third Media Age. Routledge, 2020.
Mitroff, Ian, and Can Alpaslan. Swans, Swine, and Swindlers. Stanford University Press, 2011.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of Idols. Penguin, 1968.
Pyszczynski, Tom. “What Are We So Afraid of? A Terror Management Theory Perspective on the Politics of Fear.” Social Research, vol. 71, no. 4, 2004, pp. 827-48.
Singh, Bhupen. Crisis and Communication: Mapping the Mediated Public Sphere. Mass Media, 2021.
Specter, Bert. “There Is No Such Thing as a Crisis: A Critique of an Alternative to the Dominant Crisis Management Model.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 27, no. 3, 2019, pp. 274-79.
Trachsler, Tara, and Wouter Jong. “Crisis Management in Times of COVID-19: Game, Set or Match?” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 28, no. 4, 2020, pp. 485-486.
Vidal, Renaud. “Managing Uncertainty: The Engineer, the Craftsman, and the Gardener.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 106-116.
Williams, Trenton A., et al. “Organization Response to Adversity: Fusing Crisis Management and Resilience Research Streams.” Academy of Management Annals, vol. 11, no. 2, 2017, pp. 733-769.
Weick, Karl E., and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty. Jossey Bass, 2007.
Weick, Karl E. “Ambiguity as Grasp: The Reworking of Sense.” Journal of Contingency and Crisis Management, vol. 23, no. 2, 2015, pp. 117-123.
This research paper is concerned with an assessment of individual responses to a crisis, specifically in a school environment. The crisis theory shall be explored, and ways through which a crisis does happen; be it in an accidental or developmental manner. The psychosocial, physical and sociological assumptions of the crisis theory shall also be addressed. Further, ways of establishing a comprehensive crisis prevention and intervention process shall also be explored. There is a need for schools to be proactive in addressing crisis situations; if at all the responses to crisis are to be effective and timely.
This often involves prior planning for unforeseen incidences that may occur in the future, and this calls for a collective collaboration of all the necessary stakeholders like the community, the state, and the health care providers. Safety of the children is a priority, and the crisis management team ought to be trained on the identification of stress-induced symptoms in children as a result of a crisis. Interventions to crisis could be classroom-based activities, as well counseling sessions for the victims. There is also a need to establish additional staff support and follow-up for the victims.
Introduction
Often, crisis events leave in their wake traumatic disorders that will call for psychological support. In fact, posttraumatic disorders are so common today that the association of American psychiatrists has estimated that close to 90 percent of Americans are likely to suffer from traumatic stressor. In addition, recent findings have also revealed that almost 90 percent of the traumatic stressor victims have a high chance of developing post-traumatic stressor disorder. As such, there arises a greater need to urgently intervene in the face of crisis to avert these likelihoods from occurring (Blauvelt, 1999). Seeing the large number of Americans who are at risk suffering from post traumatic disorder courtesy of a crisis, the question then begs, what is the nature of a crisis?
A crisis can be viewed at as an acute response towards an incident that is critical. In the process, an individual’s psychological homeostasis gets disrupted, and their coping mechanism also fails. Evidence has also been put forward that human often suffers form distress art a time of crisis. It is thus imperative that appropriate and timely crisis response measures and intervention mechanisms are adopted early (Decker, 1997). A crisis response that is effective often will require a systematic organization response, as well as preparation before hand. In the case of a school, a prior existence of a comprehensive plan to crisis response will enable a school address the needs of its students, teachers and other staff members, as well as the larger community during such a time of crisis (Caplan, 1964).
Crisis theory
According to Gerald Caplan, a crisis comes about as a result of space changes occurring in the life of a person, which often leads to a relationship modification with how that person perceives him/herself. Caplan further opines that that a change will often come about in a slow manner, usually following experiences that are both normal and inevitable. These are experiences that involve both social and physical growth and development. Also, such a change could also happen due to traumatic and unforeseen events that are traumatic. As a way of differentiating the two crisis concepts, Caplan has labelled them as development and accidental crises respectively (Caplan, 1964).
Whether a crisis is situational or accidental, this will be dependent upon the element of time, as well as the source of stress. The manner in which a person perceive him/herself relative to their world (includes the kind of relationship they have with other people), is usually a rapid one, and is more often as a result of an initiation, following a personal loss, which an individual perceives as being a threat to self. In addition to this kind of external event, there are situations in the life of an individual that often pose as a challenge to their self-concept. Whichever the case, an individual will feel threatened, and will also tend feel as if they may not be able to deal with the situation in hand, thus resulting to behavioural responses that happens to be at the individual’s disposal.
In this regard, there are three and interrelated factors that have been identified by Rapoport as having the potential to result in a state of crisis. First, a treat will come from an event that is hazardous. Secondly, there occurs a threat to instinctual need, and this is linked symbolically to the threats that earlier led to a conflict, or vulnerability. Finally, there occurs an inability to the situation with a coping mechanism that is adequate. By virtue of similarity to past events in our lives, an event that is threat-producing is armed with powers to arouse earlier anxiety feelings hitherto repressed in one way or the other (Rapoport, 1965).
This then leads to a feeling of double fear, and this then tends to accumulate enough powers that would make us vulnerable, and the individual feels less able to cope with both the event and the aroused feelings. The crisis theory often assumes that psychosocial (involves a person’s relationship with family and friends); physical and sociological needs have a role to play in an individual’s fundamental ego integrity. When any of the three supplies is shut, then a feeling of threat perception to an individual’s integrity is aroused, resulting in a crisis (Coloroso, 2000).
It is the resulting crisis then that tends to produce a series of adaptive struggles, as an attempt at the preservation of an individual’s identity.
Establishing a foundation for the comprehensive crisis prevention and intervention
In a school setting where a comprehensive response program to crisis already exists, then such a plan will come in handy, in assisting such a school to anticipate as well; as meet the needs of its students, the teachers, and the larger community in the event of a crisis. Crisis is not only often disruptive to an education program, but is also associated with both long-term and short-term consequences. Such consequences are best tolerated in a situation where there is a provision of adequate support, if and when such a crisis occurs (Newglass & Schonfeld, 2000). In addition, schools are more likely to implement support services in a case where there already exists a crisis response system.
For a crisis response program to be effective, there is a dire need to be both prepared, and also have in place an organised and systematic response. Such a response should flexible such that it can find application in a wide variety of crisis situations, while also being specific, so as to provide guidance if and when a crisis does occur. For a crisis response to be effective, it ought to validate the traumatic events, as well as the typical reactions, while also providing a mechanism for both the staff and students to not only express their individual reactions to the event, but also as a beginning point to resolving their perception regarding the said crisis (Winnipeg School Division, 2003).
When a school has an established and working systematic and organised crisis preparedness plan to respond to crisis, then such a school remains proactive in the face of a crisis. Further, such an institution will also be in a position to assess the developing hazards, anticipate needs, and also identify the necessary and available resources for responding to the crisis. In addition a proactive approach to a crisis aids in the identification of services gaps that warrant addressing.
Responding to Crisis
As there is no knowing when or where a crisis such as violence in a school may happen, it then follows that those school that are both safe and effective, also happens to be prepared in advance for a potential crisis. The need to intervene in a situation where a crisis has occurred helps to ensure safety. It is also important to respond, following a tragic incident. These are the two vital components of a crisis response plan. Aside from the establishment of a contingency plan, those schools that are effective will also go out of their way adequately prepare their crises response team (Blauvelt, 1999).
It is this team that plans on the course of action to be taken in the event of say, a violent strike. The crisis team also sees to it that both the staff and teachers are aware of how they ought to behave in the face of a crisis. As such, the students and their teachers feels a sense of security, as a result of the well-conceived plan, that makes sure that everyone is aware of what they are expected to do, or whom they ought to consult for further instructions (Decker, 1997).
Crisis response principles
Planning to intervene into a crisis is no different from any other form of intervention, and is thus based on a safe and responsive foundation to the needs of children. In planning for crisis response, it is important to include the teachers and the rest of the staff in multifaceted skills that often includes situations those results from escalating class incidents, up to and including serious crisis (Menutti, 2006).
In addition, such plans should bear reference to either the sate or the district state procedures. A lot of states have at their disposal manual on crises intervention that is often availed to local schools and education agencies.
The community agencies such as the fire, police and rescue team ought to be involved in the planning, as well as their social welfares, hospitals (including mental health services), the juvenile justice, and the faith-based communities. Provisions should also be made for a regular meeting of the core team, so that they can be able to identify the local, federal and state resources necessary and available for use during and after the occurrence of a crisis. In addition, this will also facilitate a securing of the involvement and support of these stakeholders, way before even a crisis occurs (Poland & Jami, 2000).
Intervening during a crisis to ensure safety
When weapons are sued around or in schools, when explosions and bomb threats, fights, accidents, suicides and natural disasters happens in a school environment, this demands immediate and planned action, as well as post-crisis intervention measures that are long-term (Blauvelt, 1999).When a school has planned for such contingencies, then there is a reduction in the incidences of trauma and chaos that may be experienced. Thus, contingency provision becomes an important facet of planning for a crisis response. An evacuation procedure to protect both the students and staff against possible harm is one such contingency provision.
In this regard, the identification of a safe area for the school community in the event of a crisis becomes critical. Such an evacuation should also be undertaken in and orderly manner. Also, communication should be both fool-proof and effective, with responsibilities and roles designated to different individuals as a way of avoiding confusion. There should also be a process to facilitate the securing of external and immediate support from enforcement officers of the law, as well as other community agencies that may be relevant.
As a way of preparing the school community towards the handling of a crisis, in-service training ought to be provided to the staff members, and also involves the community members such as the police and the youth whenever appropriate. A manual should also be produced as a way of reminding the staff of their roles. The school community should also practice responding to the violent warning signs, while also attempting to practice on ways and means of avoiding violence, like management of angers and the resolving of conflicts.
Responding in the Aftermath of Crisis
It is important for the crisis team member to be aware of the reactions to natural stress. In addition, they ought also to be familiar with the way different individuals may respond to grief-inducing incidents such as loss and death. This should as well include a consideration of development, cultural values and religious beliefs. For schools that are effective, these normally ensure that the community response is coordinated. Those professional that are in the vicinity of the community should also be willing to assist those individuals faced with severe reactions to stress. For those schools that have ever experienced tragic incidences, their response plans have often included similar provisions, like helping of parents to better understand how their children would react to violence (Newglass & Schonfeld, 2000).
In an event of a tragedy, children not only have difficulties sleeping, but may also experience fears for the future that are unrealistic. They could also become ill physically, and also be prone to ease of distraction (Trump, 1998). Schools have also helped the teachers and other staff member to cope with the reactions to a crisis, through grief counseling sessions and briefing. Schools also help both the students and teachers to adjust once the crisis is over, by providing mental health counseling sessions that could be both short-term and long-term.
It is also important for schools to assist victims and their family members to re-familiarize themselves with the schools environment again, by say, providing them with guidance regarding how they are supposed to act and adjust. Schools also help teachers and students cope with the return of a student who had previously been removed from the school community. Such a student could be returning from a mental hospital or a juvenile detention facility. It is thus the role of the schools to coordinate how such a transition is going to be both possible and uneventful (Menutti, 2006).
A behavioural approach to crisis management
Regardless of the causes of a crisis, it is imperative that health care providers, administrators, teachers, parents and the society assumes the responsibility of managing such a crisis through effective treatment and education, as the cost of its mismanagement is often high. A crisis management plan that is school-based cannot occur as an isolated case from the larger community. An effective collaboration of the school and community providers of mental health will lead to the development of solutions that will enhance the school’s capacity to address the mental health needs of its members in an effective and timely manner, when a crisis does occur (Poland, S. and Jami, 2000).
Classrooms interventions
The crisis management interventions that are offered in schools are geared toward meeting the emerging needs of the students when such an institution is responding to crisis. In addition, activities in class often the arising demand for resources on individual counselling sessions, while also permitting such programs to target the most vulnerable students, and who are in a dire need for intensive intervention (Menutti, 2006). For this reason, there is a need top offer the teacher extra in-service training as a way of preparing them for the provision of this service. A crisis is capable of eliciting feelings of a previous crisis, and for a given child, such may assume a primary focus.
When a child is faced with such kinds of stresses, three often dies exist an inclination for then to personal and diverse crises, such as unresolved parental; conflicts like divorce, or prior deaths. Hence, teachers need to have a timely access of the necessary back-up services that will enable them to effectively handle these ‘incidental’ concerns (Newglass & Schonfeld, 2000). Besides aiding the students to express their thoughts and feelings, an activity that is classroom- based would also entail written efforts, guided discussions and art projects. Such activities will also enable the teachers to become more familiar with their student’s capabilities for development, and also their coping modes with previous situations that were also stressful.
As such, teachers should be in a position to select those modalities that would also provide a best match for the needs of the students. Through written activities, students are bale to express their sorrows and anger, and this form of activity is most beneficial to those students who have skills that are better developed. On the other hand, teacher-led discussions are the most effective (Trump, 1998). Even then, teachers are not encouraged to hide their reactions and feelings but should rather be encouraged to establish compassionate and meaningful ways of expressing their feelings.
Ultimately, staff support and follow-up sessions may prove necessary, especially given that the responses of individuals to a crisis differs. In case of a significant event, then a long-term reaction can often be anticipated, with a possible need for additional counselling for the victim beyond the school environment.
References
Blauvelt, P. D. (1999). Making schools safe for students: Creating a proactive school safety plan.
Coloroso, B. (2000). Parenting through crisis: Helping kids in times of loss, grief, and change. Toronto: Penguin, 2000. Web.
Decker, R. H. (1997). When a crisis hits: Will your school be ready? Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Web.
Menutti, R. B. (2006). Cognitive-behavioural interventions in educational settings. London: Routledge. Web.
Newglass, S., and Schonfeld, D. J. (2000). School crisis intervention, crisis prevention, and crisis response. Oxford: oxford university press. Web.
Poland, S. and Jami, S. M. (2000). Coping with crisis: A quick reference. Longmont, CO: Sopris West. 2008. Web.
Rapoport, L. “The State of Crisis: Some Theoretical Considerations,” in Crisis Intervention: Selected. Readings, Howard J. Parad, ed. (New York: Family Service Association of America, 1965), pp. 25-26.
How do we know when an event is a crisis? What clues should we look for from the international and domestic contexts (“environment” in the Deibel model?) to make this determination?
The times of crisis are always hard moments for an organization. An event can be termed as a crisis when it negatively affects the business’s bottom line or reputation. During the early stages, most events do not seem to be adverse. Virtually, it is not immediately apparent when a business is in the initial stages of a crisis (Capozzi & Rucci 2013). In this regard, managers or practitioners need to examine critically how potential events can result in a crisis.
In a business setting, a crisis can occur in various ways. Usually, there are some events that no one can control. These include product destruction by natural disasters or external forces (Deibel, 2007). These activities can be identified as a crisis when they alter or completely hinder the smooth functioning of the business system. Precisely, events resulting from outside forces can be seen prior to their occurrence (Ishikawa & Tsujimoto 2009).
For example, it is evident that a phenomenon, such as inflation, can directly lead to a crisis in a country or a company. The indicators include an increase in product prices, increased taxation, and unstable market forces.
Some internal events, such as decisions made by managers, can fuel a potential crisis without knowing that they are making a catastrophe. Deibel model advocates for developing strategies that help in the protection of organization or individual entities, especially when faced with threats. A good example of such a decision made by managers includes making company policies so that in the long-run, they result in a crisis (Capozzi & Rucci 2013).
Specifically, this can include the decision to retrench some workers. Of note, more experienced and skilled employees can be retrenched. This is a crisis because the company will lack the expertise to enhance the operations of the business. When the company starts to make fewer profits, then it is an indication that the event is leading to a crisis.
What is the nexus between strategy and crisis management? How do you keep reactions to crises from undermining your national security strategy?
Strategy and crisis management are two closely related concepts. There are three elements common to a crisis; the element of surprise, a threat to the business, and a short decision time (Coppola 2011). Primarily, business entities have the responsibility to create strategies aimed at mitigating or managing a crisis. Strategies are developed according to the magnitude of the crisis. Crisis management provides a coherent and structured approach to assess, identify, and manage any risk in an organization (Alvintzi & Eder 2010).
The strategy is made to assess the crisis. Through the assessment of the crisis, one can understand where uncertain outcomes exist. In essence, strategy comes prior to crisis management (Ishikawa & Tsujimoto, 2009). As such, strategy is a crucial technique to boost crisis management. Thus, it is possible to identify steps that can be followed to protect the business, assets, and people concerned.
Strategy and crisis management relate since managers strategize prior to managing a certain crisis (Booth 1993). Strategy to deal with a given crisis can be developed and implemented even by groups or the smallest projects to build a complex plan to boost in managing the crisis. In order to keep reactions from undermining one’s national security, it is significant for one to make effective plans to deal with the crisis before they overcome the situation, thus one can easily avoid various reactions from crisis from undermining their national security. (Gilpin & Murphy, 2008).
In addition, crisis assessment is a vital approach to ensure that the crisis does not affect or alter with an individual’s national security. In this regard, creating an effective strategy enables a person to be ready to face any crisis that comes across their way, thus protecting their national security. Therefore, the relationship between strategy and crisis management is evident in the way the two concepts function.
References
Alvintzi, P., & Eder, H 2010, Crisis management, Nova Science Publishers, New York.
Booth, S. A 1993, Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises, Routledge, London.
Capozzi, L., & Rucci, S. R 2013, Crisis management in the age of social media, Business Expert Press, New York.
Coppola, D. P 2011, Introduction to international disaster management: Includes index, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston.
Deibel, T. L 2007, Foreign affairs strategy: Logic for American statecraft, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Gilpin, D. R., & Murphy, P. J 2008, Crisis management in a complex world, Oxford University Press, New York.
Ishikawa, A., & Tsujimoto, A 2009, Risk and crisis management: 101 cases, World Scientific, Singapore.
This paper will focus on the clinical aspects of crisis management. It will present a perspective of a clinician in practice working on the case of a patient-reported as being suicidal. The paper will highlight the differences in working with patients who are experiencing a crisis and the ones who are not. Furthermore, it will provide the steps to be taken when treating such people including assessments and possible interventions made based on them, a safety plan for the patient and his/her family, and the ethical implications for the client’s family resulting from the crisis. Finally, the paper will describe some practices and national standards for the MFT discipline that apply to working with clients in crisis and offer my reflection on my thoughts and feelings while dealing with this patient.
Working with patients in crisis and their families is a special case for any clinician occupied in a practice setting. It requires quick but planned actions so that there is a possibility to change a patient’s mind and save his/her life. First of all, the process of treating such patients should start with assessing their current state. Among the assessments that I might want to include, the primary ones would be analyzing the patient’s environment including family members, relations with co-workers and friends detecting whether he/she is isolated or always surrounded by people, whether the client takes some medications and has addictions such as to alcohol or drugs, and whether he/she has already tried to commit suicide. Finding out the general information, I would want to assess the current state of my patient trying to discover the cause of the crisis whether it was something that happened some time ago or recent trauma, estimate his/her psychoemotional condition, i.e. what is the level of self-hatred, and discover whether the patient has a plan for committing suicide (Roberts & Ottens, 2005). The primary objective is to define whether the client experiences extreme self-hatred, isolation, hopelessness, suffers from the thoughts of being a burden to his/her friends and family and that is why pushes them away. What I realized working on the case is that there are differences between the patients who are in crisis and the ones who are not, and the primary is their desire to cooperate with me and their openness to my recommendations and treatment.
The second step of my plan is to establish rapport with the patient. What is important at this stage of crisis intervention is to make my client believe that I accept him/her and his/her problems and want to solve them. I will try to focus on my patient’s currents matters of concern and try to make him/her share the feelings and thoughts with me so that it is easier to understand the situation, develop a safety plan, and find the ways to implement it. Speaking of a safety plan, it will comprise of several elements, including making the patient’s environment safe by removing the means of possible harm, persuading the client to not make attempts to commit suicide for a negotiated period, developing a system of practices that will calm him/her down in the case of aggravation of the emotional crisis such as taking a walk or a cold shower, etc. (Stanley & Brown, 2012). What is vital in designing a safety plan and implementing it is making sure that the client will not be isolated and his/her family will always stay close to him/her so that there is no single chance that the plan will fail and that they always have a copy of it with them wherever they are (Sher & LaBode, 2011). This plan together with seeing the patient more often and guaranteeing him/her and his/her family members that they can contact me whenever they need to are the most frequently used interventions in the case of crisis treatment. The most radical interventions may include prescribing medication or hospitalization.
Some practices have proved to be effective in treating patients in crisis. For example, there is an approach known as dialectal behavior therapy consisting of several elements such as training skills necessary to overcome the periods of crisis aggravation, individual and collective therapy, telephone coaching, etc. (Linehan et al., 2015). Another popular practice is transference-focused therapy that is based on the relationships between the patient and therapist and individual treatment aimed at reducing the impact of negative emotions on a patient. One more approach is a mentalization-based treatment that centers on developing alternative perspectives to the experience of a client and seeing the mind behind every action he/she takes (Bliss & McCardle, 2014).
Working with patients in crisis and their families is an issue of heavy ethical burden. On one hand, every person has the right to decide what to do with his/her life and how to end it, and, from an ethical standpoint, no one has the right to intervene in his/her plans. On the other hand, I, as a clinician, cannot accept this point of view because I feel the duty to help every single patient I can. It is aggravated by my upbringing because my family believed in the sanctity of human life and soul, and I was taught that suicide is the worst sin. Even though I am a person of science and people often think that we are not religious, I do believe in the existence of the soul and the necessity to save it, so, in this particular case, I will do anything I can to help the patient overcome the crisis he/she experiences.
References
Bliss, S., & McCardle, M. (2014). An exploration of common elements in dialectical behavior therapy, mentalization-based treatment and transference focused psychotherapy in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(1), 61-69.
Linehan, M. M., Korslund, K. E., Harned, M. S., Gallop, R. J., Lungu, A., Neacsiu, A. D.,… Angela M. Murray-Gregory. (2015). Dialectal behavior therapy for high suicide risk in individuals with borderline personality disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 72(5), 475-482.
Roberts, A. R., & Ottens, A. J. (2005). The seven-stage crisis intervention model: A road map to goal attainment, problem solving, and crisis resolution. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 5(4), 329-339.
Sher, L., & LaBode, V. (2011). Teaching health care professionals about suicide safety planning. Psychiatria Danubina, 23(4), 396-397.
Stanley, B., & Brown, J. K. (2012). Safety planning intervention: A brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2), 256-264.
The history of different crises around the globe shows that most countries tend to resort to their own management strategies and overlook positive and negative experiences from other states. The approaches taken by China and the United States can be considered diametrically opposite because they are based on varied values and expectations (Comfort et al. 615). The Covid-19 pandemic became a real-life test that affected both governments and countries to an extent where the disease could not be stopped during its initial phases of development.
The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the international economic system also has to be mentioned since China and United States are continually battling for the top position in the list of superpowered governments (Christensen and Lægreid 777). Therefore, an examination of approaches to crisis management throughout the Covid-19 pandemic could be one of the best strategies to decide which country could be deemed more successful in terms of mitigating the negative impact of the pandemic.
The differences in leadership between China and the United States have to be covered because they would outline the core areas where each of the countries is either lacking or overpowering. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has been suppressed by the Chinese government relatively quickly, there are significant challenges that yet have to be mentioned when outlining its effectiveness (Liu et al. 793). This is also true for the American crisis management strategy because, under the Trump administration, the country experienced a rather slow reset that affected millions of people across the country.
Disease control and prevention procedures are equally strong in China and United States, but the biggest problem with the Covid-19 pandemic for both countries might have been the inability to manage policymaking and establish radical measures in a timely manner (Petridou et al. 322). The current paper is going to provide a detailed analysis of crisis management approaches taken by China and the United States in an attempt to curb the Covid-19 pandemic and protect the local population from the deadly disease.
Covid-19 Crisis Management in China
Initially, it was established by China’s National Health Commission that the country experienced a drastic upsurge in the number of cases of an unknown type of pneumonia. The rate of human exposure quickly grew under the influence of the inability to isolate the threat and ensure that the issues could be prevented from spreading (Li et al. 700). Another essential problem that had to be resolved by the Chinese was to establish whether human-to-human transmission of the virus took place.
The initial crisis management initiatives taken by the government revolved around the possibilities of limiting the dissemination of fake information and providing enough guidance to officials responsible for collecting information on the new virus (Ren 425). The task force quickly mobilized all of its resources to collect patient samples and study the disease as quickly as possible in order to reduce the known and unknown risks of human-to-human transmission. The importance of this step can be explained through the prism of the need to engage stringent precautions and limit human exposure to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the next 30 days, the Chinese government realized that human-to-human transmission was real and additional measures had to be taken in order to prevent people across the globe from getting infected. The new infectious disease was not taken seriously at first, despite exceptional efforts exerted by the National Health Commission (Petridou et al. 324). Prevention and control efforts seemed viable under the condition where the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic could be averted. Nevertheless, the growing body of fake information and the government concealing some of the evidence complemented each other and made it harder to discover novel cases of coronavirus.
It became much harder to control the pandemic and help patients when social stability had been finally lost due to many individuals and organizations simply not informing the public about the dangers of Covid-19 (Shangguan et al. 3280). At this particular point, China’s crisis management initiatives went beyond concealment and offered the public an opportunity to display their interest in social stability. Failure to report cases of Covid-19 was deemed irresponsible and punishable.
The biggest problem that China had to resolve with the aid of novel crisis management was the need to reduce the number of cases due to the week-long Chinese New Year. Millions of Chinese and non-Chinese citizens returned home for the celebration, unknowingly exposing their friends and relatives to the threat of being infected with coronavirus (Li et al. 702). One of the vital primary decisions for the Chinese government was to lock down Wuhan and suspend all air and rail links out of the region.
Citizens were not allowed to leave their homes, as closed management had to be implemented to protect the community from travel curbs in the future. Other cities across China started deploying similar limitations in order to protect the economy and ensure that the response to the viral outbreak is not going to force the community to cease the majority of operations (Wang et al. 37). It was an attempt to prevent further spreading of the pandemic and gain better control over the situation.
At the time when the Covid-19 pandemic became a global health emergency, China had already implemented exceptionally stringent measures that allowed the government to address the issue properly. In the case of the Chinese government, crisis management could be outlined as significantly more powerful than any other alternative across the globe (Liu et al. 794). The need to overcome past mistakes associated with the failure to convey information to the public allowed China to alter its approach to the pandemic on the fly.
The complex scenario of the Covid-19 pandemic was addressed by the Chinese government in the most professional way possible despite the initial challenge associated with vital cases of non-disclosure that amplified the spread of the pandemic and caused some of the irreversible outcomes (Shangguan et al. 3287). The positive side of the Chinese approach to crisis management was the government’s willingness to shut down some of the elements of the economy in an attempt to protect local populations. Personal protection quickly became the key priority, leaving almost no room for discussions related to businesses and economic objectives.
Owing to the strong crisis management efforts, the Chinese government also mobilized the majority of available frontline medical workers, community workers, military workers, and volunteers. Every stakeholder exerting efforts to fight the pandemic contributed to a serious decrease in the number of coronavirus cases over the next three months after the initial press release (Wang et al. 37). Lockdown measures allowed the government to nurture the proposed prevention-and-control strategy and start helping other countries with protective suits, masks, testing kits, and face shields. Therefore, China’s crisis management initiatives can be deemed successful because of the country’s quick response to the pandemic.
Despite covering the presence of a lethal virus at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese government was able to correct its mistakes along the way and become a source of support to developing and underdeveloped countries (Shangguan et al. 3284). This view of crisis management cannot be overlooked because China was the first economy to re-establish itself on the global scale and drive down the number of coronavirus cases to a reasonable minimum.
Covid-19 Crisis Management in the United States
After learning the latest news regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, it was decided by the American government to install an expert task force envisioned to moderate the spread of the virus and investigate the potential trends that could affect businesses and citizens. The essential task for the government was to keep individuals informed on the topic of coronavirus and protect them against further exposure to the pandemic (Ren 425).
The Center for Disease Control Prevention was fully involved in the matter, with an Incident Management System developed to help every stakeholder report all relevant cases of Covid-19. Owing to these efforts, the American government was able to structure its emergency responses in line with the needs of every particular organization and activate measures that are only appropriate for the given scenarios (Christensen and Lægreid 776). It was initially noted that the United States had the Covid-19 pandemic under control, and all the prevention measures were established in a timely manner.
The dangers of the lack of protection were covered by the National Security Council, with advisors noting that the full-fledged pandemic would have a killer effect on the US economy. Even though the President’s administration believed that there was nothing imperiling the lives of American citizens, the actual scenario proved otherwise because of the abrupt growth in the number of patients with coronavirus (Comfort et al. 617).
This was a huge hit to the American crisis management initiatives because surveillance and prevention did not help the administration contain the number of cases of Covid-19. Various bans on arrivals and departures (similar to Wuhan) were instigated in an attempt to resolve the spreading of the pandemic and reduce the cost of incidents related to coronavirus (Ren 425). Due to the inexistence of meaningful testing and screening instruments, the American healthcare system was not able to investigate every potential coronavirus case, but the administration ignored those issues and focused on the small number of Covid-19 patients to reinforce positive thinking and an optimistic outlook on the future.
Unlike China, the US ignored the increasing probability of the Covid-19 pandemic and focused on protecting its economy. The American government was one of the first to promote the development of an effective vaccine for Covid-19 (Greer et al. 1413). The increasing focus on financial matters and a false sense of safety affected the US to an extent where the administration failed to recognize the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic and address it in a timely manner. The majority of disruptions across the country occurred right after the new numbers came in, signifying numerous weaknesses in terms of economy and public health (Steier and Moxham 3026).
Overall, the United States exerted huge levels of confidence when it came to battling the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation was praised as practically impermeable since it was essential for the government to empower American citizens and have them believe that they were safe and protected by the administration. The stock market remained too frazzled as well, so it was essential for the government to restore the former sense of stability.
Even though the government attempted to disseminate largely positive messages, the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on the American nation and forced the market to panic and destabilize further. Despite the efforts taken by the country’s administration, crisis management initiatives have been hindered by the lack of relevant evidence and the growing sense of national emergency (Ren 429). The incredibly quick spreading of the pandemic left the US government questioning its approaches to coronavirus due to the inability to answer the majority of questions related to predictions and preventive measures related to the pandemic.
Lockdown measures were introduced late, causing the pandemic to spread even further, highlighting poor decisions included in the crisis management plan proposed by the American administration (Steier and Moxham 3023). An increasing pace of pandemic development forced an incredible number of business shutdowns across the nation, making it safe to say that the US-based organizations and individuals had the least chances to avoid coronavirus.
The shortage of testing equipment had affected the country drastically, causing millions of individuals to lose their jobs. US crisis management efforts linked to the Covid-19 pandemic turned out to be not as effective as they were expected to be because of the presence of unexpected factors, such as scarcity of resources (Comfort et al. 618). The virus was spreading at an incredible rate, causing the administration to make hasty decisions that only made matters worse.
The testing capacity of the United States was replenished when the American administration contacted South Korea, asking for assistance. Nevertheless, a poor initial choice of strategies led the United States to an all-time record in terms of national unemployment (Greer et al. 1414). The level of preparedness could be described as insufficient, leaving the American government responsible for all the shortages that affected the economy and community. The positive outlook that the country intended to promote became a dangerous initiative that averted the government from communicating the actual dangers to US citizens.
Discussion
Lessons from China
Even though China’s experience with the Covid-19 pandemic was generally standard, there was one particular element that stood out the most. Central and local authorities altered their approaches to reporting incidents related to the pandemic in order to be able to locate the steepest outbreaks and report those as quickly as possible (Li et al. 701). The existing network was reinvented and updated in order to give the existing expert teams an opportunity to get a better look at the situation and prevent the pandemic from spreading.
Despite significantly stringent efforts, the Chinese government failed to recognize the gravity of the situation and lost quite some time in an attempt to curb the infection with the aid of milder approaches (Petridou et al. 322). In a sense, the Chinese government could be seen as unprepared but only in terms of not acknowledging its mistakes related to crisis management that occurred during the first several months after the outbreak. Further efforts reinforced the importance of handling the crisis quickly and allowed the top leadership to handle the Covid-19 pandemic properly.
Lessons from the United States
With the United States, the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic was majorly different because the country’s administration was reluctant to taking any steps even after the dangers of the pandemic had been validated on a global scale. The lack of a whole-government comeback has made the United States into a damaged country that had to experience crucial risks despite following all the guidelines (Steier and Moxham 3027).
This shows how the American approach to crisis management is not as stringent as its Chinese counterpart. The frivolous decision that was made during the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the country to an extent where the existence of the virus has been questioned by the public (Greer et al. 1414). These findings are disturbing because they prove that the American crisis management approach lacks dexterity, especially when it comes to taking threats seriously and meeting high-level threats at full capacity. The tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States has been backed by the political divergence of science and large amounts of misinformation that slew the opportunity to mitigate risks copiously.
Concluding Remarks
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic became one of the biggest controversies in the history of humankind due to the existence of challenges associated with deception, covert evidence, and suppressed information. The largely autocratic approach taken by China caused the government to conceal vital information, letting the infection spread. That was one of the worst crisis management decisions in Chinese history due to health officials realizing the scale of the threat but failing to convey that information to government executives.
The existing control over reporting systems and mass media sources proves that the Chinese government was not successful in terms of curbing the Covid-19 pandemic during the initial stage. Yet, all the evidence collected within the framework of the current paper hints at the idea that bad news should have been reported right away, appealing to the public common sense. The willingness to avoid the pandemic could not be found across the American population either because the majority did not believe in the pandemic being real.
Conclusion
Both the United States and China took the risk and did not report some of the initial cases in order to gain more time to make politically-sensitive decisions. Therefore, their approach to crisis management can be outlined as indecisive. The Chinese government quickly corrected its mistake by establishing extremely stringent measures and critically enhancing its crisis management. For the US government, the essential task was to make people believe that the Covid-19 pandemic was real and ensure that public health measures were followed across the country.
Overall, both countries had their strengths and weaknesses, but the Chinese approach seemed to be more effective because of the government acknowledging central errors and fixing them. Even though it was not a sign of incompetence, it took too long for the US government to deploy the most appropriate crisis management measures and prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from spreading further. Millions of deaths across the globe will forever remind all countries of how important it is to respond to crises in a timely manner and avoid misinformation and deception.
Works Cited
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Comfort, Louise K., et al. “Crisis Decision‐Making on a Global Scale: Transition from Cognition to Collective Action under Threat of COVID‐19.” Public Administration Review, vol. 80, no. 4, 2020, pp. 616-622.
Greer, Scott L., et al. “The Comparative Politics of COVID-19: The Need to Understand Government Responses.” Global Public Health, vol. 15, no. 9, 2020, pp. 1413-1416.
Li, Yiran, et al. “Crisis Coordination and the Role of Social Media in Response to COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.” The American Review of Public Administration, vol. 50, no. 6-7, 2020, pp. 698-705.
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Petridou, Evangelia, et al. “Averting Institutional Disasters? Drawing Lessons from China to Inform the Cypriot Response to the COVID‐19 Pandemic.” European Policy Analysis, vol. 6, no. 2, 2020, pp. 318-327.
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It is estimated that fire accidents in United Kingdom kill almost 800 people and injure 15,000 other people every year (Wang Para. 1). In responding to accidents of fire, the findings also show that for the last six decades, the provision for crisis fire fighting response in the country has involved consideration for the density of the built environment (Wang, par.1).
Fire accidents are estimated to occur mostly in domestic areas as compared to urban areas whereby, 75 per cent of all deaths resulting from fire occur in domestic dwellings (Wang Para. 1).
As a result, major efforts in fighting fire have centered on developing risk-based asset management systems that in turn have been used to transfer reasonably, fire and rescue resources as well as improve the operations that for a long time have based on risks to life, property and the environment.
Fire accidents in nature of occurrence constitute a crisis, which if not properly managed may cause many damages. Past studies indicate that some treatment theories have been employed in facilitating fire risk assessment and management, but the detailed literatures reveal that there is absence of a holistic leadership crisis management framework that can be used in fire and rescue services.
In an attempt to address this specific identified research issue, this research paper will try to propose a leadership crisis management framework in relation to fire and rescue services.
The study will employ appropriate research methodologies and tools in reviewing the available literature based on crisis management before coming up with a framework that can be employed in fire and rescue services.
What is a crisis?
David Liss, analyze the term crisis and note that, “any circumstance or set of circumstances become a crisis at some point during the life of any organization or individuals” (Liss Para. 3). According to the author, a crisis is any event that inevitably has to befall an organization or individuals in their lifetime.
Oxford Dictionary defines a crisis as the “a condition of instability in social, economic, political or international affairs leading to a decisive change; further, crisis is a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, for better or for worse is determined” (cited in Mukhopadhyay 1 ).
On the other hand, Samuel Miller state that “Crisis is God’s call to us to reach a new level of humanity, where after a disorder or chaos a new order takes place, after triumphing over an impending crisis, man has to learn to prevent recurrence of a similar crisis or to management a natural crisis after it has occurred” (cited in Mukhopadhyay 2).
Thomas Paine, credited as being one of the America’s founders of independence, was believed to have published the first stories concerning crisis which was later christened as, ‘The American Crisis’. He noted that every form of crisis constitutes a testing time of human and when the crisis is overcome after being managed properly, humans find a state of peace and tranquility (Mukhopadhyay 2).
From his stories, it is evident that in the eventuality of a crisis and afterwards, the fortune of humans are greatly transformed; thus “crisis is a short span of life during which many events are compressed and after the crisis is over a new development takes place during a longer span of life” (Mukhopadhyay 2).
Goel states that a crisis can be regarded as “a major, unpredictable event that threatens to harm an organization and its stakeholders and although crisis events are unpredictable they are not unexpected” (Goel p.25).
From this perspective, crises have the potential to cause impacts on all segments of the society that may include businesses, churches, educational institutions, families, non-profits, and the government.
The author establishes three characteristics that constitute a crisis, whereby a crisis is seen to be “a threat to the organization, the element of surprise, and a short decision time” (Goel 25).
Further, a crisis can be seen to have impacts on an organization in terms of operational viability, reputation of the organization, credibility of the organization, financial stability for the organization and legal action that the organization may encounter. When a crisis takes place, three major stages have to be fulfilled: pre-crisis, crisis, and resolution/post-crisis.
Martin Loosemore sums up the concept of crisis by noting that whatever level a crisis may take place or occur, a crisis is always seen as “a low probability, unexpected, high-impact event that is not covered by contingency plans and that crises represent an immediate and serious threat to high priority goals, placing managers under extreme time pressure to find a non-routine solution” (Loosemore 5)
Crisis management
Modern setting has presented a situation of inevitability for organizations and individuals to think or assume they are immune to crisis. Crisis may take place unexpectedly in form of accident, attack or just a natural calamity. As a result, it is becoming necessary to manage organizations in anticipation that crisis can happen any time.
Most definitions of crises have heavily associated crisis to a threat and despite this, many crisis management theories have paid little concern to the likely impacts of threat for effective decision making under any condition of crisis.
Liss note that it is an unavoidable fact that a crisis at some point will happen in an organization and therefore, management in most organizations have been instructed to have adequate plans in place on numerous occasions where they should allocate enough resources to deal with crises when they occur (Liss Para. 3).
Mukhopadhyay observes that, due to many crises that are befalling organizations, management of crisis and the subsequent prevention efforts to such crises has greatly assumed an increasing important role (Mukhopadhyay p.3).
Today, most organizations have established crisis or disaster management teams that are instituted with responsibilities of investigating causes of crisis, suggested ways to avoid such crisis and recommend mechanisms to manage a crisis after it has occurred. In analyzing the concept of crisis management, there are key issues in form of questions that guide crisis management teams.
For instance, Mukhopadhyay notes that the most relevant questions asked about crisis management are “why did the crisis occur, was the crisis managed effectively and efficiently, could chaos be prevented during the crisis, could the crisis be averted, would the crisis reoccur, and so on” (Mukhopadhyay 3).
Crisis management involves efforts to prevent crises from taking, adequate preparation for a better protection against the impact of a crisis agent, making an effective response to an actual crisis, and providing plans and key resources for recovery and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a crisis.
According to National Research Council-U.S, crisis management constitute all activities that range from the immediate response to mitigation and preparedness efforts that are always aimed at reducing the consequence of future actions and take place over a longer time period (National Research Council-U.S 2).
Therefore, crisis management involves four main phases:
Crisis response, where quick actions are needed in terms of coordinating necessary resources and facilities in order to address the crisis.
Crisis recovery, where numerous short-term activities are designed in order for the organization to go back to normal situation and long-term activities that generally are designed to return infrastructure systems to predisaster conditions.
Mitigation, this involves formulating and adhering to systematic efforts with aim to reduce the effects of disasters on people and property.
Preparedness, on its part involves the various activities that are adopted before a crisis occurs and they may include training and exercises that may be intended to increase readiness in relation to crisis response (National Research Council-U.S p.4).
Crisis management models
Numerous theories have been developed that address the issue of crisis management, for instance, Pearson and Clair, developed a model of crisis management which postulated that effectiveness of any crisis management process is affected by executive perceptions about risk, the environment context, individual and collective responses, and planned responses (cited in Turner 456 ).
Mitroff and Pearson on the other hand presented a multistage model which could be utilized to respond to crisis, where they suggested that effective response to crisis are more likely to be successful if the organization has adequately prepared for the crises and again if the management team has adequately received necessary training.
Accordingly, they suggest that effective management of crises can be achieved when detection activities are undertaken, damage and containment activities are pursued, and communication with the media is effectively handled (cited in Turner p.456).
Gonzalez-Herrero and Pratt on the other hand created “a four-phase crisis management model process that includes: issues management, planning-prevention, the crisis, and post-crisis” (cited in Small Business Encyclopedia 1). The model postulates that for a crisis to be effectively managed there is need to define the crisis that has occurred and the factors that have contributed to the occurrence of the crisis.
Another model is the management crisis-planning model, which outlines that although no organization anticipates to be struck by an immediate disaster, which can result into media scrutiny, the organization’s management is however supposed to be prepared to give the best response to any crisis when it eventually occurs (Small Business Encyclopedia 1).
Contingency planning theory on the other perspective suggests that organizations should have in place early response mechanisms before a crisis can occur.
In this regard, organizations should have crisis management plans that formulated by crisis management teams, and the crisis management plans should clearly indicate the people who are supposed to speak for the organization when a crisis occurs.
The model further indicates that when crises do take place, the crisis management team should act with speed and efficiency if effective management of the crisis is to be realized.
Further, the contingency plan should be design in such a way that, “it contain information and guidance that will help decision makers to consider not only the short-term consequences but the long-term effects of every decision” (Small Business Encyclopedia 1).
Lastly, there is the structural-functional systems model, which on its part notes that during the period of a crisis it is important to provide adequate and reliable information to the organization if any effective crisis management is to be realized (Small Business Encyclopedia 1).
Moreover, the model identifies how information networks and levels of command are crucial in making up the organizational communication and it postulate that information circulation in the organization is carried out in networks that involve members and different links (Small Business Encyclopedia 1).
Fire prevention strategies in United Kingdom
Since the fire regulation safety measures were instituted, there has been a decrease in number of fire accidents in the country (Bratt Para. 1).
However, what is notable is the fact that even with available safety regulations, there is no 100 per cent guarantee of safety when fire strikes. The formulation of the safety regulations has been commended as one big leap towards managing crisis caused fires and this may earn appreciation in some section of the society.
However, evidence from the safety regulation manuals shows little attention has been paid to the role a manager or the head of an institution should play in managing crisis of fire (Bratt Para. 1). Moreover, leadership has been recognized as the key aspect that when effectively used in an organization, then management of fire crisis can be addressed appropriately.
Fire safety regulations requires institutions, organizations and even individuals to “design any structure with fire safety in mind, equip the structure with firefighting equipment, regularly monitor the conditions of the equipment, and lastly to conduct fire safety training for all employees” (Bratt Para. 1-5).
These steps and requirements are perfect, but when the role of leadership is divorced from them then their success is doomed.
Crisis management has been seen as a young field and therefore little efforts have been done to train managers and other organizational leaders on how well to manage crises. For example, according to an article published by Free Management Library, an effective crisis management plan should involve “forecasting potential crises and planning how to deal with them” (Free Management Library Para. 1).
Further, the article suggests that many organizations possess key resources and time that are crucial in completing a crisis management plan before any crisis can strike the organization.
In the modern world where crisis is inevitable, crisis management techniques largely dwell on identifying the actual nature of the crisis that has taken place or is likely to take place; in a systematic way intervene in order to reduce the damaging effect of the crisis; and finally, device ways to recover from the crisis (Free Management Library par.1).
Throughout this process, an effective leadership is instrumental in realizing the goals of any crisis management plan.
Why leadership is necessary in crisis management
Crisis management as defined earlier is the process “by which an organization deals with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public” (Matai Para. 1). Managers who have an overall role to ensure the success and continuity of the organization lead organizations; hence, they have a responsibility to avert any crisis or threat to the organization.
Second, when a crisis has taken place in the organization performance of things will have to change. New ways to deal with future crises will need to be developed and the person to facilitate and foster this is a leader of the organization. Leadership therefore is intertwined with crisis management. Matai notes that leaders have a role to reduce the effects of a crisis when it occurs.
In addition, they should be the people at fore front to address the strategic challenges which their organizations face, formulate ways to avoid the reoccurrence of such pitfalls and the general paths they should establish in order to follow in managing crises (Matai par.8).
According to the author, crisis leadership constitutes five important tasks: “sense making, decision making, and meaning making, terminating, and learning” (Matai par.8).
Crisis Management leadership framework
Leadership framework for crisis management. Source: ALAGSE, N.d.
As expressed earlier in the literature, effective leadership is the key to efficient crisis management in any organization. First, six key leadership characteristics have been identified that are crucial in any crisis.
The six are: the leader confronted with any crisis should as the first step create and establish trust in the organization;
leader should embark on a detailed process of instituting reforms with the aim of changing the widespread mindset of the organization with regard to crisis;
leader should institute a process that he or she can use to identify the observable and incomprehensible vulnerabilities that the organization may be facing;
leader to be wise and first in making decisions that need courage; and lastly, leader should have ability to learn from the crisis and in coordinated way lead the process of effecting change (Small Business Encyclopedia 1).
Further, research done in the area of crisis management and leadership have found out that for a leader to succeed in managing a particular crisis, the organization’s environment should be competent enough to offer the leader with the necessary help through the existence of firm structures in the organization.
On his part, Goel observes that effectiveness of leader in crisis management can be realized when the particular fulfills certain and key requirements.
The leader has “to institutionalize the process of crisis management to anticipate, prepare, and mitigate a likely crisis,” and to succeed in this, the leader needs the support of the organization (Goel 248).
The leader has the responsibility to clarify the goals and purpose of the crisis management plan, which in its formulation should reflect the goals, values, objectives, and philosophy of the organization. Leadership at this level should provide guidance as to how crisis management policy should be drafted and the leader should provide an enabling environment for the members to carry out their responsibilities.
The leader has the mandate to establish a crisis management team tasked with the responsibility to ensure all crises, both existing and potential ones are dealt with completely. At this stage, leadership should be at forefront in empowering the core team in carrying out its duties.
Next is for the leader to foster an effective and elaborate communication strategy and infrastructure during the period of crisis, as this will help to ensure there is timely and reliable communication both to internal and external stakeholders at all times.
Further, the leader collaborates with external agencies in a bid to enhance skills and resources to mitigate any potential crises in the future.
The leader should be able and ready to institute training that relates to crisis management to members in the organization, as this will help the members to be prepared in case a crisis occur (Goel 248).
Leadership and crisis resolution
Crisis resolution framework. Source: ALAGSE, N.d
After a crisis has taken place in all measures, the organization and other key stakeholders look to the leadership as the instrument to resolve the crisis. As such, crisis resolution has evolved to become part of crisis management and hence role for the leader to carry out.
The assumption here is that there may be availability of effective crisis management plans and tools as far as the organization is prepared to respond to a crisis.
However, the success of such instruments will rely on the particular and unique direction the leader adopts, thus the outcome of the adopted direction will greatly affect the overall perception the public and other stakeholders will have about the organization (ALAGSE Para. 9). Therefore, the values the leader creates and establishes over a period will act as the gauge where the leader will effectively resolve the crisis.
Although no adequate framework can be developed as to how a leader can handle crisis resolution more effectively, there has existed a possible framework, which can be adopted by various organizations of course with possible adjustment in accordance to the specific organization.
The crisis resolution framework is based on the assumption that a crisis in any organization should be expected and hence, there needs to be a strategic plan coupled with risk management plan.
In resolving the crisis, the leader has to utilize various lessons he or she has learnt and acquired then make a clear communication to the organization members, a procedure that should manifest itself in learning. This will enable the leader to effect the necessary changes.
Conclusion
Crises in organizations are inevitable. While some crises may be predictable, others happen unexpectedly with a surprise. However, organizations irrespective of their nature or size cannot claim to be immune to crises. Every organization is at risk, thus the sound leadership will define the continuity of the organization during and after crisis.
Crisis management therefore will greatly succeed if there is an effective leadership that is able to facilitate and implement an effective crisis management plan. Without a sound leadership however, there may be crisis management plans and teams, while the organization will not escape the impacts of the crisis when it occur.
Therefore, it is prudent for all organizations and other institutions to develop a reliable, effective, and dependable crisis management leadership that can be instrumental in guiding the organization towards effective management of crises.
Works Cited
ALAGSE. Promoting Thought Leadership. Web.
Bratt, Dale. How to prevent fire-related accidents in the workplace. Web.
To reduce the effects and minimize possible dangers and losses as was experienced in the 2004 Tsunami, all organizations and societies will need to be prepared for possible disasters and emergencies and create systems that should deal with these disasters and emergencies. The saving of lives during a disaster and emergency incident will depend on the proper coordination of the rescue team, delivery of the right skills to the scene which can only be achieved through the proper preparation before the disaster happens. In the UK there are structures that enhance and ensure the adequacy of infrastructure to deliver effective SAR and which are in a frequent state of readiness. The functions are to receive any calls of distress, communicate between various agencies that are involved in rescue operations, and deliver survivors to safety. These functions are shared between the various government departments, the military, statutory emergency services (includes the police, the fire department, and the ambulance services), the volunteers, and charitable organizations like the Red Cross. The police department is responsible for the coordination of the inland disaster response.
A person or body is appointed to assess the risk of an occurring emergency, and this person or body should ensure that any measures are taken to prevent the emergency from occurring, should work on controlling and mitigating the effects, and taking any other action that may be deemed necessary according to the situation at hand. The body or person is also responsible for informing the public and warning them if it is found necessary.
Disaster Emergency Management Systems (DEMS)
Organisations should implement strategies that will minimize risks at all costs, if a disaster strikes, including the use of Information Technology which should be used to provide information to all the stakeholders at all times. The organisation should take a cost benefit analysis balancing the risks management costs with the opportunity cost if no preventive action was taken.
The organisations, the government and other relevant and appointed authorities should at first come up with tsunami and earthquake warning centres. This will be made possible by working in conjunction with the geologists, hydrologists and the metrological departments and a team to coordinate the disaster Emergency management system should be set up.
Evaluation of internal and external factors
There are several procedures in setting up an effective DEMS. This should start by evaluating the internal and external factors that may affect the plan. External factors to be considered include the natural environment, the seasonal weather conditions. Tsunamis are caused by the movement on the ocean floor which may caused by an earthquake, a volcanic eruption or a landslide under the water (Haddow, 83). It is therefore becomes necessary to understand the geology of the region in order to measure the risk of a tsunami occurring. Internal factors include the community and the social attitude of the local community, and how they react and respond to Disasters and Emergencies. The organisation should learn this attitude from the history and how they have previously responded to an emergency or disaster in the past. The cooperation of the city designers will be necessary because the layout of the town or city is important, in planning for the accessibility routes and the sanitation designs of the town. They also provide the street layout, the population density, accessibility to railway lines and motorways. The existing laws and regulations are important as the plans will have to accommodate governmental factors and the local governmental regulations as well as understand the legal constraints so as to comply with these requirements and follow any advice the regulations may provide. In planning for the DEMS it is important to know the emergency and medical services contacts and learn their efficiencies, including the existence of voluntary organisations, the Red Cross, St. Johns Ambulance. Other internal factors include the designs of the buildings and the accessibilities to available escape routes, the available staffs’ perceived behaviours and how they respond to new information.
Establishment of Disaster and Emergency Policy
The second procedure is to establish a Disaster and Emergency Policy for the organisation or society (Tullo, 9). This should start with a statement of policy showing the managements and the authority’s commitment to the plan. There should be arrangements of how the organisation should react in case of a major incident as required by the Management of Health and safety at work Regulations 1999 (as amended 2003). First aid availability should be guaranteed including the training of first aiders, an evaluation of emergency equipments required should be done. The DEMS should be planned in such a way that it is easy to work with the police, fire department, ambulances and Red Cross. A plan of how to handle the media and the pressure from them should be planned.
Disasters and emergencies organization
The next step would be to organise for Disasters and Emergencies. This will include effective communication of the policies to the involved personnel and bodies. The information should also be relayed to everyone in the organisation or in case of a community to everyone but only on a need to know basis. This can be done through pamphlets, where the information should be clear, and user friendly, non technical terms and if possible should be presented in pictorial forms. The plan should then be communicated to the media, local authority, and emergency services. The transmission of information can be done electronically. There should be an allowance for the recipients of this information to give feedback. An awareness day possibly, twice in a year, should be observed with training to as many people as possible, with the objective of at least each individual being made aware of the minimum standards.
Disaster and emergency planning
The next process would be Disaster and emergency planning. This involves the risk assessment of a potential major incident actually happening and a consequent contingency planning. This requires first, the measurement of the probability and the severity of the major incident occurring, and then a plan on how to respond accordingly. It requires planning with an assumption of a worst case scenario that is the major incident will actually occur. This identifies where and what would be affected and prioritise on the most serious and that which would have a more serious effects. For example in case of a Tsunami, this would most probably affect the sanitary systems, transport of food and medical supplies, electricity and power lines would be affected. But in this case priority should be given on clearing the roads and railway line to ensure smooth transportation of medical and food and other emergency requirements. For each assumption a solution should be developed as well as carry out a cost benefit analysis. There should be controlled testing to ensure smooth implementation. The plan should be updated and reviewed for any legal or insurance effects. During the event, coordination is of key importance, and people should be advised to follow the instructions of those in command as well as use their own self initiative as long as it does not contradict the given instructions. After the event, it is important to investigate the plans which require cooperation with the relevant investigating authorities. The handling of the media after the disaster will need to be handled.
Monitoring of disaster and emergency plans
After the disaster and planning the next procedure is to monitor the disaster and emergency plans. This involves assessing and evaluating, the efficiency and the strengths of the Disaster Emergency Plans, identify any weaknesses and loopholes in the previous plan and rectifying them (Moore and Lakha, 104). The assessment should both be proactive and reactive. Reactive assessment should include assessing the fatalities and realizing that the reality is that it overwhelms the plans. It also requires a brainstorming process to investigate what went wrong with the plan, using any audio or visual recordings that would assist on how the plan was being implemented where and how it went wrong.
The final process in setting the DEMS is the Audit review process. This will assess the whole DEMS process and identify those areas that need improvement. The Audit can be carried out either by in-house internal or external consultants. The audit procedure should be proactive and should be holistic, systemic and systematic.
Planning For Responding To Medical Emergencies
At the scene of the major incident, the priority should be on preservation of life, prevention of further loss of life, to relief suffering, protection of property, protection of the property, restoration of normalcy and the investigation of the cause. The emergency services will need to have intelligence services and urgent means of relaying services to the chain of command and to their colleagues in their control rooms. There are common mnemonics that are used to relay these messages, the most common ones being CHALET (Casualties, Hazards, Access, Location, Emergency services required, Type of incident) ETHANE (Exact location, Type of Incidents, Hazard, Access, Number of casualties, Emergency Services Required) METHANE (Major Incident standby or declared, Exact location, Type of Incident Hazards, Access, Number of Casualties, Emergency Services required. The incident officers should be well coordinated and in UK there is already a set up interrelationship between the officers, and coordination should be between the Medical Incident Officer and the Ambulance Incident Officer, Police Incident Officer, the Fire Incident Officer and the representative and Local Authority and other agencies. All personnel working in the accident scene should be well prepared and their own safety should be secured by proper dressings and other precautionary measures taken. The casualties should be sorted out according to the severity of the injuries, with those who require immediate emergency response being given the highest priorities. The Availability of equipment and drugs needed to offer medical help to the victims is important including systems to deliver these facilities.
Casualties should be distributed to different hospitals to reduce overload from one hospital. In UK the Incident Ambulance Officer is responsible for ensuring proper transport of casualties to the hospitals. The information to the destined hospital for each patient should be recorded and provided to someone who is responsible to inform the victim’s relatives. There should be someone responsible for the human aspect, in an a major accident, removing, storing and marking bodies, informing the next of kin, counselling support and dealing with religious and cultural issues. A Control chart arrangements should be drawn. This highlights who is responsible for management of the incident and possibly arranged in a hierarchy form, detailing who is responsible for what and should include the role that other emergency organisations, Red Cross.
An overall person(s) should be in charge with the assistance of coordinators who will be coordinating the teams, who should comprise of the first aiders and other personnel working at the scene. It is also important to have emergency numbers to contact the police, Red Cross and other bodies. The dead should be handled efficiently and sensitively handling relaying this information to the relatives. The police and a medical doctor should be involved in confirming the deaths ensuring that attention is prioritized on the living casualties. Identification should be taken care of as much as possible, and the dead bodies are placed in a specific point o be delivered to the mortuary later. In case there is a risk of a disease spreading from the dead bodies. Then the best option should be to bury them as soon as possible.
An emergency debriefing should be done as soon as possible after the event. This will help in the investigations for the manmade caused incidents. The organisations should show appreciation to their staff that were involved in the rescue operations and cater for any of psychological effects the staff may have suffered. A formal Critical Incident Stress Debriefing should be conducted 48 hours after the incident. This is to minimize the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
In most instances a tsunami will destroy houses and will affect a whole community. Temporary alternative should be created to enhance continuity if life for the survivors. The survivors should be assisted in coping with the losses by offering psychological assistance and medical and especially mental help should be available for a longer time.
Training and Exercising for Effective and the role of the Media
The implementation of the DEMS will on a high percentage depend on the way it is going to be implemented. To be effective, continuous training is necessary including refresher training, drilling exercise. The personnel involved should also be trained on confidence, competencies and quick decision making ideas without the continuous reliance on manuals. They will need to be educated on the competencies and training and exercising learning and simulation concepts.
Control of Major Accident hazards (COMAH) Regulations 1999 and the Control of Major Accident Hazards,(Amendment) Regulations 2005, to address to the prevention and mitigation of major accidents that maybe caused by industrial activities. The regulations are applied to those industries where there are dangerous substances, or their presence is anticipated or there is a possibility of them being generated in the industrial chemical process. COMAH requires that all operators to have a major accident prevention policy which should be reviewed frequently.
I tsunami prone areas there should be a tsunami watching centre. The procedure should then to warn people through the media to be prepared for a possible evacuation. In case the danger exists the responsible authority will make arrangements to have the people evacuated to higher grounds. This authority should be responsible for training the community to recognise the signs of a possible tsunami. This training should be conducted through the media, TV, pamphlets, documentaries radio stations and through websites.
The Tsunami disaster was not an isolated disaster for an individual country. Several nations were affected and they therefore have to work together. The UK is a signatory to several conventions to provide the search and rescue operations among them Convention in the High Seas (1958), Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 1974), AND Civil Aviation (1974).
Authorities within the Tsunami risk prone areas, in conjunction with the organisations within that area, and emergency service provides should ensure there are proper DEMS procedures in place at all times. The system should run tests, maintain and update the system, assign roles and responsibilities of handling the process. They should then conduct a risk and vulnerability assessment, conduct business and disaster emergency impact analysis. From the findings they should select a disaster recovery strategy and develop a disaster recovery plan. This cycle continues with frequent reviews of the plan.
Works Cited
Haddow, George. Introduction to Emergency Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 2003. Print
Moore, Tony and Lakha, Raj. Trolleys Handbook of Disaster and Emergency Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 2006. Print.
