Chapter 17: Disaster Response
Exercise 1. CASE STUDY: ECO-DISASTER SCENARIO
Consider the tornado at Midville and the Benefield family, then put yourself in the role of the Local Emergency Management Agency Coordinator and answer the following questions. Divide the class into groups of three: one is the interviewer, one is the interviewee, and one is a process observer. You may change and rotate roles about a third of the way through the exercise so that each person has a chance to experience sitting in a different seat. The interviewer might want to take the role of a newspaper reporter who is looking for answers for his or her own community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This should take about 20 minutes. When you are done, reassemble and process the interview. Consider the following questions.
1.How would you rate the coordinator’s responses when s/he is under a bit of pressure?
2.As you sat in the role of coordinator triage yourself, how and what were you feeling, thinking and doing?
3.Would you want the job? Why or why not?
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1.In a systemic crisis such as the above, are there critical timelines to be considered? If so, what are they?
2.Is there a developmental time sequence to a systemic crisis? If so, describe it.
3.Considering the above scenario, who are those local people or organizations that I need to contact? In what order or sequence or time should they be contacted?
4.Considering the above scenario, who are those state and national people or organizations that I need to contact? In what order or sequence or time should I do so?
5.What helpful or positive role can the local media play in helping to resolve the crisis? How does one facilitate that to happen?
6.What helpful or positive role can the national media play in helping to resolve the crisis? How does one facilitate that to happen?
7.Who are the critical players on your emergency management team? Why are they critical?
8.What is your candid assessment of the state of crisis preparedness in the U.S. today?
9.What is the worst eco-systemic crisis you can imagine? Why?
10.Are we better at managing some types of eco-systemic crises than others? If so, what are they? Why?
11.What kind of training, education, and experience do you believe should be required to be an effective and competent manager of a crisis such as the scenario one described above?
12.Given a natural disaster such as is contained in this scenario, how do you go about coordinating and communicating an effective response?
13.When the crisis situation exceeds your local capacities and resources to respond, how and when do you decide to call for help, and who do you call?
14.What are your back-up resources? Do you have redundancy in your system? In case I or any of my staff become incapacitated for any reason, are there persons available who can effectively step in and assume the vacated responsibilities?
15.Regarding the Benefield family in the scenario above, what kind of emergency crisis interventions are going to be provided for them? Who is going to provide the interventions? When will it happen?
16.When and under what conditions will you declare the crisis situation terminated?
17. Do you believe that current stress reduction procedures, such CISD for emergency workers, are helpful? If yes, how so; if no, why not?
18. What steps do you take to take care of your own stress and trauma and that of your staff?
RESOURCES
The first two listings shown here are governmental entities that provide an enormous amount of effort and resources pertaining to the subject of this chapter. They are the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (U.S. Government Manual, 1998–1999, pp. 290, 541–543). In addition, two emergency response organizations, one crisis specialization service, and one annual crisis convention are included. Information pertaining to most service agencies and organizations can be obtained from the Encyclopedia of Associations.
Brief descriptions are herewith provided for all of the resources just named.
Governmental
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472. Website: FEMA is the central agency within the federal government for emergency planning, preparedness, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments to fund emergency programs and to offer technical assistance, guidance, and training for dealing with emergencies and disasters. It deploys federal resources in times of catastrophic disaster, and coordinates activities to ensure that a broad-based program is available to protect life and property and provide recovery assistance after a disaster. FEMA is a large umbrella agency that oversees many different federal emergency programs and carries out the major part of its responsibilities through 10 regional offices located in major cities throughout the United States.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Phone: (301) 443-6480 Website: The NIMH supports and conducts fundamental research in neuroscience, genetics, molecular biology, and behavior as the foundation for an extensive clinical research portfolio that seeks to expand and refine treatments available for illnesses such as schizophrenia, depressive disorders, severe anxiety, childhood mental disorders (including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and other mental disorders that occur across the life span. NIMH supports research on treatment outcomes in actual practice settings and seeks to establish sound scientific bases for the prevention of mental illness. It distributes educational and informational materials about mental disorders and related science to the public and to scientific audiences.
Emergency Response Organizations
National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management (NCCEM) 111 Park Place Falls Church, VA 22046-4513 Phone: (703) 538-1795 Fax: (703) 241-5603 E-mail: Website: Plans and prepares for emergency and civil defense on city and county levels. Serves as liaison among units of local government, state and federal emergency agencies, and civil defense agencies. Provides for exchange of information and seeks to develop comprehensive, workable, and all-hazard emergency programs through coordinated action. Conducts research and educational programs and maintains a speakers’ bureau.
Disaster Emergency Response Association (DERA) P.O. Box 280795 Denver, CO 80228-0795 Phone: (303) 809-4412 E-mail: Website: Works in the field of disaster preparedness, including professional disaster researchers, response and recovery specialists, trainers, and project managers. Assists communities, businesses, and industries in preparing for emergencies. Conducts risk management assessments and training and provides disaster relief.
Terrorism, trauma, and tragedies: A counselor’s guide to preparing and responding, edited by Debra Bass and Richard Yep (2002). It is sponsored and published by the American Counseling Association and can be obtained through the American Counseling Association Foundation, 5999 Stevenson Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22304.
In the wake of 9/11: The psychology of terror, by Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, and Jeff Greenberg (2003). It is sponsored and published by the American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, and can be obtained through the APA Order Department, P. O. Box 92984, Washington, DC 20090-2984.
Disaster Recovery by Brenda Phillips was not included in the 6th ed. of the crisis book, although it probably should have been. It was published in 2009 by Taylor & Francis Group. It has everything you ever wanted to know about managing a disaster. It falls just short of getting a degree in disaster mitigation; thus, it probably fits better with a LEMA manager than a mental health service provider for a disaster, but it does cover topics from theoretical framework and the social psychology of disaster to debris management and housing and feeding people (no short order when the likes of Hurricane Katrina shows up).
The following books were used as references in the 7th edition of the crisis book. If you are getting into the disaster business, they are must-reads:
Halpern, J. & Tramontin, M. (2007). Disaster mental health theory and practice. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kilmer, R. P., Gil-Rivas, V., Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (Eds.). (2010). Helping families and communities recover from disaster: Lessons learned from hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Myers, D., & Wee, D. F. (2005). Disaster mental health services. New York: Brunner–Routledge.
Ritchie, F.C Watson, P. J., & Friedman, M.J. (Eds.) (2006). Interventions following mass violence and disasters: Strategies for mental health practice. New York: Guilford Press.