Emergency Response Planning, The Incident Command System (ICS) And Effective Media Relations Research Paper Examples

An Emergency Response Plan (ERP) guides the emergency response team to undertake appropriate measures when an emergency occurs. The plan directs the response towards lifesaving actions like evacuation of employees and visitors, provision of first aid, putting off a raging fire, amongst others. When an emergency occurs, the public emergency services are introduced to save property and lives. The presence of an ERP provides the dispatcher with the precise information that highlights the right actions and equipment required to act upon the emergency (FEMA.gov. 2013). Before the establishment of an ERP, policy makers ensure that they conduct a risk assessment that pinpoints the likelihood of certain emergency responses. With this in mind, organizations must ensure that they allocate the resource requirements needed to prepare for any case of emergency in the future. The ERP is aligned with the performance objectives to ensure consistency and professionalism during emergency responses. An Emergency Response Plan is important since it provides a guideline that assists in establishing the protective actions for life safety. These actions include evacuation, sheltering, shelter-in-place, and lockdown. The response plan is also effective because it is comprised of actions that are applied towards incident stabilization. This includes firefighting, containing a spill of hazardous chemicals, directing medical treatment rescue, or handling an act of violence. When an emergency strikes an organization, people are advised to take measures that would overturn the situation while waiting for the emergency response team to arrive (Kendra & Wachtendorf, 2002).
The Incident Command System (ICS) is a management system intended to provide effective guidance towards the management of domestic incidents. ICS consists of an incorporation of various elements like facilities, personnel, equipment, and procedures that are outlined in an organizational structure. The ICS aims at facilitating supporting activities in the following major functional departments; command, planning, operations, logistics, intelligence and investigations, and finance and administration. The ICS helps the incident managers to sample out the most appropriate concerns that help the response team to implement actions meant to save the situations (Bigley & Roberts, 2001). With the help of the ICS, security and incident managers can develop an organizational structure that accommodates the response to all emergency actions. The flexibility of ICS helps the emergency response teams to improvise the appropriate actions in handling both small and large incidents. ICS helps in handling the following threats to human beings and property; Fires, Oils spills, Terrorism acts, and search and rescue missions. The application of ICS helps to protect people and property in a number of ways.
In any organization, an effective media relation plays a major role in protecting people and property. Effective media relation plans eliminate the negatives during emergency responses and accentuate the positives. The plan is a quick fix and a good solution to provide answers in case of an emergency. Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and Flickr provides a good platform for an organization to establish their effective media relations. The social networking sites are very effective for conveying messages to the people. In case of an emergency, people will be informed through the social media tools; as a result, the public will initiate a quick response. Therefore, an effective media relation will help any organization to communicate to the public whenever there is the need for emergency response. This will ensure that people and properties are always safeguarded from posed threats.

References

Bigley, G. A., & Roberts, K. H. (2001). The incident command system: High-reliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. Academy of Management Journal, 44(6), 1281-1299.
FEMA.gov. (2013, March 21). Business | Ready.gov. Retrieved from http://www.ready.gov/business
Kendra, J. M., & Wachtendorf, T. (2002). Creativity in emergency response after the World Trade Center attack.