HOW COMMUNITIES MAY BUILD RESILIENCE

#O2SEmergncy

Objective.

The post focuses on building local community resilience to man-made and natural disasters, with an emphasis on innovation, collaboration with community stakeholders, sustainability, repeatability and measurable benefits to the community.

Definition.

Resilience is a community´s or organization´s capability to bounce back and to absorb the impact from a major nature´s  or man made emergency situation.

In this case, we understand by community a group of local population ranging from a small village, town,  to a big city, and as an Organization,  any industrial, bussines or social group. And as capabilities,  the risk assesment procedures, the capacity to preserve the life in any of its forms, the social structure and the environment, the different groups of people from the government emergency response offices, volunteer and non profit organizactions, their administrative procedures, their organization and training systems.

Procedure.

The Community and Organization leaders need to keep in mind tha the planning process must take into acount four phases of an emergency situation:

1.- Prevention- before

2.- Response  - during

3.- Recovery   - after
4.- Continuity - sustainabilty.

Prevention.

Prevention happens when property and lives are protected by those that identify, deter or stop an incident from occurring. Activities that may include these types of countermeasures can include:

• Heightened Inspections
• Improved surveillance and security operations
• Investigations to determine the full nature and source of the threat
• Public health surveillance and testing processes
• Immunizations
• Isolation or quarantine
• Law enforcement operations aimed at deterring, preempting, interdicting, or disrupting illegal activity.

Mitigation.

Preparedness activities increase a community’s ability to respond when a disaster occurs. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) defines preparedness as "a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating, and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response."

Preparedness is a process that requires continued focus year-round.

Response.

A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness phase enables efficient coordination of resources. Response actions carried out immediately before, during, and after a hazard impact are aimed at saving lives,reducing economic losses, and alleviating suffering.The response phase includes the mobilization of the necessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area. This is likely to include a first wave of core emergency services, such as firefighters, police and ambulance crews.

   

Recovery.

Actions taken to return a community to normal or near-normal conditions, including the restoration of basic services and the repair of physical, social and economic damages. Typical recovery actions include debris cleanup, financial assistance to individuals and governments, rebuilding of roads and bridges and key facilities, and sustained mass care for displaced human and animal populations.

Sustainability.

It begins right after the emergency. Some recovery activities may be concurrent with response efforts.

It is the development, coordination, and execution of service- and site-restoration plans for impacted communities and the reconstitution of government operations and services through individual, private-sector, nongovernmental, and public assistance programs that:

• Identify needs and define resources.
• Provide housing and promote restoration.
• Address long-term care and treatment of affected persons.
• Implement additional measures for community restoration.
• Incorporate mitigation measures and techniques, as feasible.
• Evaluate the incident to identify lessons learned.
• Develop initiatives to mitigate the effects of future incidents.

Long-term recovery includes restoring economic activity and rebuilding community facilities and housing. Long-term recovery (stabilizing all systems) can sometimes take years.