Emergency Management - Fall 2008 - (Page 58)

Last Word Role Revision By definition, emergency managers serve as the coordination focal point during disasters and catastrophes and engage in the four phases of disaster management: preparation, response, recovery and mitigation. But given the rarity of disasters, particularly catastrophes, government can’t justify expending significant effort on the preparation phase, except in environments where disasters occur with reasonable frequency, such as hurricanes in Florida. As a result, emergency managers are usually isolated without the authority to direct significant funding for preparedness projects; have no real role in coordinating response; don’t manage global aspects Emergency managers need to be the everyday fixers for local mayors and county managers for three reasons: Experience in solving simple community problems will make them better at solving complex ones; solving problems will help develop relationships with peers; and being seen as the problem-solver for government leadership will give emergency managers more status with others, which in turn will make it easier for their voices to be heard. Unless emergency managers become the people who leadership turns to naturally — instead of public safety — they will never be taken seriously; what leadership does every day is what it will do in a crisis. Being seen as the problem-solver for government leadership will give emergency managers more status with others, which in turn will make it easier for their voices to be heard. of community recovery; and have limited ability to secure funding for large-scale mitigation projects. Instead, emergency managers typically have a reactive stance, keeping an organization or government compliant with the endless cycle of imposed requirements, such as pandemic planning or the National Incident Management System, both of which frankly are a major waste of time. I suggest we radically revise the definition of what emergency managers do and limit it to three clear concepts: • to be everyday problem solvers for leadership; • be community focused versus individual focused; by Scot Phelps and Scot Phelps is an associate professor of emergency manage• during a crisis, their primary ment in the School of Health and and exclusive goals should Human Services at Southern Connecticut State University. Phelps be opening businesses and is a certified emergency manager, schools. a certiﬁed business continuity professional, and a FEMA master exercise practitioner. Emergency managers must explicitly say they’re community focused, not individual focused. Public safety works with individuals; emergency managers work with the community. This is a critical distinction because many emergency management agencies are still responsible for dealing with people issues, such as setting up shelters, distributing food and coordinating medical care. In many communities, other organizations can do this without government assistance, and emergency managers need to abandon this role. The primary and exclusive goal should be opening businesses as soon as possible after a disruption. Opening business is critical because government is hopelessly inefficient at providing for people’s daily needs. In addition, and just as important, it’s a social equality issue: If a McDonald’s is out of business, its employees have no job, they don’t get paid, and their families are forced to rely on the government. This becomes a vicious cycle as more people in shelters means more focus on shelters and less on making businesses operational. The second goal should be opening schools as quickly as possible after a disruption. Education is the government service that touches the most taxpayers, and schools are a vital symbol of normalcy for a community. Schools are a safe haven for children where they can be fed, bathed and provided access to health services. Emergency management could become a relevant and necessary part of government — rather than the grant-funded, powerless position that it typically is today — with clearly redefined roles of problem solving; serving as the interface between schools, businesses and government; and focusing on the metrics of minimizing business days and school days lost. k 58

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Emergency Management - Fall 2008

Emergency Management - Fall 2008 Contents Contributors Editor’s Letter In the Field Deep Freeze EM Bulletin Major Player In the News Uncharted Waters Bio-Sensing Bluegills Joint Accounts Education Directory Degress of Change Triage in 3-D Products Eric's Corner Last Word

Emergency Management - Fall 2008

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