Crisis management cycle

Crisis management cycle

Introduction

The crisis management cycle

Crisis, disaster and emergency management are widely understood to be a multiple-phase process, with the phases often paralleling, rather than merely running sequentially, as implied by common cycle illustration. There are several models of the crisis management cycle, it’s terminology and number of phases circulating , among which the 4-phases cycle became widely accepted.

Whereas there is general agreement on the phases "preparedness", "response" and "recovery", the EU puts an emphasis on "prevention" instead of "mitigation". Crisis management, emergency management, and disaster and/or risk management are sometimes used synonymously. However, they can also be understood as components of each other.

Crisis management activities are substantial for urban environments, critical infrastructure protection and civil protection respectively for the protection of the society. In urban systems they are every-day business; and all phases of the crisis management cycle may be experienced simultaneously in different parts of the city.

Definitions

Views and interpretations of the phases vary largely in literature, according to disciplines and perspective; and there is a wide number of definitions available. Following definitions were chosen from those provided by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and are opposed to the glossary definitions in the National Response Plan (NRP) by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Mitigation

"The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.

Comment: The adverse impacts of hazards often cannot be prevented fully, but their scale or severity can be substantially lessened by various strategies and actions. Mitigation measures encompass engineering techniques and hazard-resistant construction as well as improved environmental policies and public awareness. It should be noted that in climate change policy, “mitigation” is defined differently, being the term used for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that are the source of climate change." (UNISDR 2009: 19-20)

A more detailled definition can be found in the DHS-glossary:

"Mitigation. Activities designed to reduce or eliminate risks to persons or property or to lessen the actual or potential effects or consequences of an incident. Mitigation measures may be implemented prior to, during, or after an incident. Mitigation measures are often developed in accordance with lessons learned from prior incidents. Mitigation involves ongoing actions to reduce exposure to, probability of, or potential loss from hazards. Measures may include zoning and building codes, floodplain buyouts, and analysis of hazard-related data to determine where it is safe to build or locate temporary facilities. Mitigation can include efforts to educate governments, businesses, and the public on measures they can take to reduce loss and injury." (DHS 2004: 68-69).

Prevention

"The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.

Comment: Prevention (i.e. disaster prevention) expresses the concept and intention to completely avoid potential adverse impacts through action taken in advance. Examples include dams or embankments that eliminate flood risks, land-use regulations that do not permit any settlement in high risk zones, and seismic engineering designs that ensure the survival and function of a critical building in any likely earthquake. Very often the complete avoidance of losses is not feasible and the task transforms to that of mitigation. Partly for this reason, the terms prevention and mitigation are sometimes used interchangeably in casual use." (UNISDR 2009: 22)

"Prevention. Actions taken to avoid an incident or to intervene to stop an incident from occurring. Prevention involves actions taken to protect lives and property. It involves applying intelligence and other information to a range of activities that may include such countermeasures as deterrence operations; heightened inspections; improved surveillance and security operations; investigations to determine the full nature and source of the threat; public health and agricultural surveillance and testing processes; immunizations, isolation, or quarantine; and, as appropriate, specific law enforcement operations aimed at deterring, preempting, interdicting, or disrupting illegal activity and apprehending potential perpetrators and bringing them to justice." (DHS 2004: 71).

Preparedness

"The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions.

Comment: Preparedness action is carried out within the context of disaster risk management and aims to build the capacities needed to efficiently manage all types of emergencies and achieve orderly transitions from response through to sustained recovery. Preparedness is based on a sound analysis of disaster risks and good linkages with early warning systems, and includes such activities as contingency planning, stockpiling of equipment and supplies, the development of arrangements for coordination, evacuation and public information, and associated training and field exercises. These must be supported by formal institutional, legal and budgetary capacities. The related term “readiness” describes the ability to quickly and appropriately respond when required." (UNISDR 2009: 21)

"Preparedness. The range of deliberate, critical tasks and activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the operational capability to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents. Preparedness is a continuous process involving efforts at all levels of government and between government and private-sector and nongovernmental organizations to identify threats, determine vulnerabilities, and identify required resources." (DHS 2004: 71)

Response

"The provision of emergency services and public assistance during or immediately after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the basic subsistence needs of the people affected.

Comment: Disaster response is predominantly focused on immediate and short-term needs and is sometimes called “disaster relief”. The division between this response stage and the subsequent recovery stage is not clear-cut. Some response actions, such as the supply of temporary housing and water supplies, may extend well into the recovery stage." (UNISDR 2009: 24-25)

"Response. Activities that address the short-term, direct effects of an incident. Response includes immediate actions to save lives, protect property, and meet basic human needs. Response also includes the execution of emergency operations plans and of incident mitigation activities designed to limit the loss of life, personal injury, property damage, and other unfavorable outcomes. As indicated by the situation, response activities include: applying intelligence and other information to lessen the effects or consequences of an incident; increased security operations; continuing investigations into the nature and source of the threat; ongoing public health and agricultural surveillance and testing processes; immunizations, isolation, or quarantine; and specific law enforcement operations aimed at preempting, interdicting, or disrupting illegal activity, and apprehending actual perpetrators and bringing them to justice." (DHS 2004: 72)

Recovery

"The restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities,including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors.

Comment: The recovery task of rehabilitation and reconstruction begins soon after the emergency phase has ended, and should be based on pre-existing strategies and policies that facilitate clear institutional responsibilities for recovery action and enable public participation. Recovery programmes, coupled with the heightened public awareness and engagement after a disaster, afford a valuable opportunity to develop and implement disaster risk reduction measures and to apply the “build back better” principle." (UNISDR 2009: 23)

"Recovery. 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; and develop initiatives to mitigate the effects of future incidents." (DHS 2004: 71-72).

Disaster risk management

"The systematic process of using administrative directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies and improved coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster.

Comment: This term is an extension of the more general term “risk management” to address the specific issue of disaster risks. Disaster risk management aims to avoid, lessen or transfer the adverse effects of hazards through activities and measures for prevention, mitigation and preparedness." (UNISDR 2009:10)

There is no definition provided in the DHS-glossary.

Emergency management

"The organization and management of resources and responsibilities for addressing all aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and initial recovery steps.

Comment: A crisis or emergency is a threatening condition that requires urgent action. Effective emergency action can avoid the escalation of an event into a disaster. Emergency management involves plans and institutional arrangements to engage and guide the efforts of government, non-government, voluntary and private agencies in comprehensive and coordinated ways to respond to the entire spectrum of emergency needs. The expression “disaster management” is sometimes used instead of emergency management." (UNISDR 2009: 13-14)

There is no definition provided in the DHS-glossary.

Crisis management

There is no definition found for crisis or crisis management in the UNISDR-Terminology (2009), but it is covered in the comments coming with the definition for emergency management (see above).

The Department of Homeland Security defines crisis management in it's glossary attached to the National Response Plan with emphasis on terrorism:

"Crisis Management. Predominantly a law enforcement function and included measures to identify, acquire,and plan the use of resources needed to anticipate, prevent, and/or resolve a threat or act of terrorism. The requirements of consequence management and crisis management are combined in the NRP. See also Consequence Management." (DHS 2004: 64)

"Consequence Management. Predominantly an emergency management function and included measures to protect public health and safety, restore essential government services, and provide emergency relief to governments, businesses, and individuals affected by the consequences of terrorism. The requirements of consequence management and crisis management are combined in the NRP. See also Crisis Management."(DHS 2004: 64)

A more precise, and more comprehensive description was defined by John Harrald for the International Emergency Management Conference 1998 (TIEMS ’98) Proceedings:

"Crisis management as a corporate activity has the fundamental strategic objectives of ensuring corporate survivability and economic viability when business profits and/or continuity is threatened by external or internal potentially destructive events. Although the functions of corporate crisis management are similar to those of public sector emergency management organizations (both have pre-event risk and vulnerability assessment, mitigation and loss control, planning, response management, and recovery functions), there is a fundamental difference. Emergency management is the primary function of a few specific public sector/non government organizations. Crisis management is a strategic function, but not the primary function, of all private sector organizations.” (Harrald 1998: 1)

Urban planning and it's contribution to crisis management

Urban planning, is a fundamental and powerful mitigation instrument, as are regional development and landscape planning. Together and well harmonized with social, economic, political, engineering and eco-environmental mitigation concepts , they can be considered a successful combination of multi-level foresighting, proactive and anticipative security enhancing strategy and measure.

On the level of urban planning, key tools for risk and vulnerability reduction and management, and resilience enhancement in urban environments can be provided. Systematic planning is required as is an early identification of options, based on knowledge of and understanding the risks. Urban planning key tools for security and resilience enhancement are for example:

• “designing out” approach;
• Community safety approach;
• Urban ecology;
• Environmental design;
• Functional zoning;
• “comprehensive” planning with respect to the comprehensive approach;
• Citizen participative planning;
• Appreciative planning.

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