Paper Topic:

Emergency Response and Management

Running head : Emergency Response and Management

Emergency Response and Management

By

Most Significant Evaluation and Mitigation Issues

Hazard evaluation and mitigation plans are necessary tools which assist communities and organizations in reducing risk and preventing loss from hazards by documenting mitigation goals , recommending activities to minimize losses , and offering technical information and resources to implement activities . Hazard evaluation involves study of all likely threats at various tiers of any setup . This evaluation would identify the impending threat and would dictate different mitigation plans to counter it . A hazard transforms

into a disaster when it has not been evaluated before hand and no mitigation plan exists

Mitigation plan addresses two major issues i .e . response time and response capability . A good mitigation will however decrease the need for a response as opposed to increasing the response capability In-turn , hazard mitigation activities may reduce post-disaster expenditures across all levels of government and to property owners Most important aspect of mitigation is to evaluate progress and effectiveness of mitigation actions and projects to determine which changes need to be made to the goals and objectives portion of the plan Moreover , implementation of the plan must be reviewed to identify any problems and develop recommendations to overcome them

The key to minimizing or controlling the cost and death toll during any hazard or disasters is the prevention . A disaster can not be prevented altogether , but we can prevent disasters by curtailing their effects Mitigation efforts should attempt to first prevent the hazards from developing into disasters , and then reduce the effects of disasters when they occur . This can be done through sound planning based on accurate evaluation of the threat , implementing appropriate response , and through well coordinated recovery efforts Biohazard Concerns to Public Safety Personnel

A biological hazard , commonly known as biohazard is a threat to humans and animals posed by biological substances such as medical waste samples of a microorganism , virus or toxin from a biological source . The United States ' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC categorizes various biological threats and diseases in four different levels with level 1 presenting being minimum risk and level 4 posing extreme risk ( Biological Hazard ' 2006

Public safety personnel should be aware of different biological hazard levels and the procedures to be followed in each level . Level 1 generally includes several kinds of bacteria and at this level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are minimal most likely involving gloves and some sort of facial protection Biohazard Level 2 includes diseases like hepatitis B , hepatitis C influenza , Lyme disease , salmonella , and scrapie . Biohazard Level 3 includes Anthrax , BSE , HIV , mumps , West Nile virus , SARS , smallpox tuberculosis , typhus , and Yellow fever . Biohazard Level 4 includes Bolivian fever , Dengue fever , Ebola , Hanta virus , Lassa virus , and other various hemorrhagic diseases . When dealing with biological hazards at this level , the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory ( Biological Hazard ' 2006

Safety is an essential component of any biohazard operation . Inspite of all the...

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