CONCEPT: Emergency

Emergency: In addition to the conceptualization of an emergency given above in connection with the notion of Disaster, we can see an emergency as any out of the ordinary event which threatens to do harm or actually does harm to human well-being, life and property; or to the natural environment. All disasters are emergencies, but not all emergencies are disasters. 

Another definition, once offered by FEMA to a business gathering, is that an emergency is: "any unplanned [we may add, or planned] event that can cause deaths or significant injuries to employees, customers or the public; or that can shut down your business, disrupt operations, cause physical or environmental damage, or threaten the facility's financial or public image."

FEMA's examples of emergency events -- which have served as an initial point of reference for many individuals and organizations just getting into the more conceptual aspects of their work -- include: fire, hazardous material incident, flood or flash flood, hurricane, tornado, winter storm, earthquake, communications failure, radiological incident, civil disturbance, loss of key supplier or customer and explosion.

UNHCR (2000: 4), true to its global mandate, defines Refugee Emergency as "any situation in which the life or well-being of refugees will be threatened unless immediate and appropriate action is taken, and which demands an extraordinary response and exceptional measures."

CONCEPT: Management

Management: According to Harry (2001: 16), management is a "description of what people who do the managing do". He closes the management loop by adding that, in general, the terms management and managers refer to "the people who do the managing." It follows that, in the context of disasters and emergencies, (disaster) management is a description of both what the people who manage them do, and of what kinds of people they are (in terms of skill-sets and broad social characteristics). 

As a generic concept, it is instructive to note, management is, to quote Kast and Rosenzweig (1974: 6), "the primary force within organizations which coordinates the activities of the subsystems and relates them to the environment". Coordination is not management's only function, however. It helps to grasp this fact, and the full spectrum of management functions, by first listing those usually mentioned in management texts. These are, in alphabetical order: Assembling Resources, Controlling, Coordinating, Decision-Making, Directing, Implementing, Leading, Motivating, Organizing, Planning and Staffing (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1974: 6). Each of these functions has been the subject of lengthy scholarly and 'guru' interrogation.

However, when examining or designing management roles in diverse contexts of disaster and emergency management, we must go beyond the standard or generic list given above -- as was implied at the beginning. For example, UNHCR (2007: 58) defines emergency management as "The organization of capacities and resources to meet threats to the lives and well being of refugees." FEMA, with a wider mandate, defines it more broadly than UNHCR as "the process of preparing for, mitigating, responding to and recovering from an emergency". Toward this end, moreover, emergency managers do get involved in "Training, conducting drills, testing equipment and coordinating...with communities" (FEMA).

CONCEPTS: Contingency and Contingency Planning

Contingency: Generically, the term contingency refers to an event (or events) or variables or parameters likely in the 'foreseeable future' to impact upon, shape or influence, interfere with, or intervene in (a) an identified process, or (b) the operations of an open system. Contingencies are the ‘environmental’ factors capable of affecting the processes internal to an open system. Mapping contingency scenarios -- in terms of the most likely turn(s) of events -- is an invaluable exercise, and a foundation for preparedness against specified risks or hazards. It is even more important as a guide to informed and effective response.

A related concept, Contingency Planning, refers in a more focused way to making actionable arrangements ahead of time -- based, inter alia, on predictive analytics (such as evidence-based weather forecasts) -- to deal with one or more emergencies likely to occur in the 'near-future' -- that is, within days, a few weeks or months, or "the year". That is to say, it is "a planning process from which a contingency plan is drawn" (UNHCR, 2000:36).

During this planning exercise, obviously conducted "in a state of uncertainty", options and "objectives are agreed, managerial and technical actions defined, and potential response systems put in place in order to prevent, or better respond to, an emergency" (UNHCR, 2000: 36; 2007: 68). Incidentally, in certain situations -- where events unfold in a manner contrary to previous predictions or original plans -- a contingency plan takes the form of a Plan B, as popularly understood, and as alluded to below. 

Contingency planning, as further elaborated upon by UNHCR (2007: 68), "builds organizational capacity and is thus a foundation for operations planning and all aspects of emergency response." It provides a 'hands-on' and focused opportunity to train and co-learn with likely co-responders to pre-identified types emergencies. Yet another defining characteristic of contingency planning is that it is anchored on scenario construction, which may take various forms, such as: Worst-Case v. Best-Case Scenario, Plan A v. Plan B, and Most-Likely v. Least-Likely Scenario (or turn of events). 

As noted by ASIS (1994: 101):

"Scenarios describe simulated emergency situations , including the overall sequence of events, details and timing of the specific activities. A scenario provides a set of problems that must be dealt with through the procedures outlined in the emergency management plan." [That is, the Contingency Plan]

 The word 'Contingency' may not even feature in the plan's title. Plans with the following titles or labels are in effect contingency plans: Preparedness Plan, Mitigation Plan, Emergency Response Plan, Emergency Management Plan, Business Recovery Plan, Evacuation Plan, Logistics Plan, and Search and Rescue Plan.



Updated: March 14 and 30, 2018

CONCEPT: Government Service Packages (GSPs)

Government Service Packages (GSPs): The idea of GSPs, which had been tried before in Sarajevo and elsewhere, really took off during the Rwanda genocide of 1994. As their name suggests, GSPs (sometimes called simply "Service Packages") were conceived of as "a last resort in exceptionally large emergencies" justifying the use of "military and civil defence assets" (UNHCR, 2000: 359). 

It was argued that the scale of GSP missions, such as the one in Rwanda, was so large as to restrict involvement to UN member states with the requisite logistical and related material capacity for 'extra-budgetary donations in kind'. The mobilizing and coordinating functions of GSPs were assigned to UNHCR's top management in Geneva, obviously with allowance for behind-the-scenes consultations with the UN's most influential member-states. 

However, as the Rwanda crisis quickly and amply showed, the host-government's 'organic' involvement in the operations of a GSP intervention was too critical a requirement for success to wish away (Kent, 1996: 64-85; Wright, 1996: 54-56). That was a hard lesson learnt on the ground. On the other hand, built into GSP operations from the start was a formal undertaking that operations (a) would be of 'limited' duration; and, (b) would not "replace the traditional response capacity of NGOs". 

There are now over 20 GSPs (a number of them looking from a distance like nation-building propositions). Prior to 2004, these  included: Air Operations Cell, Strategic Airlift, Theatre Airlift, Airport Ground Handling, Warehousing/Storekeeping, Road Transport, Field Hospital, Hydrological Survey, Water Tanker Operation, "Surface Water", Borehole Drilling, Water Treatment, Water Distribution, Water Storage, Latrine Construction, Vector Control, Solid Waste Management, Waste Water System, Site Development and Road Construction (UNHCR, 2000: 359). The hugely destructive Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004 brought rise, in actual practice (if not formally, to two or three new GSP: The Field/Tented Mortuary, DNA Identification and related Forensic/Tracing Services.


REFERENCES

Humanitarian Practice Network (1996) 'Service Packages': The Role of Military Contingents in Emergencies

Kent, Randolph (1996) "The Integrated Operations Centre in Rwanda: Coping with Complexity", pp. 64-85, in Jim Whitman and David Pocock, Eds., After Rwanda: The Coordination of United Nations Humanitarian Assistance. London: Macmillan Press Limited.

Wright, Neill (1996) "The Hidden Cost of Better Coordination", pp. 54-56, in Jim Whitmann and David Pocock, Eds. After Rwanda: The Coordination of United Nations Humanitarian Assistance. London: Macmillan Press Limited.

CONCEPT: Disaster

Disaster: A disaster is a catastrophic/traumatic, critical and consequential result of an extreme form of emergency,  which we didn't do anything about (to prevent or mitigate), or couldn't. The terms emergency and disaster are often used interchangeably, and confusingly, in "disaster management" conversations. An emergency is, in fact, solely the event in any distinction between an emergency and a disaster. 

An emergency is an emergent event, for sure, and by the same token a process. What we call a disaster is the negative-cum-extreme consequence(s) or stage(s), for its array of victims, of a morphing emergency. An emergency is an event or process; a disaster, a consequence. A disaster is a consequence in the sense that it embodies (‘personifies’) – represents – an emergent event “gone bad”. 

And yet, it is important to acknowledge that all disasters are (extreme forms of ) emergencies, but not all emergencies are disasters. That is, not all emergencies have disastrous consequences. Many emergencies, particularly those responded to effectively and in a timely fashion, never end up being recorded and disasters, even where they have directly or indirectly involved countless lives.

Updated: March 6 and May 22, 2018