49
2016
( - يونيو
373
العدد )
الجمعية الكويتيه لحماية البيئة
البيئة
The Challenge of Developing
Situational Awareness during
Cyclonic Disasters
Or
Determining the What, So
What, and What’s Next
Emergency management and
civil defense agencies are
responsible for coordinating
response to a disaster. This
coordination occurs in a
centralized location—the
emergency operations center—
where information is gathered
and analyzed to determine the
impact or potential impact of
an incident, ascertain resource
needs, and establish priorities
for assigning resources where
they are needed most.
I was engaged in this process
while supporting the New
Jersey Office of Emergency
Management when Hurricane
Sandy struck the East Coast of
the United States in October
2012. My experience in the
State Emergency Operations
Center and 2 weeks later in
the Joint Field Office working
with 2,600 Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
staff was consistent with
the challenges that every
emergency operations center
around the world faces when
confronted with a dangerous
natural disaster: determining
the what, the so what, and the
what’s next.
The State of New Jersey is
the most densely populated
in the United States, with a
population of approximately 9
million people. Much of that
population is centered in the
urban areas in the northeast
part of the state near New York
City and coast of the Atlantic
Ocean coast. The unmet
needs of this large urban area
can quickly overwhelm the
capability to deliver services.
To coordinate the assistance
needed during disasters,
a critical function of the
emergency operations center is
to determine what is occurring,
the impact or the consequence
of what is occurring (the so
what), and the consequence
management or the plan to
respond (the what’s next).
Significant challenges,
however, impede the ability to
determine these three elements.
Essential Elements of
Information
The most immediate challenge
is access to data or information.
Typically, especially prior to
an incident, many sources of
data are available; however,
they are not always in a
centralized location. The first
task, therefore, is to determine
where information may be
found. The next challenge is to
The Challenge of Developing Situational
Awareness during Cyclonic Disasters
Or
Determining the What, So
What, and What’s Next
