Читать книгу Disaster Response and Recovery - David A. McEntire - Страница 81

As an emergency manager, you should be aware of the many participants involved in disaster response and recovery operations. The aftermath of the April 20, 2010, British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon explosion/oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provides a glimpse of this breadth and diversity. The first people on scene at the drilling platform were employees who helped to evacuate fellow colleagues, extracted those who had escaped the burning rig from the water below, and provided basic first aid to the injured. Helicopter crews from the Coast Guard took the most seriously injured victims to the hospital to receive treatment from medical personnel. Meanwhile, the media and government leaders provided updates to the public on the emergency while a number of engineers started to consider ways to cap the leaking well 5,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Specialized companies started to skim the oil that was accumulating on top of the water and do what they could to protect marine animals and the natural habitat. The government launched an investigation while lawyers showed up to protect the rights of victims. Charitable organizations delivered relief to those who had lost their jobs in the fishing and tourism industries.

Other disasters have many similarities and differences as compared to the BP oil spill. A host of people and organizations become involved when different disasters occur and the list can be expected or quite surprising. In addition to those who are normally involved in disasters, participants may range from the American Library Association, Brethren Disaster Ministries, and the National Heritage Emergency Responders to leaders and employees of amusement parks, museums, the National Park Service, and school districts/universities. It is difficult to fully describe all of those who are or may be involved in a variety of functions during and after any incident or disaster. In fact, a disaster may have hundreds or thousands of participants who become involved in response and recovery operations.

Nonetheless, some of the most important participants in emergency management emanate from the public sector (McLoughlin 1985). As mentioned earlier, the public sector includes government entities at the local, county, state and federal levels as well as tribal nations. No two government jurisdictions operate or are organized alike. However, city personnel, county administrators, state agencies, federal officials and tribal groups all form part of the public sector.