New Haven Disaster Management Plan For Najran University Students PPT Create at least 30 slides based on the attached capstone
project. I am going to present it. Make sure to add specker notes to each
slide. DISASTER MANAGEMENT
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Disaster Management plan for Najran University Students.
Name
Master of Science in Disaster Medicine and Management
(University + University )
Fall2019
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Incidents of natural disaster are often unpredictable and lead to serious catastrophe. This is especially
true if there is no disaster management plan in place to help those affected to cope with the situation.
Natural disaster incidents have increased in severity, and have also been occurring more frequently
(Dahl & Millora, 2016). This increase in frequency and severity has been attributed to climate change.
Changing climate patterns have also been associated with both the occurrence and severity of extreme
events. University students are some of the numerous victims of such disasters. The most common
forms of natural disaster that affect university students comprise of floods, hurricanes, wild-land fires,
tornadoes, and earthquakes (Alexander, 2017).
Natural disasters have a profound impact on university students because they result in interruption of
the learning process, damage of property, as well as the loss of life. Besides, natural disasters alienate
students from known resources such as family and friends. Such resources form an individual’s support
system which is essential to speedy recovery in the event of an emergency. Therefore, there is a need
to educate university students on the topic of natural disaster management. This way, students are well
prepared in case of the occurrence of a natural disaster incident and respond effectively to save lives
and prevent further loss of property. The aim of this project is to discuss how disasters affect students,
as well as various techniques students can rely upon to mitigate the effects of natural disasters to
implement an educational program/process for Najran University to actually use.
Statement of Need
Many university students study away from home, and, thus, they have no idea which of the numerous
natural disasters is likely to occur to them. Moreover, disaster management is not actively taught at the
university as part of the overall curriculum (Alexander 2017). For this reason, students lack the general
knowledge and skills to respond to the specific forms of natural disasters that may occur within their
immediate environment. Furthermore, some universities are located in areas prone to recurrent natural
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disasters putting students from such universities at high risk. Students in such areas have to be made
conversant with necessary emergency responses as well as the humanitarian supply chain. This is a
reference to all the activities, resources and people involved in the response to natural disasters
including but not limited to logistics of basic needs such as food, water, medical supplies and
emergency personnel. The humanitarian supply chain includes the four mission areas of disaster
management, that is, preparation, response and mitigation as well as recovery. How well managed the
humanitarian supply chain is plays a significant role in determining the success of an emergency
operation after a natural disaster. Disaster management information in high-risk disaster areas should
be considered a life skill and included as part of their education (Dahl & Millora, 2016).
Lastly, with the recent changes in climate, natural disaster patterns have become unpredictable placing
university students at significant risk. Therefore, this project is necessary because it will provide
guidelines on effective response to natural disasters among university students. Consequently, the
impact of the disasters will be successfully mitigated because students will be well prepared and
conversant with emergency response strategies or techniques. Emergency response is not always able
to reach victims as fast as it is needed. This is especially true if the disaster spans across several days.
Poor weather and geographical inaccessibility can also hamper rescue efforts in the event of the natural
disaster (Alexander 2017). However, educating students and training them sharpens their first aid skills
as well as their responsiveness. The implication of this is that fewer lives will be lost because the
emergency response will be well coordinated to provide relief to victims.
Purpose
The purpose of this project will be to create awareness among university students about various forms
of natural disasters as well as their causes. Additionally, the project will seek to develop an all-natural
disaster management plan for Najran University students during natural disasters. This will be useful in
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the management of natural disasters among university students in order to minimize their adverse
effects. Better preparation means that there is less likelihood of being caught off-guard by a natural
disaster. Moreover, having the necessary education and skill is likely to empower students to be more
proactive in their responses in case a natural disaster occurs (Dahl & Millora, 2016).
Literature Review
Some natural disasters are predictable; this gives schools adequate warning to undertake evacuation as
well as other safety precautions. Other disasters, however, occur without warning or their occurrence
changes in ways that put the school occupants in severe danger. Preparation for such events requires a
learning institution to first assess potential natural disaster risks in the immediate area. This information
forms the basis of an emergency management plan. The disaster management plan refers to the
systematic preparation for future extreme events and disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods,
and fires just to cite a few (Alexander 2017).
This plan takes the form of a document that is shared among the various stakeholders such as students
and lecturers. The documents detail the specific responsibilities and roles of each stakeholder in
responding to the emergency. The disaster management plan forms the basis or blueprint for
emergency response. The goals of a disaster management plan include but are not limited to ensuring
that emergency resources are efficiently utilized, protecting the vulnerable, maintaining public safety as
well as limiting the damage of the disaster (Dahl & Millora, 2016).
Accordingly, at the University level, an effective disaster management plan should be designed to
produce an educational program as its outcome (Alexander 2017). The program should prepare
university students to be more resilient in the event of a natural disaster. It is prepared in recognition of
the needs for disaster management and knowledge at the collegiate level (Alexander 2017). Disaster
management education should be considered essential-especially in disaster-prone areas. Greater
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effectiveness can be promoted by incorporating disaster education into the regular educational
curriculum (Alexander 2017). Greater levels of awareness can be raised in colleges by leveraging the
power of technological, social tools such as social media for maximum reach. An educational program
also needs to be updated regularly to reflect changing circumstances as well as making sure that
students are updated on contemporary issues.
Disaster planning and management is a relatively new field that was developed in the 70s mainly as a
response to technological or manmade disasters such as oil spills. Over time, the field began to
emphasize on the management of natural disasters. Initially, the focus of disaster management was
hazards as opposed to vulnerability. Numerous disasters that occur often have insignificant impact and
mitigation can be achieved without material changes in the day to day procedures (Wisner & Gallard
2015). However, disasters of greater magnitude require a complete departure from the daily routine and
the adoption of emergency procedures. Responding to disasters involves planning, response procedures
as well as improvisation. Every emergency has its own unique characteristics that usually necessitates
improvisation.
Nonetheless, unwanted or poor improvisation can result in an inefficient disaster management process.
For this reason, adequate preparation and foresight are recommended so that the need for improvisation
is minimal (Sturgis 2013). Additionally, disasters and emergency situations provide opportunities for
learning from past mistakes or inefficiencies, both at the individual and organizational level. Case in
point, if a university is affected by an earthquake that leads to structural collapse entrapping
individuals, shortcomings such as the absence of equipment for search and rescue may be acutely felt.
To remedy this, the institution may undertake necessary basic education as well as training of
university employees on the use of personal safety equipment, probes, and props to improve their
responses. This training can also be extended to student leaders as well so that they are able to provide
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direction in the event of an emergency. With the necessary knowledge and skills on emergency
responsiveness, these student leaders can guide the rest of the students and provide assistance to
university staff in responding more effectively.
A disaster management plan should provide information and educate stakeholders on the procedures
for emergency responsiveness by the assignment of definite roles to all personnel involved.
Additionally, it should also ensure all the stakeholders involved in the rescue operations are well-aware
of their roles and responsibilities as well as those of others to guarantee that the response is harmonious
and well-coordinated. As previously mentioned, disaster management is a process as opposed to a
product or an outcome. For greater effectiveness, such a plan should match the available resources with
the urgent requirements in an emergency. Moreover, a disaster management plan should be done
pragmatically and its goals should be realistic.
Designing a disaster management plan should thus take into consideration both the capabilities and
limitations of the available emergency response resources. Emergency planning is often a process of
approximation involving collective effort (Wisner & Gallard 2015). This means that it is participatory
in nature and its effectiveness is heavily reliant on the collaboration among the various stakeholders. In
addition, training and experience are also important in responding to emergencies. Nonetheless, some
disaster managers have argued that having a definite emergency management plan is unnecessarily
restrictive and might stifle improvisation which is necessary because disasters are often unique (Sturgis
2013). This means that emergency response plans are rigid and require strict adherence, which may be
a problem in case of unforeseen complications. Effective emergency response should be adaptable to
every situation for optimal impact. After all, every disaster comes with its own subjective set of
challenges and responders should be able to easily adjust their plans to reflect the prevailing conditions
(Dahl & Millora, 2016).
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Due to the uniqueness of each emergency, there does not exist an ideal disaster management plan for
university emergency responses. Nonetheless, the stages involved in disaster management planning for
each crisis are similar and are discussed below.
Prevention and Mitigation
The goal of prevention in disaster management is usually to reduce the chance of occurrence of an
adverse event. For prevention to work seamlessly, such an event has to be predictable and possibly
caused by human activity (Wisner & Gallard 2015). Mitigation, on the other hand, is aimed at
decreasing the overall negative effects of a disaster as well as reduce the necessity of emergency
response. There are various steps a university can take to reduce the risks posed by a range of natural
events from earthquakes to floods to disease epidemics. The most important step in mitigation and
prevention is environmental scanning in order to identify the various risks that arise from the
immediate environment (Dahl & Millora, 2016). University incident data and trends in the community
are some of the important sources of such data. University students face a variety of natural disasters
including earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, and toxic spills.
In order to address the potential natural disasters the university faces, it is important to involve the local
emergency planning committees. Such local community-planning infrastructure not only records and
catalogues potential disasters in the immediate area but also possesses the resources necessary to
mitigate these disasters. Historical information can form the basis for preparation and response to the
occurrence of disaster as it provides insight into what to expect, hence reducing the potential impact.
Integrating the University’s response with that of the community would also result in improved
capacity to respond and recover. Moreover, local emergency planning committees also have disaster
response plans in place that can be used by the university as the basis for writing an institutional
emergency plan. Local emergency planning committees are groups composed of local stakeholders in
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emergency preparedness. LEPCs also provide support for emergency planning in preparation of
emergencies especially those that may result in discharge of hazardous chemical material. (Paton &
McClure 2013) These local groups can work with learning institutions to not only identify local
environmental vulnerabilities but also provide the necessary resources for the examination of the
university’s risk potential. The mitigation of communicable disease should involve education as well as
surveillance.
Illness patterns and unusual symptoms can be detected by surveillance of absenteeism logs in learning
institutions that keep attendance records. Universities should keep a disciplined student records
including a class attendance log to track the whereabouts of all students. This is especially true for
those that are situated in areas prone to natural disasters. For convenience, the University can rely on
smart access cards that can be used to determine those who have accessed the University buildings.
Communicable diseases are an important topic in the mitigation of disasters because most natural
disasters such as flooding, hurricanes, and even earthquake often result in their occurrence (Alexander
2017). Stakeholders should be made aware of infection control measures, appropriate sanitation, cough
and sneeze etiquette as well as hand hygiene. Stakeholders in this case are a reference to all affected
parties including but not limited to University students and staff as well as members of the immediate
community. Effective communication of such important information ensure that other epidemics do not
arise and exacerbate the emergency situation. These techniques have a considerable impact on the
reduction of severity of the infection and they can be easily integrated into the learning process.
Preparedness
Preparation is often done in anticipation of the occurrence of a disaster. It involves the identification of
university crisis teams and the delineation of the roles of all individuals participating. The crisis teams
and the local community emergency committee work hand in hand to establish a link between
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institution-specific crisis planning to the community crisis plans. The university crisis teams should
asses the various resources available to the school such as medical equipment. It is also important for
students with special needs such as the disabled or impaired to be identified and valid emergency care
plans put in place. Individual and emergency care plans for students with special needs can be
developed based on the guidelines by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Training is a big
part of learning as it prepares the university staff and student leaders for the diverse scenarios they may
have to confront in the event of disaster. Training also puts the theoretical education on emergency in
perspective and ensures responders are prepared well psychologically. Such training may involve
simulation of emergency scenarios or conducting drills to gauge the level of readiness.
Additionally, students with physical limitations may require additional preparedness plans. For
instance, students with wheelchairs require special consideration such as evacuation chairs that can
easily use the staircases in the event that the elevator is out of service. There is also the need to plan for
alternative routes for evacuation and to assign qualified staff members to provide the necessary care.
Students with chronic ailments such as diabetes face additional risks in case there is a need to take
shelter in designated areas or case of a prolonged lockdown. The university should ensure that essential
medical equipment and resources are available for emergency situations. Guidelines for such resources
are provided by organizations such as the National Association of College Nurses.
According to the American Association of College Nurses, natural disasters always carry the risk of
precipitating an epidemic (Paton & McClure 2013). Most natural disasters, such as floods, famine,
hurricanes, and wildfires to cite a few, are often followed closely by disease outbreaks (Paton &
McClure 2013). Outbreaks of communicable diseases in disaster areas can result in more deaths than
the actual disaster if active medical steps are not taken in response. The National Association of
College Nurses provides a national voice nursing in academia. It works towards the establishment of
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quality standards for the profession, providing information to institutions at the college level on how to
manage disaster situations, as well as necessary medical supplies to ensure the emergency does not
exacerbate. This is part of its public support system as far as it relates to research, practice, and
education.
Emergency responders such as law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medics provide the
necessary infrastructural support to various institutions in the event of a natural disaster. These
responders rely on the incident command system which is designed to create greater efficiency and
effectiveness through the integration of the efforts of various responders under a single organizational
structure. This system is supported by the federal government and seeks to ensure that equipment,
personnel, and communications are well coordinated to avoid confusion as well as bureaucratic
bottlenecks between agencies (Schafer et al., 2014). At this stage, there is a need to integrate the school
response with that of the community-wide system. This can be achieved by the use of common
vocabulary as far as the incident command is concerned as well as the alignment of communication
frequency with that of emergency responders. Additionally, there is also a need for practice through
community-wide drills and exercises to enable the identification of gaps as well as weaknesses so they
can be addressed.
One of the most important challenges as far as the emergency response is concerned involves
evacuation, relocation, and lockdowns in the event of a natural disaster (Rubin 2015). A disaster
management plan should address these issues by providing guidelines on response to diverse scenarios,
planning for transporting the students to safer locations, putting mechanisms to track the whereabouts
of students during disasters, and ensuring their adequate shelters for a safe relocation. Parents should
also have an understanding of the emergency plan. Parents should regularly be updated in advance
upon the onset of high-risk seasons. They should also be made to understand that rushing into disaster
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areas in panic may put them at risk,…
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