Response and recovery are critical issues of homeland security and emergency management because they deal with the aftermath of horrifying incidents such as accidents and floods and restore the normalcy of the affected communities. The response involves assessing the situation after the attack or calamity to understand what needs to be done in dealing with the situation and helping the people involved. Recovery is the activities carried out after a calamity or attack and is essential for restoring normalcy to the affected people’s lives. Response and recovery are, however, not easy as they include engaging in the aftermath of attacks and calamities, which might cause more harm, thus raising concerns and needing utmost caution. Therefore, this essay reflects on the concerns arising from response and recovery.
Response first engages the assessment of damages to understand the harm caused, which means it is still a dangerous endeavor since the responders have to get into the affected areas, which means they can also get affected by the same factor that caused the danger, thus raising various concerns. The response concerns include the danger of being harmed by metal, sharp glass, and other dangerous debris (McEntire, 2018). The first responders and anyone engaging in the response activities must be fully trained and equipped to avoid further damage and harm. Some buildings may have been demolished while others remain inhabitable as a result of the impact of the attack, which means danger still looms in the response stage as it has the probability of causing further damage. The timely availability of resources. Most disasters and calamities happen unexpectedly, which means there are usually no response materials at the sight of the affected area, and they, therefore, have to be availed, thus implying the inevitable delay in most cases. Delays in deploying the right personnel to attend to the emergency, together with the required supplies and equipment can, therefore, worsen the situation by hindering the rescue and relief efforts.
Coordination and communication is also a concern in response. During emergencies communication is one of the most basic aspects as it helps in coordinating how the rescue and recovery will be done. Poor communication in emergencies often leads to poor response since people are not assigned effectively. Good communication and collaboration therefore make it possible to have a streamlined effort to the emergency as well as preventing the duplication of resources allocation. In most cases, especially when the impact of the attacks and calamities are major, coordination becomes difficult as a result of inadequate preparation because communication also breaks down as a result of the confusion, thus taking long to effectively respond to the situation in all the required areas.
Critical Incident Stress {CIS) is also a response concern. In response to any emergency, there are usually casualties in bad conditions as well as destruction of property which exposes the first responders and the medical personnel to be exposed to traumatic visuals in the line of their duties. As a result, most of them are likely to develop Critical Incident Stress, which is the emotional and psychological toll that the events have on the personal. The CIS results in the manifestation of symptoms such as insomnia, depression, and anxiety. In managing CIS, mental health services such as counselling and providing adequate support to prevent the long-term effects on a responder is therefore very important. Crisis counselling that deals with psychological problems should, therefore, be carried out before facing an affected area to reduce the amount of shock a first responder is expected to face and even after to ensure that they cope well with the situation and that it does not affect them mentally (Lindsay, 2012). For the exposed victims, the counselling should be done immediately after the event to ensure they are able to cope and go on with their lives to avoid the chances of falling into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The major concern, however is that a person may face the unexpected in the attack or disaster despite being prepared as no one knows what to fully expect in such scenarios, thus making it challenging to fully prepare for CIS.
Recovery in any form of calamity and attack is essential as it helps in gaining back normalcy. Recovery is facilitated after the assessment of the situation and a disaster is declared. Recovery is also demanding as it involves dealing with human remains and debris and doing the most to restore calmness after harsh situations and scenarios. Calamities and attacks cause great distress as lives, financial and economical losses are incurred. Some of the recovery issues include Infrastructure restoration. Most emergencies come with destruction of lives and property (Jackson et al., 2004). The restoration phase therefore involves restoring the necessary infrastructure and services such as the communication systems, power and water to help in facilitating return to normalcy. The process is, however not easy as it requires intense resources to take things back as they were before, which takes a long time, especially in the restoration of infrastructure. Terrorist attacks and any other large-scale distress cause huge impacts that may take even years to recover. In some cases, the infrastructure fails to be restored because of the financial losses incurred.
Economic recovery is also another recovery concern, as a lot of investments are affected by the attacks and calamities. Terrorist attacks, as well as disasters, have major effects including the damage of property, economic effects, disruption of business activities, and loss of lives. Economic recovery, therefore, becomes a big challenge because the affected people areas have to depend on donations and financial assistance from other people to restore their lives as they are left without a choice. The economic recovery has to be done through initiatives such as the job creation initiatives and the business recovery programs as well as donations.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a recovery problem where people fail to adjust to their usual lives as a result of the experiences faced by experiencing feelings such as being tense and being easily startled. PTSD is a mental health condition that is most likely to occur in people who have experienced traumatic and stressful events. It is a clinical diagnosis of depression from events such as terrorist attacks. The aftermath of disasters and terrorist attacks for the first responders and survivors, as well as members of the community, may leave them at risk of developing PTSD. To avoid PTSD or minimize its effects, mental health services are essential (Mental health impacts of terrorist attacks). The services include peer support programs and crisis counselling with the aim of addressing PTSD and creating resilience among the victims. Crisis counselling focuses on the treatment of the psychological problem by engaging the affected parties in defusing’s and debriefings.
In conclusion, response and recovery are basic aspects in the face of disasters and terrorist attacks, and they both need prior planning and preparations even though it is difficult to predict the disaster or calamity to be expected. Before facilitating recovery, the assessment of the damages has to be done, and a disaster must be declared. In the recovery phase, activities such as volunteering and donations are essential in bringing back the situation in normalcy even though it may take a long time but helps in restoring calmness after the heat of the attack or disaster to the affected people. Readiness in response and recovery, however helps in minimizing the effects resulting from the attacks and calamities. The response to critical incident stress and post-traumatic stress disorder through crisis counselling is important for people such as first responders and the community to recover effectively after the attack because they determine how the lives of the affected will be after the incident.
References
Jackson, B., Baker, J., Ridgely, M., Bartis, J., & Linn, H. (2004). Safeguarding emergency responders during major disasters and terrorist attacks: The need for an integrated approach. https://doi.org/10.7249/rb9044
Lindsay, B. R. (2012, November). Federal emergency management: A brief introduction. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Mental health impacts of terrorist attacks. (n.d.). C-SPAN.org. https://www.c-span.org/video/?166310-1/mental-health-impacts-terrorist-attacks
McEntire, D. A. (2018). Introduction to homeland security: Understanding terrorism prevention and emergency management. John Wiley & Sons.
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