Paper Example on Disaster Management in The United States

The Difference in a Terrorist Incident Response to That of a Natural Disaster

Terrorist attack responses are generally handled with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) while the natural disaster responses are dealt with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The FBI works tirelessly towards taking the relevant steps preparation for response to the possible terrorist attacks. The FBI implements various response plans that are appropriate to respond to the terrorism destructions, it provides training to the staff members as well as offers regulatory conducts to the partakers in the terrorist incident exercises whose effects might be long-term (Mahoney, 2010). The EPA has the responsibilities that focus on helping the entire society that is both the nongovernment and government stockholders towards the preparation and response to natural disasters. As per Brown, & Milke, (2009) statement "this guidance supports EPA's responsibilities under the National Response Framework (NRF), which aims to help the whole community (i.e., all government and nongovernment stakeholders) prepare for, respond to, and begin short-term actions to recover from a disaster or an incident, including those that may require a coordinated Federal response" it illustrates that it aims at assisting the whole community and not just the staff members and practitioners at the site of destruction as per the case in terrorist response measures. According to Mahoney, (2010). "Our review found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken appropriate steps to prepare to respond to a potential WMD attack".

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EPA responses offer technical assistance for the for the management of non-hazardous wastes such as the management of debris and the provision of the opportunities for reuse and recycling as well as the skill on debris and waste disposal options (Brown, & Milke, 2009). However, in the case of FBI, its regulation and emergency protocols involve hazardous materials such as the "dirty bomb" that require no recycling. Terrorist attack responses involve very cautious approaches that involve the implementation of highly protective equipment to avoid contamination due to the consumptions of the hazardous emissions from the weapons of mass destructions (Mahoney, 2010). Natural disaster reactions involve the development of policies, regulations, and guidelines that encourage safety regulations and cleaning of solid wastes that are mostly non-hazardous. The responses also involve strategies that promote the reduction of natural damages with the implementation of beneficial recycling programs (Brown, & Milke, 2009). Conversely, the terrorist attack responses involve training programs that ensure highly qualified personnel that is able to enter keenly into the destructed zone without causing contaminations as both the lives of the rescuers and the victims are important in such cases. Terrorist reactions involve the implementation of highly cautious measures as most of the emitted hazards are in gaseous state and can be easily transmitted (Mahoney, 2010).

Precautions to Be Taken by Red Cross Volunteers When Entering an Area of Destruction

The volunteers need to initiate a threat assessment plan and identify the characteristic elements of biological or chemical agents, disseminating devices and radiological substances. They need to make use of specialized recognition equipment and devices like the radiation measurement meters and chemical agent detection kits. The volunteers need to have all the appropriate equipment before getting into the zone of destruction to ensure the safety of their lives by ensuring the avoidance of the hazardous effects of the agents of the weapons of mass destruction (Mahoney, 2010). For the highly toxic or unknown areas, the volunteers need to use suits that are fully encapsulated and vapor protected for the provision of high levels of respiratory and skin protection. Less protective procedures might be accepted as the threat is remediated. The helpers need to avoid the dangers by creating control zones. After the establishment of the areas, the volunteers need to continue with the assessment of the destruction threat and start the rescue operations (Perry, & Lindell, 2008).

The Restrictions Placed on the Volunteers

They need to follow the required protocol and notify the emergency support workforces and the emergency services about the destruction scenario before getting into the affected zone and helping the victims. They restricted from entering the hot zones of the destructed area, unless if they are authorized and are putting on the relevant protective gear, for the purpose of safeguarding their lives (Mahoney, 2010).

The personnel that offers clearance for the volunteers to get to the destruction scene.

The respondents get clearance from the emergency management personnel as well as from the well-trained emergency response employees.

Types of Control Zones

The hot zone is the region that immediately surrounds the dangerous material's incident. The area covers a wider space to avoid the hazardous substances emitted from causing harmful effects to the persons outside the sector. The region is also known as the restricted or exclusion area. Individuals that get to this zone are required to wear highly protective gears and use the most appropriate equipment based on the hazardous material involved (Perry, & Lindell, 2008).

Warm Zone is the sector where equipment decontamination, hot zone, and personnel support occurs. It is also identified as the limited access, decontamination or the contamination reduction corridor. It comprises of corridor access control points which help in the reduction of the spread of the contaminations. The people working in this zone need to wear suitable protective clothing, as they deal with contaminated equipment and people (Mahoney, 2010).

Cold Zone is an area that encompasses the support functions and the command posts required in the control of the occurrence. Persons working in this sector are not restricted to wearing protective equipment, however, they need to readily have the appropriate gears when needed (Perry, & Lindell, 2008).

Conclusion

There are various disasters that have and are yet to affect the United State states such as the hurricanes (natural disasters) and attacks by the weapons of mass destructions (terrorist catastrophes). This calls for the need for the formation of the highly effective disaster management department for the purpose of safeguarding the country's safety (Perry, & Lindell, 2008).

References

Brown, C., & Milke, M. W. (2009). Planning for disaster debris management. (pp. 125-305) Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Mahoney, R. T. (2010). Threat-based response patterns for emergency services: Developing operational plans, policies, leadership, and procedures for a terrorist environment. (Pp 58-173). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Perry, R. W., & Lindell, M. K. (2008). Understanding citizen response to disasters with implications for terrorism. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 11(2), (pp49-60). IEEE.