Question

You are the Emergency Manager responsible for handling this emergency. List the steps you would take to respond to the initial calls being received. How would you assess initial damage and the areas of the city that are in most need? How would you address the problems that are likely to last for multiple days, e.g., a collapsed freeway with trapped citizens? Provide illustrative examples to support your position.

Answer 1

During any type of emergency, everyone goes crazy and 911 gets a ton of calls, most of which are not of an emergency matter. When prioritizing calls, it is always important to save life first, but to do so, I would need to ensure that the city is safe for everyone and that any potential hazards do not cause more loss of life. I would send my first responders out to calls that are the highest-level threat to life. These calls would be of people trapped under a building, kids in a flipped school bus, people bleeding out; people who will die if they don’t receive help immediately. At the same time, I would send city officials and other first responders to deal with any major hazards such as downed live power lines, major gas leaks, and floods caused by burst pipes. The next set of calls would be for individuals hurt but not dying and property damage. These calls would consist of rescuing stranded motorists and clearing pathways so vehicles can pass through.

I would assess initial damage by determining where most of the calls are coming from and by utilizing any aerial resource to visually see the most damage. This combined with city assessments done throughout the years, I will be able to send resources to the hardest hit areas. Problems that are likely to last for several days require additional state resources. These problems would be of the rescue and recover type. I would access each incident and determine what resources would be needed. At this point, I would not be cleaning up any mess such as that from a collapsed freeway. Search and rescue teams would be out looking for people who are trapped and need help, people who were unable to evacuate due to something blocking their way.