Flexibility

1. Flexibility A Vital Principle in Emergency Management

2. The Importance of Proactive Emergency Management • Rising disasters can not be reversed without it • It helps to identify what might occur and how bad it could be • It helps to identify what needs to be done and by whom • It increases effectiveness and efficiency

3. However . . . • It is impossible to eliminate all disasters • The future promises more and worse events • Terrorism remains a threat • People live in dangerous areas due to benefits • There are no hazard free areas • Our best efforts sometimes fail • Reversing risk will not be easy • We lack omniscience

4. However . . . (cont.) • It is impossible to eliminate disasters • Citizens are apathetic • There are many priorities in societies • Identifying correct balance among policy options is difficult • There is a tension between experts and citizen preferences • Perceived solutions may exacerbate the disaster problem

5. However . . . (cont.) • Disasters unfold in unpredictable and dynamic ways • Leaders may be killed • Fire fighters may be victims • Roads and bridges may be damaged • Power outages may occur • Medical personnel may be overwhelmed • The mass media may be unable to broadcast

6. However . . . (cont.) • Disaster unfold in unpredictable and dynamic ways • Supplies will arrive without being requested • Altruism of citizens will tap emergency management personnel • The number of victims may generate new demands on federal disaster programs

7. The Need for Flexibility • “Under some circumstances . . . In dealing with less routine tasks, emergency organizations need to preserve an ability to respond flexibly, and, where necessary, an ability to improvise appropriate counter-measures for the special needs of an unanticipated situation which threatens to become a crisis.” (Turner 1994, 87).

8. What is Flexibility? • Dictionary.com defines flexibility as “susceptible of modification or adaptation; adaptable.” • Synonyms include: pliable, elastic, supple

9. What is Flexibility? (cont.) • Flexibility is an attitude of accepting the need for adjustment. It is related to improvisation, innovation and creativity.

10. Improvisation • “To improvise is to organize for emergency response during an event” (Kreps 1991, 34).

11. Innovation • Innovation refers “to any new and creative program, procedure, or technique that a community implements to meet the demands of their environment” (Kendra and Wachtendorf 2006, 323).

12. Creativity • Creativity is the development of “new alternatives with elements that achieve fundamental objectives in ways previously unseen” (Kendra and Wachtendorf 2003, 123).

13. Proactive Planning and Reactive Flexibility • Lack of planning increases need for flexibility • Planning does not prevent flexibility • Plans should allow for flexibility • Planning often improves flexibility • Flexibility should not eclipse planning • Planning and flexibility are required • Both improve emergency management

14. Flexibility in Disasters • Disasters generate special, and often unforeseen, problems due to their size, complexity, and dynamic nature

15. Inflexibility in Disasters • “An inflexible response or an over-reliance on some pre-ordained recipe can increase danger rather than eliminating it. When staff fail to recognize that existing systems are inappropriate or breaking down, or [if they fail] to acknowledge that routines are being adopted are inadequate, a hazardous degree of inflexibility exists” (Turner 1994, 87).

16. A Case in Point • The ‘Catastrophe’ of Caporetto during World War I

17. A Better Approach • “Emergency organizations need to preserve an ability to respond flexibly, and, where necessary, an ability to improvise appropriate counter-measures for the special needs of an unanticipated situation which threatens to become a crisis” (Turner 1994, 87).

18. Examples from 9/11 • Shutting down airspace • Passenger sheltering • Evacuation of Manhattan • Emergency response • Logistical support of USAR teams • Medical care • Security • Reconstitution of the EOC • Resource management • Communications and infrastructure repair • Recovery of office space

19. Major Lesson • “The lesson here is that the response to the September 11th tragedy was so effective because it was not centrally directed and controlled. Indeed, it was flexible, adaptive and focused on handling problems as they emerged” (Tierney in Dynes 2003, 20).

20. Flexibility and the Phases of Disaster • “The study of innovation [or flexibility] in communities is central to the study of disaster, and innovation in communities is itself central to mitigating hazard, responding to emergencies, and recovering afterward” (Kendra and Wachtendorf 2003, 316).

21. Flexibility and the Phases of Disaster • Examples from: • Mitigation • Preparedness • Response • Recovery

22. Assignment • Paper on the benefit of flexibility during disasters or the applicability of flexibility in each phase of emergency management