Disaster response often wholly inadequate at a personal level

Citation

(1999), "Disaster response often wholly inadequate at a personal level", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.1999.07308aab.002

Disaster response often wholly inadequate at a personal level

Disaster response often "wholly inadequate" at a personal level

Disaster response in the UK can often be very impressive in terms of technical competence, says the Emergency Planning Society. However, it is often wholly inadequate, and even damaging, to individuals involved in disasters including survivors, relatives and people responding to disasters.

To improve this situation, the Emergency Planning Society have published a guidance document ­ Responding to Disaster ­ The Human Aspects ­ which aims to help improve the response to "victims" and minimise the effects on the workers.

Despite literature which has already been produced offering advice and information on the psychological and emotional implications for those involved in disasters, mistakes are still being made. To learn from these mistakes, the Emergency Planning Society organized workshops which were attended by many people who had had direct experience of major disasters, including Manchester Airport, Lockerbie, the Marchioness and Hillsborough.

This broad cross section of people shared their experiences and, from these experiences, a series of guidelines for future disaster response have now been produced. Intended to be read, and used by, organizations involved in the planning of disaster response and those responsible for the training and welfare of workers, the guidance document includes a Quality Assurance Statement which sets out key principles which should guide all decisions, including those related to legal and other technical areas. The principals are based on courtesy, honesty, respect, care and sensitivity to the needs of others. The guidance document also explores:

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  human and personal aspects of disaster response;

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  plans and procedures;

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  training;

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  information and communication;

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  inter-agency working;

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  general personal support.