emergency management emergency management emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. emergency management, despite its name, does not actually focus on the management of emergencies, which can be understood as minor events with limited impacts and are managed through the day to day functions of a community. instead, emergency management focuses on the management of disasters, which are events that produce more impacts than a community can handle on its own. the management of disasters tends to require some combination of activity from individuals and households, organizations, local, and/or higher levels of government. although many different terminologies exist globally, the activities of emergency management can be generally categorized into preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery, although other terms such as disaster risk reduction and prevention are also common. the outcome of emergency management is to prevent disasters and where this is not possible, to reduce their harmful impacts. a mobile emergency operations center, in this case operated by the north carolina air national guard emergency planning ideals emergency planning aims to prevent emergencies from occurring, and failing that, initiates an efficient action plan to mitigate the results and effects of any emergencies. the development of emergency plans is a cyclical process, common to many risk management disciplines, such as business continuity and security risk management, wherein recognition or identification of risks as well as ranking or evaluation of risks are important to prepare. there are a number of guidelines and publications regarding emergency planning, published by professional organizations such as asis, national fire protection association (nfpa), and the international association of emergency managers (iaem). a team of emergency responders performs a training scenario involving anthrax. emergency management plans and procedures should include the identification of appropriately trained staff members responsible for decision-making when an emergency occurs. training plans should include internal people, contractors and civil protection partners, and should state the nature and frequency of training and testing. testing a plan's effectiveness should occur regularly; in instances where several businesses or organisations occupy the same space, joint emergency plans, formally agreed to by all parties, should be put into place. drills and exercises in preparation for foreseeable hazards are often held, with the participation of the services that will be involved in handling the emergency, and people who will be affected. drills are held to prepare for the hazards of fires, tornados, lockdown for protection, earthquakes and others. in the u.s., the government emergency telecommunications service supports federal, state, local and tribal government personnel, industry and non-governmental organizations during a crisis or emergency by providing emergency access and priority handling for local and long distance calls over the public switched telephone network. health and safety of workers cleanup during disaster recovery involves many occupational hazards. often, these hazards are exacerbated by the conditions of the local environment as a result of the natural disaster. employers are responsible for minimizing exposure to these hazards and protecting workers when possible, including identification and thorough assessment of potential hazards, application of appropriate personal protective equipment (ppe), and the distribution of other relevant information in order to enable the safe performance of work. physical exposures flooding disasters often expose workers to trauma from sharp and blunt objects hidden under murky waters that cause lacerations and open and closed fractures. these injuries are further exacerbated with exposure to the often contaminated waters, leading to increased risk for infection. the risk of hypothermia significantly increases with prolonged exposure to water temperatures less than 75 degrees fahrenheit (24 °c). non-infectious skin conditions may also occur, including miliaria, immersion foot syndrome (including trench foot), and contact dermatitis. earthquake-associated injuries are related to building structural components, including falling debris with possible crush injury, burns, electric shock, and being trapped under rubble. chemical exposures chemicals can pose a risk to human health when exposed to humans in certain quantities. after a natural disaster, certain chemicals can become more prominent in the environment. these hazardous materials can be released directly or indirectly. chemical hazards directly released after a natural disaster often occur at the same time as the event, impeding planned actions for mitigation. indirect release of hazardous chemicals can be intentionally released or unintentionally released. an example of intentional release is insecticides used after a flood or chlorine treatment of water after a flood. these chemicals can be controlled through engineering to minimize their release when a natural disaster strikes; for example, agrochemicals from inundated storehouses or manufacturing facilities poisoning the floodwaters or asbestos fibers released from a building collapse during a hurricane. the flowchart to the right has been adopted from research performed by stacy young et al. biological exposures exposure to mold is commonly seen after a natural disaster such as flooding, hurricane, tornado or tsunami. mold growth can occur on both the exterior and interior of residential or commercial buildings. warm and humid conditions encourage mold growth. while the exact number of mold species is unknown, some examples of commonly found indoor molds are aspergillus, cladosporium, alternaria and penicillium. reaction to molds differ between individuals and can range from mild symptoms such as eye irritation, cough to severe life-threatening asthmatic or allergic reactions. people with history of chronic lung disease, asthma, allergy, other breathing problems or those that are immunocompromised could be more sensitive to molds and may develop fungal pneumonia. some methods to prevent mold growth after a natural disaster include opening all doors and windows, using fans to dry out the building, positioning fans to blow air out of the windows, cleaning up the building within the first 24–48 hours, and moisture control. when removing molds, n-95 masks or respirators with a higher protection level should be used to prevent inhalation of molds into the respiratory system. molds can be removed from hard surfaces by soap and water, a diluted bleach solution or commercial products. for workers in direct contact with human remains, universal precautions should be exercised in order to prevent unnecessary exposure to blood-borne viruses and bacteria. relevant ppe includes eye protection, face mask or shield, and gloves. the predominant health risk are gastrointestinal infections through fecal-oral contamination, so hand hygiene is paramount to prevention. mental health support should also be available to workers who endure psychological stress during and after recovery. flood waters are often contaminated with bacteria and waste and chemicals. prolonged, direct contact with these waters leads to an increased risk for skin infection, especially with open wounds in the skin or a history of a previous skin condition, such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis. these infections are exacerbated with a compromised immune system or an aging population. the most common bacterial skin infections are usually with staphylococcus and streptococcus. one of the most uncommon, but well-known bacterial infections is from vibrio vulnificus, which causes a rare, but often fatal infection called necrotizing fasciitis. surgical debridement of left leg necrotizing fasciitis. other salt-water mycobacterium infections include the slow growing m. marinum and fast growing m. fortuitum, m. chelonae, and m. abscessus. fresh-water bacterial infections include aeromonas hydrophila, burkholderia pseudomallei causing melioidosis, leptospira interrogans causing leptospirosis, and chromobacterium violaceum. fungal infections may lead to chromoblastomycosis, blastomycosis, mucormycosis, and dermatophytosis. other numerous arthropod, protozoal, and parasitic infections have been described. a worker can reduce the risk of flood-associated skin infections by avoiding the water if an open wound is present, or at minimum, cover the open wound with a waterproof bandage. should contact with flood water occur, the open wound should be washed thoroughly with soap and clean water. psychosocial exposures according to the cdc, "sources of stress for emergency responders may include witnessing human suffering, risk of personal harm, intense workloads, life-and-death decisions, and separation from family." substance abuse and mental health services administration (samhsa) provides stress prevention and management resources for disaster recovery responders. employer responsibilities when an emergency situation occurs, employers may be expected to protect workers from all harm resulting from any potential hazard, including physical, chemical, and biological exposure. an employer should provide pre-emergency training and build an emergency action plan. employers should train their employees annually before an emergency action plan is implemented to inform employees of their responsibilities and/or plan of action during emergency situations. the training program should include the types of emergencies that may occur, the appropriate response, evacuation procedure, warning/reporting procedure, and shutdown procedures. training requirements are different depending on the size of workplace and workforce, processes used, materials handled, available resources and who will be in charge during an emergency. after the emergency action plan is completed, the employer and employees should review the plan carefully and post it in a public area that is accessible to everyone. phases and personal activities emergency management consists of five phases: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. prevention