Behavioral Responses in Crises

Lecture 5: Behavioral Responses in Crises

• The lecture discusses behavioral responses in crises, covering various aspects such as disaster behavior, media portrayals, myths, evacuation, and disaster management approaches.
• The lecture aims to enable students to understand and appreciate both theoretical and practical dynamics of emergency and disaster related topics.
• The 21st-century skills applicable include teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, and digital literacy.

View of Disaster Behavior

• It is important for emergency managers to understand misconceptions about human behavior in disasters to respond effectively.
• Misconceptions often come from Hollywood films and mass media, which focus on sensational stories.
• Awareness of research findings on human behavior in disasters is vital for emergency managers.
• Understanding how people behave after disasters is recommended for successful response and recovery operations.

Media Portrayals

• News reports often portray human behavior in a dismal fashion, focusing on abnormal events to keep the audience interested, which can lead to increased media ratings.
• The accuracy of these presentations is questionable because the media often neglects the full story, erroneously educating the public about human behavior in a disaster.

Myths about Human Behavior

• A myth is defined as a widely held but false belief or idea and can be explained as a misconception, fallacy, or a mistaken belief.
• Many sociologists have studied human behavior in disaster and written about the topic of disaster myths.
• Prior research revealed that "most persons held preconceived notions about disaster behavior that were essentially untrue" (Quarantelli and Dynes, 1972, p. 67).

Types of Disaster Myths

• Panic behavior
• Antisocial behavior
• Price gouging
• Decrease in criminal activities
• Unreliability of emergency workers
• Accurate media reportage
• The need for the imposition of martial law after a disaster

Evidence of Exaggeration

• Films and media reports may have some element of truth, but "exaggeration" might be a more accurate term than "myth”.
• "Exaggeration" acknowledges that there could be some element of truth to the impression given by movies and news reports.
• Emergency managers should be aware of this fine point of distinction between exaggeration and the actual facts.

Realities About Response and Recovery

• People act rationally to promote each other's welfare during and after disasters, responding with logical and calm behavior.
• Victims often know what to do to care for themselves and others, and they react accordingly.
• Mass panic is often overstated, and looting or antisocial behavior is typically exhibited only among a small minority of the population.
• Disaster Management personnel often go to work or volunteer in times of disaster.
• The expected number of people needing shelters is often overestimated, as most victims prefer to stay in comfortable accommodations like hotels or with family and friends.
• Although specific types of assistance may be needed, certain types of relief are frequently unwarranted.
• Most victims do not have long-lasting mental health effects.
• Major disasters may require the services of military personnel.
• Reports by the media are likely to be inaccurate, incomplete, and even misleading, and the initial media reports are almost always inexact.
• No one, including the media, has a complete and accurate understanding about disasters initially because information is limited.

Evacuation

• Evacuation is the movement of people away from potential or actual hazards for the purpose of safety,.
• The vast majority of evacuations are horizontal in nature relating to individuals and families fleeing a burning building, or people moving inland.
• Some evacuations may be vertical for people moving from lower floors in a building to higher floors or rooftops.
• Evacuations can also be short term (where evacuees can return within hours or days) or long term.

Types of Evacuation and their Pro/Cons

• Walking is frequently a quick way to get people out of harm's way and might not require large numbers of emergency personnel, but it is useful only when evacuation distances are short.
• Vehicles are useful when evacuation distances are far, although the evacuating traffic may require a large number of personnel and prior planning, and if roads and bridges are out, evacuating in vehicles may not be an option.
• Boats can be helpful to island areas and communities, although boats and captains may not be available on short notice.
• Helicopters/Planes can be helpful to island areas, flood ravaged communities, and other locations where roads have been destroyed, but requires helicopters, planes, and pilots that may be difficult to obtain or schedule on short notice.

Evacuation Behavior

• A thorough understanding of evacuation behavior is needed, as its noted some people will panic when it appears that their lives are in great danger.
• Some people will evacuate on their own, while others will not leave in spite of repeated warnings.
• People may not evacuate because they are not aware of the risk, they may not take the risk seriously, the warning may be unclear, or people may be afraid of looting.
• The elderly are often unable to evacuate on their own.
• People who live alone, people with pets, those living a distance from the threat, and those with insufficient financial reserves are also less likely to evacuate.

Importance of Understanding Behaviors

• Human behavior in a disaster can be complicated, therefore, post-disaster decisions and policies should be based on what people are likely to do.
• Accurate portrayal of disasters helps to prevent complicating necessary evacuations and to avoid unnecessary allocation of resources.

Evacuation Considerations

• Unnecessary evacuations should avoid because they are expensive, disruptive and unpopular" Baker, 1990, p.3.
• Depending on the type of hazard may be wise to put a shelter in place instead of evacuating.
• Evacuation decisions should be based on Risk, the findings of the decision aids, Expert and political opinion and Clearance times.

Evacuation Procedures

• Make the decision to evacuate.
• Notify the population at risk using a warning system.
• Provide guidelines, instructions, and directions.
• Direct traffic to avoid gridlock.
• Ensure compliance and continued safety.
• Monitor the evacuation and traffic.
• Determine the process for the population to return.

Sheltering

• Sheltering is the location or relocation of evacuees and others to places of refuge,, a function that is required in many disasters.
• Sheltering in place may be more advantageous than evacuating to another area or shelter.

Factors Needed to Make decisions about Safe Sheltering

• Consider the actual or impending release and the nature of the released material.
• Location of release and Health/toxicological effects.
• Atmospheric conditions and time of day.
• Numbers and type of population at risk.
• Estimated duration of release.
• Emergency response resources and response time.
• Notification systems.
• Lead time and elapsed time necessary for evacuation.
• Evacuation routes and terrain.
• Ability to shelter in place.
• Adequacy of shelters relevant to the concentration of the release and duration.

Types of Sheltering

• Emergency sheltering provides a temporary place to seek shelter and usually last one night only.
• Temporary sheltering includes more established shelters, second homes, the house of a friend, or a motel.
• Temporary housing encompasses mobile homes, rented apartments, and tents.
• Permanent housing is a long-term solution to the housing problem that was created by the disaster

Characteristics of Shelter Use

• Shelter use in cities is be higher than in rural areas.
• Shelter use is more likely when publicized.
• The larger the size of the disaster, the more shelter is sought.
• Those from lower socio-economic groups and those who don't know people are more likely to seek shelter.
• Older people are more likely to use public shelters than younger individuals.

Potential Shelter Problems

• Poor hygiene, lack of medical care, and volunteers who are not properly trained and are unaware of policies are problems associated with shelters.
• Shelters located in unsafe areas, Inconsistent/ changing policies and the failure of disaster victims to obey staff, are also shelter considerations.
• Shelters often lack record keeping as to who is using the shelter.

Resolving Shelter Problems

• Emergency managers can avoid problems by some planning and preparation, including adequate Staffing and Provisioning and having Documenting process.

Alternative Disaster Management Approaches

• Disaster and emergency management is guided by theory, including past views of disasters as acts of God or more recent science/tech based approaches.
• Alternative Disaster Management Approaches are needed to increase resilience, alter values, attitudes, and practices about disasters.
• There are two theoretical perspectives that may impact the resilience to disasters like the Traditional model and the Professional model

Traditional Disaster Management Model

• The model is referred to as the civil defense, command and control, bureaucratic, or disaster management service perspective.
• It is based on assumptions such as probable disasters, independent response activity and rigid operating procedures;

Features

• The highest priority is given to war disasters.
• Government is the most reliable actor because societal chaos will result after disaster.
• It is best to adhere strictly to hierarchy and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Disaster management is generally concerned with first responder issues only with and emphasis war disasters.

Traditional Model Strengths

• Emphasis and hierarchy structure and SOPs helps in extreme situations.

Traditional Model Weakness

• Lack of flexibility and adaptability to a society of interdependent systems

Professional Disaster Management Model

• The model is an approach to emergency management that is based on interdependent organizational operations.
• It is known as all-hazards, networking, collaborative, problem solving, emergent norms or public administration model and is a more flexible management style and professionalism.

Features

• This approach is based on the assumption that disaster Managers will likely face different types of disasters and no single entity can handle such issues alone.
• Disasters often challenge SOPs and often more flexibility and integration are needed from different stakeholders.

Professional Model Strength

• Emphasis integration and more adaptive

Professional Model Weakness

• Lack of emphasis on chain of command and SOP can make decision harder.

Principles of Disaster Management

• Comprehensiveness to account for all hazards, all phases, all stakeholders, and all impacts relevant to disasters.
• Progressiveness to anticipate future disasters and take preventive and preparatory measures to build disaster-resistant and disaster-resilient communities.
• Risk Analysis of managing (hazard identification, risk analysis, and impact analysis) in assigning priorities and resources.
• Integration to ensure unity of effort among all levels of government and all elements of a community.
• Collaboration and Coordination of all relevant stakeholders to achieve a common purpose.
• Flexibility of disaster challenges, and Professionalism, ethical practice, public stewardship, and continuous improvement in this space.

Conclusion

• Correcting misconceptions as portrayed by media is imperative to promote successful responses.
• Important to monitor for hazards, issue warnings consistently, evacuate & shelter as needed, with human behavior in mind

Lecture 6: Media Stakeholder and Donations Management in Disaster Situations

• The lecture focuses on managing media, stakeholders, and donations in disaster situations.
• Aims to understand the theoretical and practical dynamics to apply knowledge in corporate and larger society emergency and disaster challenges.
• Relevant 21st-century skills include teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Introduction: Media, Volunteers and the Use of Donations

• Managing the media, volunteers, and donations should be a priority for an Emergency Manager.
• While the media, donations, and volunteers are essential for response and recovery operations, they also bring many challenges.
• The session explains how emergency managers can manage public relations, donations, volunteers to concentrate their efforts.

The Media and Disasters

• Emergency managers need to recognize that the media can be both a friend and a foe during disasters, and the media includes reporters, camera operators, and news anchors.

The role of Media in Disaster Management

• Educate the public about preventive and preparedness measures.
• Warn the public about an impending hazard.
• Provide information regarding evacuation and sheltering.
• Describe what people can do to protect themselves and others.
• Relay what the government is doing and how they are responding to the disaster.
• List what organizations are providing relief and how assistance can be obtained.
• Generate support for emergency management personnel and programs.
• The media may affect emergency management in other ways such as issuing donation requests and pointing out weaknesses of response and recovery operations.

The Types of Media and Objectives

• Local media provides very detailed personal stories and specific information for disaster victims.
• Regional media is similar to local media but reports the response of multiple cities and surrounding regions.
• National media focuses on the president's actions and activities during the disaster.
• International media gives preference to national responses and global impacts.

The Patterns of Media Reportage in Times of Disaster

• The media will hear of a disaster event and immediately report the news of that incident.
• They will search for additional information via telephone or personal interviews then will send reporters to the scene.
• If the event is newsworthy, media personnel may descend on the affected area and make demands on local emergency managers to hold news conferences.
• The media will put their own spin on the story and will make it fit their perception of what has happened or will occur in the future.

Challenges Associated with the Media

• Inaccurate reporting of media can report false information and exaggeration during disasters.
• Media is intrusive, may act with lack of sensitivity, and is uncooperative in its attitude due to their need to deliver information.
• Media demand placed on managers and responders causes interference that can create safety problems,.
• Media can lack of technical understanding and thus potentially misinterpret and perpetuate myth on the type of disaster.
• Media report can overstate impact and potentially damage individual or agency reputation.

Strategies for Working with the Media for Positive results

• Emergency managers can take steps to ensure successful public information campaigns before, during, and after disasters by appointing a Public Relations Officer (PRO).
• Managers must know the type of media that exist in their jurisdiction and if they are prepared to operate in a disaster, by establishing rapport to ease communication difficulties during times of crisis as that will go a long way.

Managing Donations in a Disaster

• Donations management handles receipts, sorting, storing, and the distribution of goods and monies for the benefit of victims in disaster response and recovery operations.
• A variety of donations will arrive in the disaster affected community, managers need to effectively manage to ensure donations can be used effectively.
• These may include medical supplies, blood, money, tents, sleeping bags, water, clothing, toiletries, vehicles, and equipment for search and rescue teams.

Challenges Resulting from Donations

• Donations can prove useful, but may also present challenges in disaster response and recovery, with potential for also too many or otherwise insufficient donations.
• Some donations may not be helpful or culturally acceptable to some disaster victims.
• Excessive and unwanted donations frequently result in additional work for emergency managers and creates logistical challenges for emergency and relief workers.

Recommendations for Donation Management

• Conducting a Needs Assessment to evaluate what supplies or services are required in the aftermath.
• Dealing with massive quantities of both requested and unrequested donations and ensure those are delivered.
• Cash donations financial contributions and in-kind donations physical items should be sorted due to the ability to permit manager to purchase needed resources locally.
• Ensures donors know and agree with their plans and programs.
• Computer programs can track donation needs, donor contact information, donation quantity/ storage information.

Volunteer Management

• A Volunteer is a person who freely offers to take part in a task, and its management is the process of including volunteers in a way that harnesses their contributions.
• Emergency managers should be aware of potential challenges when volunteers as they could be Spontaneous or unaffiliated.

Difficulties Associated with Volunteers

• Volunteers can lack skills and expertise and may overwhelming in numbers, creating safety concern due to them themselves rushing to scene.
• Can also have skills-deficiency frustrations and be difficult to manage.

Strategies for Volunteer Management

• Increase the chances for successful volunteer management involves strategies put in place before and after the disaster.
• Rely on the expertise of Nonprofit Organizations and Others such as the Ghana Red cross.
• Register and care for Volunteers by implementing a logical process to incorporate the volunteer to the site and capture a database for volunteers.
• Match their skills with disaster needs and mangers must develop key documents that include procedures and instructions.
• Conduct Progress Evaluation reviewing volunteer activities periodically and feedback.

Advantages of Volunteer Management

• Effectively managing volunteers has many benefits on the community, especially when coordinator can oversee meaningful experiecnes.
• Communities will know how to effectively engage citizens as volunteers in all phases of disasters, heal from disasters is also impacted positively.

Conclusion

• Emergency managers and first responders face challenges after disasters.
• The media, volunteers, and donations goal is to support the community, these aspects need to be managed, regularized.
• Priority of the Emergency Managers to coordinate the affairs of the media, volunteers, and donations runs smoothly.

EMERGENCY AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT BOOK/JOURNAL REVIEW ASSIGNMENT

• The assignment is an individual book/journal review focusing on disaster management and the length should be 4 pages or less.

Outline of the presentation

• Title of the book/journal
• Name(s) of Author(s) and date of publication
• Jurisdiction of the emergency and type of disaster.
• Mitigation actions, collaborating institutions, names, and respective operational roles.
• Lessons learnt and their potential usefulness for addressing future challenges and their impact on the field.