Managing Disaster

Emergency management is necessary to improve public safety and security to a creation of disaster-resilient communities. This is accomplished by structuring programs based on the four pillars of emergency management :

1. Prevention-Mitigation ; Includes any activities that prevent emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. Mitigation phase take place before and after emergencies.
   
2. Preparedness ; This phase takes place before a disaster occurs. The activities include plans or preparation made to save lives and help to respond and rescue operations. Examples are evacuation plans and stocking food and water.
3. Response ; Responding safely to an emergency. This is when the preparedness plans are put into action during the disaster.
   
4. Recovery ; Activities that take place after an emergency which includes financial assistance to help pay for the repairs. The actions in recovery phase are taken to return to a normal or an even safer situation following disaster.

From the earthquake and tsunami in Acheh and Nias (2004), the people of Indonesia realized the importance of a proper disaster management system to anticipate the occurrence of disaster. Therefore, a National Agency for Disaster Management or known as Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana(BNPB) is set up. Its mission is to prepare the nation's resilience in facing any kinds of disaster.

organizational structure of BNPB

Some of the policies and strategies are to plan an integrated, coordinated and organized disaster management which involves all parties (the government, the NGO's, the community) and the media as well at pre-disaster, during disaster and post disaster level. BNPB stresses more on disaster risk reduction, while still giving away a fast and precise treatment of emergency. Last but not least, BNPB support and promote voluntarism in the community in order to act when disaster strikes. Some of the programs prioritized by BNPB are :

1. Increase local capacity through; (i) training of community-based disaster management, (ii) implementation of the rehearsal or simulation preparedness and (iii) preparation of national disaster management plan.
2. Application of technical standards in; (i) analysis of disaster risk, (ii) disaster mitigation and (iii) early warning system.
3. Develop logistic systems and equipments to support disaster-relief operations.
4. Increase the capacity in facing a disaster by conducting an effective emergency response; (i) enables the operation control centers and (ii) quick reaction team.
5. Disaster relief efforts by mobilizing all the potentials and capabilities of sources.

So far BNPB (and the previous incarnations) has formed a partnership with several similar institutions, bilaterally and regionally. Bilateral cooperation includes :

• Ministry of Disaster Management, Cabinet Office of Japan
• Emergency Management Australia (EMA), Australia
• Civil Defense (DDSC), France
• Ministry of Emergency Situations (Emercom), Russia
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US

For regional organizations, BNPB has been cooperating with ASEAN Committee for Disaster Management (ACDM), Asian Disaster Risk Reduction (ADRC), and UN agencies such as UNDP, UNOCHA, WFP UNHCR, WHO, UNESCO and so forth.


Readings :
1. The Four Phases of Emergency Management

2. eMedicine : Disaster Planning

3. Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB)