Disaster Management

1. Inter-organisational coordination: Collaboration between intervening emergency response agencies cannot be stressed enough.

2. Sharing information: This task can become complicated by the amount of equipment needed and the number of people involved. In most incidences, two-way radios are the only reliable form of communications across distances between mobilized response units. Landline and mobile phones can become overloaded and communication via radio frequency is unreliable due to differing band usage amongst responding agencies.

3. Resource management: A command centre must be established to take control of the distribution of supplemental personnel, equipment, and supplies among multiple organisations and identify which resources have arrived or are en route. Command must also determine where those resources are most needed and brief all agencies or volunteers before entering the disaster scene.

4. When advance warnings are possible: Evacuation from areas of danger can be the most effective life-saving strategy before and during a disaster. Communication channels must be in place to allow numerous agencies access to information about detected potential threats. And clearly defined criteria must be established as to when and where to evacuate so all agencies understand the procedure.

5. The public tends to underestimate risks and downplay warnings: This is especially true if messages are ambiguous or inconsistent. All warnings should be issued from a credible source and information on how to determine individual risk factors must be conveyed to members of the affected population with clear guidelines on what actions should be taken.

6. Search and rescue: This is an important aspect of post-disaster