Free «Alameda County Emergency Management» Essay Paper

Introduction

This county is in allocation which is vulnerable to California disaster. Its location always is vulnerable to the risk of earthquake faults, and it is situated at the crossroads of a highway and rail transportation system. This also contributes to its risk exposure. Moreover, its location is occupied with industries which emit toxic emissions and fumes, given that there is use of   explosive chemicals. The plan reduces the number of injuries of the emergencies.

Emergency Operation Plan

Emergency is a situation which calls for immediate response by people. It is usually out of the scope of the normal chores within the organization or county. The plan is aimed at accomplishing various goals and objectives for the benefit of the county. The plan outlines the requirements for containing the emergencies which emerge within the Alameda County.

Although disaster management is a daunting task, Alameda county emergence management plan is capable of solving the emergencies. This is made possible through the employment of risk reduction measures, like taking of precaution before indulging in a risk venture. In addition, promptness in responding to a crisis is very crucial in the crisis management process because this provides a chance for salvage of some property at risk of damage (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola, 2008).

The plan has instituted a recovery program after an occurrence of an emergency that also helps in management of a disaster. This can save lives of vulnerable people and property. This plan emphasizes on the co-ordination and correlation of functions and skills in the handling of an emergency. The plan takes advantage of the relationship between the county responsibilities and responsibilities of cities and villages within counties. The correlation of these responsibilities makes the response to emergencies easy, effective and efficient because it makes it easy to manage emergency in totality. This plan enables the county to assist the local government in case of  a disaster occurrence. The plan shows simulations of all possible disasters in order to address a wide array of disasters.

These goals include:

• Identification and assessment of the county departments  at risk of emergencies and disasters. This also calls for identification of the resources available for responding and recovering from the eventualities in case of any crisis.
• Identification of short-term, medium and long-term measures to curb the emergencies within the county.
• Ensuring that the County Authority promptly responds, and mitigates the emergencies which arise from any crisis within the county.
• Making provisions for economic utilization of the scarce resources at the disposal of the county. This will ensure that any crisis is contained in good time.
• The utilization of the local government and the co-ordination of the state, county and federal programs. This is aimed at helping the subjects of a disaster, the low income earners, the old, the disabled and other vulnerable groups.
• Making a provision for co-ordination and commitment of the government and the federal programs in disaster management. This will be affected through the use of mitigation programs.

This plan ensures that responsibility of every action is born by the rightful person. In this regard there is a comprehensive emergence management framework. This plan helps in the prioritization of urgent tasks to be performed in the event of an emergency occurrence. This plan also ensures that system keeps on running even when there is emergency in order to avoid machine overhaul. The plan also gives a precise description of the operational area emergence management unit and its respective roles and responsibilities (Emergencymanagement, 2010).

The major stakeholders:

• The Office of County Executive is responsible for the commanding of the public information pertaining to the emergence situation. This arm is also responsible for declaring a state of emergence and the implementation of the emergence orders. This enhances prompt response of other departments to the emergency in order to curb negative impacts of a crisis.
• Emergency Management committee is responsible for the liaising   and co-ordination of the Alameda county management, the government and other organizations. In this regard, there is consolidation of effort from the entire county and other stakeholders in a bid to contain the sudden eventualities.
• The Sheriff’s Department on the other hand is concerned with the operations and communication within the county. It is also responsible for implementation of law with regard to the crisis management within the county.
• The Health Department offers medical treatment and the emergency worker protection. Therefore, it ensures that the welfare of the emergence staff is upheld in order to control the emergencies properly. This department is also responsible for the control and prevention of diseases.  
• The Public Works Department helps in the waste disposal and sewage control. In addition, this arm helps in the analysis and assessment of the magnitude of damage caused by   disaster. This helps in appropriate response to such emergence.
• The fire co-coordinator helps in the mobilization of efforts in a bid to suppress fire outbreak. This team also helps in the rescue mission and salvage of property.
• The Social Services office enhances the human welfare assessment in order to boost the standard of living of the people within Alameda County.
• The Economic Development wing is responsible for the planning, situation analysis and subsequent documentation of the findings.
• The mental health department helps in the guidance and counseling for the mentally disabled people, disposes the dead according to the disposition law.
• The County Clerk Logistics Supply and Procurement department helps in the streamlining of information pertaining to emergencies.
• The human resource manager helps in the screening, selection and recruitment of employees into the county emergency management section.
• The purchasing director of finance controls and commends all purchases made. He is also responsible for the maintenance of accounts and record of all emergency cases.

Unique stakeholders:

• The Emergence operation center manager helps in the co-ordination of various crucial functions of the emergence plan. He also assists in the design of the blueprint of the emergence management section, which provides a map for the emergence management team. This official liaises with the other homeland security teams.
• The  operations  co-coordinator helps in the co-ordination of all the activities and functions of the emergency  section. He is also interlinked with the emergency management in order to seek the help of the local government and the state in case the situation gets out of hand.
• Planning coordinator   is responsible for the designing and the structuring of the plan. In this regard he allots roles and duties to every  function within the overall plan structure. He ensures that these functions work in harmony and synergy.
• Logistics co-coordinator plays the role of maintenance of all data pertaining to the emergences within the county that protocol is adhered to by all the people. He also provides guidance with regard to the stages of resolving an emergency.
• The Finance and Administration co-coordinator is responsible for the financial management and budgeting for the expenditure of the emergences within the county. This official helps in the determination and reconciliation of variances and deviations from the budgeted values in the annual budget. He is also responsible for seeking extra funding from the government, in case the emergence requires extra funds.

The methods of holding co-ordination sessions include:

• The open method which is based on the preset guidelines, the benchmarking, restructuring and the sharing of best practices within the county.
• The hybrid reasoning whereby there is reasoning of various actions with regard to their impact on the environment. This method incorporates the qualitative information processing. This method also employs the knowledge base information systems and the expert information systems which help in simulation of possible remedies to a wide array of emergencies. This is because this system mimics the human beings patterns of reasoning.
• Virtual video conferencing is also another method for co-ordination. All the stakeholders are interlinked through this modern system, hence, allowing for lively and constructive discussion of emergency issues in detail.

The Emergency management team can attract good will partners through advertisement of the emergency unit services and their benefits to society. The publicizing of this unit will inform the public of the need to join in the mission of the emergency organization.

The emergency operation center can also help in the attraction of other partners into the county emergency section. This is through the inclusivity in the decision making process. This will send a good signal to the public; hence, many people will be willing to contribute into the emergency management (Kelly, and Oregon, 2002).

Transparency in the management of the emergency funds by the Accounting and finance department will attract partners into the emergence unit. This owes to the fact that the potential partners will be convinced of the quality service delivery within the county’s emergency unit.

Conclusion

Emergency management is a challenging task but it is indispensable in Alameda County. The co-ordinated effort of all the functions enhances the accomplishment of the set objectives and missions of the crisis management. Moreover, the elaborative organizational framework of the emergency unit leads to total quality management and continuous improvement in disaster management.