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DISASTER AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT
DISASTER/CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Disaster and crisis management also known as emergency management is generally the act of avoiding or dealing with either fabricated or natural disasters. Generally, crisis and disaster management entails disaster preparedness; recovery plans and disaster response in order reduce the disaster impact. Alternatively, disaster management aspects entail dealing with processes that are used to protect organizations or populations from disaster consequences, acts of terrorism and wars. In most cases, these aspects are seen through government publications like the National Strategy for Homeland Securities that indicate how people and government’s varying levels respond in case of a disaster. Crisis or emergency management can also be defined as the profession or discipline of applying planning and management to combat extreme events, which can destroy large numbers of people, disrupt the community life or extensive damage property
Generally, an emergency is unplanned event, which can cause injuries or cause deaths to employees or the public. Alternatively, an emergency means any unplanned situation that causes physical or environmental damage or generally disrupt operations or threaten the facility’s operation. In most cases, emergency events include natural disasters such as severe weather, tornados and earthquakes, fire, public disorder, fire, industrial accidents, corruption of critical information, communication failure among other catastrophic events (Awasthy, 2009, 39). On the other hand, emergency planning or management is generally the discipline of science application, planning, and management to handle extreme events that hurt large numbers of individuals and property. Disaster management does not really eliminate a crisis. However, the threats study and prediction remains an important part of disaster management field. Emergency management basic levels may also include different kinds of rescue and search activities (Landesman, 2014, 79).
Emergency planning and management should at least aim at preventing the occurrence of emergencies. Good management or planning should at least reduce, mitigate or even control the effects of a crisis or an emergency (Kapucu, 2013, 56). Emergency planning is a systematic on going activity that should develop the lessons and in most cases, they change any given circumstance. Alternatively, emergency planning or management is part of an activity cycle that begins with the establishment of a risk for determining the priorities for developing plans while ending with revision that restarts the cycle again. Many crisis management disciplines including security risk management and businesses continuity have the cyclical process that include; risks identification or recognition, risk evaluation or ranking, resource controlling, reaction planning and monitoring and reporting of risk performance. In this case, risk evaluation or ranking entails a response to risks that seem to be significant, tolerance and termination of such risks (Kapucu, 2013, 85).
After the identification of a risk, it is always necessary to implement an emergency plan. In fact, it is not just the preparation. Instead, the plan must be maintained regularly and in a methodical manner in order to ensure that, it remains fit for its purpose in case an emergency occurs. Crisis managers must follow at least the common crisis management processes in order to anticipate, observe, prevent, respond and act upon it. The first stage during a crisis or disaster management is the pre-incident training (Schneider, 2011, 97). During this stage, the emergency management team plans on what it would do during the disaster management process. Here, the disaster management team is identified and trained.
Conclusion
Disaster or crisis management remains a crucial activity when it comes to an issue. Alternatively, emergency planning and management should at least aim at preventing the occurrence of emergencies and crisis. However, before the occurrence of such events, there should always be a plan in place to handle such cases.
Reference Page
Clements, Bruce. 2009. Disasters and public health: Planning and response. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Fink, Sheri. 2013. Five days at Memorial. New York: Crown Publishers.
Kapucu, Naim and Ozerdem, Alpasian. 2013. Managing emergencies and crises. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Landesman, Linda Young and Isaac B. Weisfuse. 2014. Case studies in public health preparedness and response to disasters. Burliington, MA: Jones and Barlett Learning.
Schneider, Saundra K. 2011. Dealing with disaster: Public management in crisis situations. 2nd ed. Armonk: New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Schmidt, Diane E. 2010. Writing in political science: A practical guide. 4ded. N.Y.: Pearson Longman.
Other Sources
Awasthy, Amit. 2009. Disaster management: warning response and community relocation. New Delhi: Global India Publications.
Gupta, Harsh K. 2003. Disaster management. Hyderabad: Universities Press.
Alternative Medicine
Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine refers to a healing practice or process of medicine that does not follow the standard of diagnoses and treatment option of conventional medicine and is not based on evidence gathered through scientific research methods.
The beginning of the practice of alternative medicine does not have a clear historical date as the practice has been undertaken for several centuries in eastern Asia, Western Europe and among the Native Americans. However, its increased use in the health spheres was noted in 1970s as it was unverified by biomedical science but many patients were considering it as one of the best options for treatment.
The basic types of alternative medicine are Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, herbs, diet and vitamins, mind body therapies, homeopathy, naturopathy, and energy therapies. Alternative medicine is beneficial for spiritual and emotional conditions that are not handled well by conventional medicine. There are some alternative medicine treatment option such as vitamins and diet offer effective preventive measures against many diseases (Rosenblum).
Although alternative medicine has been effective in treatment of different ailments, it has several problems and risks that accompany it. Most of the treatment options have not been studied effectively by medical experts and they may have detrimental effects on the patients. Examples of the negative effects are toxicity, several side effects, negative drug interaction especially in cases of herbals usage and overdose of the treatment substances. Alternative medicine is not as well regulated as the conventional medicine. As such, there has been emergence of numerous alternative medicine practitioners leading to quackery, a fact that has led to many cases of wrong diagnosis and treatment hence risking the lives of the patients. There is minimal funding for alternative medicine and so effective research is not achieves as a result, which prevents the opportunities for the treatment of emerging diseases and evolving illnesses (Rosenblum).
There is minimal health insurance coverage for alternative medicine treatment options. Although some expenses of using treatment such as chiropractic and acupuncture are reimbursed through insurance, most of alternative treatments are not covered. Most of the treatments are not verified as few research studies have been conducted on them hence raising the risk of causing detrimental effects on the patients. As such, health insurers avoid them. Further, since the field is not fully regulated, the risks that accompany them cause insurers to shun them (Rosenblum).
South Georgia Acupuncture clinic
The clinic is situated in Baxley, South Georgia. The clinic specializes in offering acupuncture services that are instrumental in treating a number of health conditions that include arthritis, weight loss and sport injuries. Generally, the treatment option aims at minimizing and eradicating injuries incurred by a person. Further, it enhances holistic health (South Georgia Acupuncture clinic).
Ayurvedic and Naturopathic medical clinic
The clinic is situated in Bellevue, Washington. It was formed by Dr Virender Sondi in 1989 but was later joined by Dr Shailinder Sondhi and Anju Sondhi. The alternative medicine clinic offers Naturopathic and Ayurvedic treatment options. The services offered are dietary treatment, panchkarma, integrative health, preventive medicine, and Ayurvedic services. The services are aimed at enhancing holistic health and offer preventive option for commonly occurring ailments (Ayurvedic and Naturopathic medical clinic).
California Homeopathic clinic
The clinic is situated in San Jose, California. The clinic deals with homeopathy and the treatment options are hypertension, hair loss, allergy, asthma, ulcerative colitis, gynecology irregularities and skin problems. Generally the treatment option intends to enhance health well being through management of both chronic and acute illnesses (Carlifornia and Homeopathic clinic).
I agree with the usage of alternative medicine because it offers the appropriate treatment substitute to conditions that conventional medication is unable to handle. Further, it offers an excellent preventive measures thus enhancing the health of the society and preventing common ailments.
Works Cited
California Homeopathic Clinic. cahomeopathy.com/.2008.Site accessed ;5 dec,2013
<http://www.cahomeopathy.com/>
Ayurvedic and Naturopathic medical clinic. ayurvedicscience.com.2009.Site accessed; 5
dec,2013 http://ayurvedicscience.com/
South Georgia Acupuncture clinic. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine.2013.Site accessed; 5
dec,2013 http://southgaacupunctureclinic.com/
Rosenblum,Peter. Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Medicine. femcenter.org.3
may,2013.Acessed 5 dec,2013. http://www.femcenter.org/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-alternative-medicine.html
Disappearance of the Mayan civilization
Disappearance of the Mayan civilization
Name
Institution
Disappearance of the Mayan civilization
In 880 A.D., the Maya territory consisted of many powerful cities spreading from northern Honduras to southern Mexico. These city states were homes to large populations and ruled by dominant elites who were able to command mighty armies. The elites claimed to have descended from the planets and stars. Maya culture was operating at its peak and the mighty temples got lined up to celebrate the accomplishments of the great leaders. However one hundred years later, the cities got ruined and abandoned for the jungle to reclaim. The question that has always remained a misery is that what really happened to Maya? Before its collapse, Maya civilization was very advanced and powerful states struggled for supremacy. Around 600-800 A.D., close ties with the city of Teoithuacan helped Maya reach its peak. The Maya were established astronomers and could predict a number of phenomena such as eclipses (Steitz & Steitz, 2008). They had a divine pantheon and a well developed religion. Trade, where prestige items such as jade and obsidian were purchased also flourished. The Maya were on a path of becoming a very powerful empire when the civilization collapsed abruptly and the mighty city states were abandoned.
The fall of Maya is one of the greatest mysteries of history since within a very short time, a mighty civilization in the Ancient Americas like Maya simply collapsed into ruin. Mighty cities such as Tikal got abandoned and Maya stopped making stelae and temples (Alderson, 2007). Presently, several sites have deciphered glyphs indicating that there was a thriving culture in Maya civilization in the ninth century A.D. However, there are several theories formulated by researchers trying to explain what really happened to Maya as discussed below:
The Disaster theory
Early Maya researchers have a belief that some catastrophic occurrence may have struck and doomed Maya. Volcanic eruption, rapid epidemic disease, or an earthquake may have destroyed the cities and displaced or killed thousands of people, making the Maya civilization to collapse (Alderson, 2007). However, this theory as been discarded presently because the Maya decline took approximately 200 years and some cities thrived while others collapsed. This implies that if the decline was due to a disease, earthquake, or any other calamity, then the destruction should have occurred simultaneously.
The welfare theory
The Maya were thought to be a pacific, peaceful culture. This peaceful image has however been shattered by the records from its history as the newly deciphered stone carvings and discoveries clearly showing that Maya cities viciously and frequently warred among themselves. Cities such as Tikal, Copan, Quirigua, and Dos Pilas went to war quite often with one another (Gardner & Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010).The discoveries indicate that Dos Pilas was attacked and destroyed around 760 A.D. The question is whether they warred with one another to the extent of causing the collapse of the whole empire. It could however be possible given the fact that war brings about economic disasters and collateral damages that could bring about the collapse of the Maya civilization.
Famine theory
Preclassic Maya practiced subsistence agriculture on their small family plots where they mostly planted beans, corn, and squash. There was also some basic fishing on the lakes and at the coast. As the Maya civilization grew, the cities also advanced thereby making the population to grow at a faster rate than could be supported by the local production (Gardner & Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010). Improved agricultural techniques like terracing hills and draining wetlands during planting brought some improvements and support for the growing population. Such an improvement also promoted trade but the uncontrolled increase in population in the city states put great strain on the production of food. Agricultural calamities and famines affecting the basic crops could have certainly brought about the downfall of the Maya civilization.
Civil strife theory
As the population boomed in the large cities, great pressure was put on the working class to build temples, clear rainforest, produce food, mine jade and obsidian, and so on. During that period, food was fast becoming more scarce (Gardner & Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010). The idea of an overworked and hungry working class may have overthrown the ruling elite, especially if War between the States was endemic.
Environmental change theory
This theory attributes the fall of the empire to climatic changes. Given that the Maya majorly depended on a handful of crops and basic agriculture, and often supplemented it with fishing and hunting, they were very vulnerable to floods, droughts, or any other environmental change that may have affected food production and supply. Certain researchers have sought to identify certain climatic changes that took place during that period. For example, the levels of water at the coast rose during the Classic period. The coastal villages then became flooded thereby forcing people to move to the inland cities (Witherington & Witherington, 2011). This put pressure on the resources and at the same time making people lose food from fishing and farming.
The theory that appears quite convincing to have been the cause of the collapse of Maya civilization is that of the warfare theory. This is because war has all over the world been the major reason for collapse of powerful states and economies because a nation that goes through wars will have unstable political, economic, and social systems, which are the main determinants of the success of a nation. Discoveries by researchers discovered that the states in Maya underwent through wars and even led to the decline of certain states (Witherington & Witherington, 2011). The wars may have gone on for a long time thereby causing the states to collapse one after the other and eventually collapsing the whole Maya empire. War normally bring with it collateral damages and economic disasters that brings about very limited development in any state.
However, experts in the field do not have evidence or enough information to clearly state how the Maya civilization collapsed. The downfall may have been caused by some of the factors or a combination of two or more factors discussed above. The question remains which factors were more likely to cause the collapse of Maya civilization than the others and how the factors are linked. For example, one can argue that famine may have led to starvation, which in turn may have led to civil strife and eventually leading to wars among the neighboring states. The researchers have not given up in finding what exactly led to the collapse of the empire since archeological digs are going on in many sites and new technologies are being used to examine the excavated sites. For example, a recent research using chemical analysis on soil samples showed that a certain area in Yucatan was used as a food market, just as it had long been suspected.
References
Alderson, D. (2007). The ghost orchid ghost and other tales from the swamp. Sarasota, Fla: Pineapple Press.
Gardner, J., & Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. (2010). Grendel. New York: Knopf Doubleday Pub. Group.
Steitz, G. C., & Steitz, G. C. (2008). Haunted lighthouses and how to find them. Sarasota, Fla: Pineapple Press.
Witherington, B. E., & Witherington, D. (2011). Seashells of Georgia and the Carolinas: A beachcomber’s guide. Sarasota, Fla: Pineapple Press.