Introduction to emergency and crisis management
"There is no longer any room to talk about strategy, but only about dealing with crises."
McNamara (Former US Secretary of Defense)
Definition of emergency
Urgent situations facing society, either periodically or randomly, may cause many losses and damages to the individual, society, facilities, public utilities, property and wealth such as crises and disasters.
Emergency management concept
The science of emergency management was established to support the decision-maker by providing the necessary means, procedures and information systems to confront developments with serious repercussions.
It is one of the modern sciences that imposed itself to reduce the time interval between action and reaction.
Definition of crisis
A crisis, according to Webster, “is a turning point at which a change can occur for the better or for the worse. It is a critical moment or a difficult time.”
Crisis in Chinese Wei-ji consists of two syllables: the first word expresses danger and the second word means opportunity.
Characteristics of crises
A turning point in which the need for an appropriate reaction is increasing
They are characterized by a high degree of confusion and skepticism in the decisions at hand.
It is difficult to control events.
Time pressure and the need to make sound and quick decisions.
Threatening interests such as the collapse of the administrative entity or any harm to the decision-maker.
Overlap and plurality of causes, factors, supporting and opposing elements.
The surprise and the speed with which it occurs.
Crisis management goals
Disaster prevention.
Control the crisis efficiently and effectively.
Minimizing losses and damages to the minimum possible.
Eliminate the negative effects of the crisis on workers and the public.
Analyzing the crisis and using it to prevent similar crises
Improving and developing the organization's capabilities and performance in facing these crises.
The difference between crisis and disaster
The crisis
The existence of a defect that has a material and moral impact on the system and poses a threat to its entity.
The existence of a crisis requires two prerequisites:
The system was subjected to severe influence to the extent that it may upset its balance.
The crisis becomes a direct and explicit threat to the entity or organization and its continuity.
Disaster
A disaster is a serious disturbance that occurs within a relatively short period that leads to massive damage and loss of human, material and moral resources.
Crises may lead to disasters if appropriate decisions and measures are not taken to confront them.
The difference between crisis management and crisis management
Crisis Management
Crisis management is the process of trying to control and control its course and outcome.
Working to avoid or reduce damages and does not include sacrificing interest or a core value.
They appear in all fields such as: military, political, economic, administrative...
Crisis management
Crisis management is the process of deliberately disrupting the system aimed at bringing about a change in the situation in favor of its mastermind by achieving certain objectives.
Example: stopping the production of a particular commodity to increase its demand and increase its price, and thus increase profits.
Signs of a crisis
The occurrence of preludes is nothing but evidence of crises like the tip of an iceberg that hides a huge base of ice
Each crisis has premises that indicate its occurrence and its manifestations:
- initial
- Middle finger
- final
Causes of crises
Mis-understanding:
Misunderstanding is one of the causes of crises, and the solution is simply to clarify the truth.
Misunderstanding arises through truncated information and the issuance of decisions or judgments on matters before they are confirmed.
misperception:
Perception represents the stage of receiving the information that he was able to obtain and the discretionary judgment on the presented matters. If this perception is improper or contains interference or confusion, it leads to the inadequacy of the direction of the administrative decision.
Miscalculation and Evaluation:
It is the most common cause of crises in all fields, where one of the parties is a victim of miscalculation and evaluation of the crisis.
Random administration:
This type of management is not only a cause and source of crises only, but rather it represents a danger to the administrative entity and destroys its capabilities and capabilities.
Example: poor planning, lack of respect for the organizational structure of the organization, and lack of data and information.
Desire to blackmail:
This type of method uses pressure groups and interest groups to reap unfair gains from the administrative entity, and its effective means in this is to create successive crises for the targeted administrative entity and subject it to a series of crises that force the decision-maker to obey.
Despair:
Despair in itself is one of the crises that pose an imminent danger to the decision-maker at the level of individuals, organizations and countries as well. Despair leads to violent and devastating crises, severely and at a high cost.
Rumors:
Many crises are the only source of rumors that have been employed and harnessed using a set of honest facts and information, but in a distorted way, and surrounding them with an aura of false information sets off a crisis.
Show of strength:
It is done by ambitious administrative entities when they possess some elements of power and want to measure the extent of their impact on less powerful entities, and then they start a review process without calculating the results and consequences, and a number of unforeseen factors intervene and cause a crisis.
Human errors:
It is one of the reasons for the emergence of crises, whether in the past, present or future, and the best example of this is the explosion of the space shuttle (Challenger), and the shock caused by the crisis in the entity of American society, the main cause of which was a human error.
Planned crises:
Some of the competing forces of the administrative entity are working to follow the paths of
This entity worked to know the operations of the operations, the stages of production and distribution, and the needs and conditions of each of these stages... and then a planned crisis could be created according to its weaknesses.
Conflicting goals:
The conflict of goals between the different parties causes a crisis between them, especially if a joint action brings them together. Each party looks at this action from its angle, which may not agree with the perspective of the other party because the goals conflict and the crisis occurs.
Types of crises
Man-made crisis
These are crises arising from a humanitarian activities such as the threat of military invasion, terrorist operations such as hijacking planes, ships and hostages, public disturbances and strife, environmental pollution incidents, radiation and chemical or industrial leakage into the air or water, major fires, aircraft and train accidents, sinking giant ships, administrative errors ...
Natural crisis:
A crisis that has nothing to do with human activity, such as:
Earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes
Floods and the like
Drought and depletion of water resources
Crisis by target: individuals, organizations, countries, private property, public property...
Crisis according to the goal: such as terrorism, blackmail, revenge ...
Crisis according to the scene of the crisis: such as the administration, the organization, the supporting body, the state...
Crisis by source: For example a crisis exported to another sector, a crisis that has its roots in the country of the accident, whether these roots are political, ethnic or other.
Crisis classification
By type and content of the crisis:
There may be an environmental crisis, a political crisis, a social crisis, a media crisis, or an economic crisis, or a moral crisis, and within each type, sub-categories such as the financial crisis may appear as the economic crisis...
According to the scale of the crisis:
There is a small crisis, there is a medium crisis and a large crisis. The size depends on the criteria of material losses and damages resulting from each crisis, and according to the moral damages, such as the damages and effects incurred
Public opinion and the image of the community or institution that has been exposed to the crisis.
By the geographical scope of the crisis:
Local crises that occur within a limited or narrow geographical scope, as occurs in some cities, such as a bridge collapse or a train accident...
National crises that affect society, such as environmental pollution or the presence of a military threat from an external enemy.
International crises such as the crisis of Syria, Yemen, Libya and Palestine...or the global warming crisis or the crisis of computers, information systems, and smartphones...
According to the time period for the emergence and impact of the crisis:
Rapid explosive crisis: It usually occurs suddenly and quickly, and also disappears quickly.
The slow, long crisis: This crisis develops gradually, and appears on the surface despite the many signals that were issued by it. This crisis does not disappear quickly but may threaten society for a long time.
According to the nature of the threats that create the crisis:
External threats against information
Internal threats directed against the institution or the state
psychological threats
Threat of occupational or infectious diseases.