William L. Waugh, Jr., & Kathleen Tierney (2007) Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government 2nd Ed, ICMA Press, ISBN: 13-978-0-87326-719-9.****** Summary is based on the following: Social Vulnerability as presented in the chapter 13 of William L. Waugh, Jr., & Kathleen Tierney (2007) Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government 2nd Ed, ICMA Press, ISBN: 13-978-0-87326-719-9 READ THE SUMMARIES BELOW and EXPAND ON THE THEM (DISAGREE OR AGREE) DO NOT COPY THE PARAGRAPH INTO YOUR REBUTTAL. MUST HAVE A LEAST 2 SOURCES Robert Varetoni Unit 11 DB COLLAPSE Chapter 13 identifies and addresses social vulnerabilities. The purpose of doing this is to mitigate avoidable harm especially to those who are the most vulnerable. The people most vulnerable usually are the poor, elderly, disabled, non-English speaking immigrants, children, homeless, or mentally ill. Addressing these issues is a major component for emergency management. As two leading researchers have noted: Vulnerabilities precede disasters, contribute to their severity, impede effective disaster response and continue afterwards (Waugh, 2007). It is apparent that emergency managers must know the social landscape they work in to combat disasters. Social vulnerabilities can become intensified due to the homes people live in. For example, researchers were surprised to find that of 26,000 South Carolina households affected by hurricanes Bonnie, Dennis, and Floyd, 14% included physically disabled elderly persons that mostly lived in mobile homes with pets (Waugh, 2007). These people were not living in a structure that could withstand a disaster like a hurricane. Their disability, housing situation, and live in pets all created a huge propensity for vulnerability. These people were generally in a lower income economic class. They did not have the same money or resources that others had. These people generally do not or cannot wait out the storm, even if their homes were not destroyed. Transportation was an issue as well. Most of these people relied on public transportation. When a disaster hits, transportation is obviously hard to come. Due to this reason, it harder to reach shelters or safety. The best-case scenario would have been for these people to evacuate well before a disaster hits. However, they probably did not have anywhere else to stay other than a shelter. Most people will only seek out help until they are actually affected. As discussed earlier, once it is time to move to safety, it becomes very difficult to do when roadways are blocked and flooded. Especially for those disabled who live in lower economic areas. One way for emergency management personnel to find and track who is most vulnerable within society is to have census studies done. Typical measures include income levels and ethnic/racial composition; homeownership and rental patterns; use of public or private transportation; percentage of elderly people, single headed households, or high school graduates; and other demographic characteristics of persons living in the same place (Waugh, 2007). This data will give emergency mangers and personnel the intelligence they need to effectively prepare, mitigate, respond, and initiate recovery in these areas. The information will need to be updated to ensure accuracy. In addition to census studies, community intelligence gathering is highly beneficial in conjunction with census studies. The ways in which community-based intelligence can be gathered is by working with local university researchers and private sector researchers. When emergency managers are able to, they should conduct grassroots intelligence by canvassing and talking to the people within the areas they are responsible for. Gathering all forms of intelligence will give emergency managers an accurate depiction for the areas they work in. References Waugh, W. (2007). Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government. Washington, DC: ICMA Press.
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