Emergency Management

Emergency Management Definition

Emergency planning management refers to the coordination and management of resources and responsibilities pertaining to the mitigation of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery from an emergency. This includes the gathering, management, and analysis of big data for the purpose of integrating a data-driven approach into each phase of the emergency management cycle.

FAQs

What is Emergency Management?

The ultimate goal of an emergency management plan is to provide a data-driven framework that helps communities recognize and reduce vulnerabilities, cope with the aftermath of a disaster, and further develop disaster response plans. Big data in disaster management uses the analysis of information gathered from an affected community in real-time in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency management response teams.

Disaster management data collection and emergency management software facilitate innovative emergency management endeavors such as crisis mapping, social media mining, and event simulations, which use enormous volumes of real-time and historical data to assist emergency management directors and their teams in developing proactive, protective strategies. Very large batches of data improve emergency preparedness with disaster management data analysis of statistics from previous disasters, which is feasible with the use of big data analytics platforms that can produce instant insights.  

Emergency management principles dictate that an emergency and disaster management plan  must be: Comprehensive; Progressive; Risk-Driven; Integrated; Collaborative; Coordinated; Flexible; and Professional.

Four Phases of Emergency Management

The four phases of disaster management are Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery: 

  • Mitigation: the long-term, sustained activities and strategies designed to reduce and prevent disaster risk by identifying potential hazards and their relationship to communities and public safety
  • Preparedness: actions undertaken when mitigation efforts have failed, such as development of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) that addresses identified risks and minimizes the impact of disasters, recruitment and training of emergency management coordinators and personnel, identification of emergency management resources, and designation of emergency facilities
  • Response: the activities immediately following an emergency in which emergency management service providers focus on decreasing life-threatening conditions, providing life-sustaining aid, and halting further infrastructure damage -- the use of geodata and real-time disaster management data analytics platforms speeds up the modeling process, enabling quick visualization of data and model scenarios, which drives the development of better emergency response programs
  • Recovery: the recovery phase of the disaster management cycle assesses the damages after an emergency occurs and contributes to the rebuilding process, educating people, and developing better disaster prevention practices

What is Capacity for Emergency Management

The capacity for emergency management and response personnel includes all of the physical, institutional, social, or economic resources, as well as leaders, managers, and skilled personnel in a community, society, or organization that can reduce the risks or effects of a disaster. The capacity for emergency management can be categorized as physical, social, economic, or attitudinal:

  • Physical -- includes available equipment, modes of communication, available existing infrastructure and water sources, irrigation, engineers, and construction workers
  • Social -- refers to interpersonal and intrapersonal links in the community, and the ability and willingness of people in the community to respond to natural disasters, e.g. volunteer organizations
  • Economic -- comprises the income, savings, production, business activities, and availability of jobs in a community
  • Attitudinal -- refers to the ability of members of a community to embrace collectivism and to work together despite differences for the mutual benefit of the entire community

Does HEAVY.AI Offer an Emergency Management Solution?

The fastest analytics platform is an invaluable emergency management tool that can instantly visualize real-time data for response and recovery efforts, and instantly visualize historical data for mitigation and preparedness efforts. HEAVY.AI big data integration tools easily handle data ingestion of millions of records per second into the HEAVY.AIDB open source SQL engine. HEAVY.AI’s GPU-powered rendering capabilities provide highly accelerated data visualizations, enabling emergency management agencies to make critical decisions quickly. Learn more about HEAVY.AI public sector analytics and government data analytics here.