Emergency Management is about managing risks to communities and the environment. It is the core business of Emergency Services but every individual and organisation has a part to play. Show
Emergency Management is about:
Leaders in organisations need to know their roles and responsibilities in each phase of the emergency management cycle and lead their organisation through them.
 Emergency Management Cycle
Prevention – actions undertaken in advance. Sometimes this is referred to as mitigation. Examples include back-burning or constructing sea walls to protect from tidal waves, having alternative sources of electricity or alternative communication systems in place. Prevention activities should be happening all the time. Preparedness – making arrangements, creating and testing plans, training, educating and sharing information to prepare communities should an emergency eventuate. These are also ACTIONS and they are happening all the time. Response – the assistance and intervention during or immediately after an emergency. Focus is on saving lives and protecting community assets (buildings, roads, animals, crops, infrastructure). Usually measured in hours, days or weeks. Recovery – the coordinated process of supporting emergency-affected communities in reconstruction of physical infrastructure and restoration of emotional, social, economic and physical wellbeing. Usually measured in months and/or years. The cycle The cyclical nature of this model is important as it highlights that managing emergencies happens all the time, not just during ‘the season’ (for bushfires and cyclones, for example). It also shows the way the phases blend into each other and overlap rather than being discrete categories. It is useful to be familiar with the four phases as they are part of the everyday language of the emergency management sector and inform the design and allocation of responsibilities in emergency management planning. There are variations of this model in use throughout Australia. Emergency Management Victoria, for example, refer to a three phase emergency management cycle which includes prevention, recovery and response. Whilst the specific models may vary, they cover the same tasks.
Your local government has first-hand knowledge of your community's social, economic, infrastructure, and environmental needs, helping them to provide support in a disaster. The role of local government under the Disaster Management Act 2003 is to:
Local disaster management groupsLocal governments appoint local disaster management groups. Their role is to:
The Mayor, or another elected member of the council, is the chairperson of the local disaster management group. Read more about disaster management.
The following parties are responsible for dealing with a crisis or disaster: the mayor, the fire brigade, the medical and municipal services and the police. The army may also be deployed. The mayor is responsible at the administrative level for ensuring that the response effort runs smoothly. He/she convenes the representatives of the various public services who make up the disaster management team. In view of the mayor's administrative responsibility, the municipal council may call him/her to account for the overall management of the response effort. Fire serviceThe fire service is the linchpin of the disaster response. The fire chief is charged with the operational management of the response effort. Everything that occurs in the disaster area falls under his/her authority. As a member of the disaster management team, the fire chief puts the team's decisions into practice. He/she also coordinates the work of the emergency services. In the disaster area, the fire service's first duty is to save people and animals. Firefighters also put out fires, of course, and conduct tests to find out whether any hazardous substances have been released. Regional accident and disaster medical teamsAnyone injured in a disaster will require medical assistance as soon as possible. Ambulance paramedics will usually provide first aid and stabilise the injured so that they can be taken to hospital. Police servicesThe police will ensure that the fire and ambulance services can do their job. They will cordon off the disaster area, direct traffic and sometimes set up a safety zone around the disaster area. If victims are difficult to identify, the police will deploy the disaster identification team, consisting of experts convened on an ad hoc basis. This team of specialists perform their work in consultation with one another. Armed forcesThe Ministry of Defence can deploy military personnel to respond to a disaster. Their duties include evacuating people. Municipal servicesThe municipality is responsible for the residents' immediate welfare. Municipal services will assist in other practical ways, such as providing food and temporary shelter; they may also offer psychological care. In addition, the municipality will register the victims and may help them attend to uninsured damage. Other services that respond to a disasterWhich services take part in the response effort will depend on the type of disaster.
View and print the Response section as a single document (PDF). Response is the action taken immediately before, during and in the first period after an emergency to reduce the effects and consequences of the emergency on people, their livelihoods, wellbeing and property; on the environment; and to meet basic human needs. When viewing the control agencies for response (Table 9) and support agencies for response (Table 10) tables, two response sections of the interactive and functional SEMP PDF should also be considered:
Users (including response planners) should use the control agencies for response (Table 9) and support agencies for response (Table 10) tables to identify agencies and functional areas that should be considered and/or included in response plans. The tables do not list all agencies that may be involved in any particular emergency, nor do they list all potential emergencies. Control agencies for responseControl agencies for response are primarily responsible for managing the response to a specified form of emergency, and responsible for establishing the management arrangements for an integrated response to the emergency. Control agencies for response (Table 9), which the Emergency Management Act 2013 (External link) (EM Act 2013) requires, identifies control agencies for response in a specified form of emergency, with sub-plans also listed for some emergencies, where applicable, but there are exceptions to the listing in certain circumstances. Where multiple control agencies are listed for the same emergency type, the control agency responsibility is delineated through legislation or administrative arrangements. Support agencies for responseResponse support agencies provide services, personnel or material to support or assist a control and/or a coordination agency and/or members of the public. Support agencies for response (Table 10), which the EM Act 2013 requires, identifies key functional support areas for consideration during the response to an emergency, and the corresponding Lead Response Support Agencies. The Lead Response Support Agency is the agency that is generally the most closely aligned to the function, with other agencies also having the potential to be response support agencies, if they have the skills, expertise or resources to contribute to the response to an emergency. Where there is a key functional area required to manage an emergency but is not listed or there is uncertainty as to which agency may potentially support this function, the EMC or relevant emergency response coordinator may request any agency to lead this function. Table 9: Control agencies for response
In some instances, this could be a support function.
Table 10: Support agencies for response
Footnotes
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Who all has a role in responding to a disaster?
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