As a profession

Emergency managers are trained in a wide variety of disciplines that support them through out the emergency life-cycle. Professional emergency managers can focus on government and community preparedness (Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Planning), or private business preparedness (Business Continuity Management Planning). Training is provided by local, state, federal and private organizations and ranges from public information and media relations to high-level incident command and tactical skills such as studying a terrorist bombing site or controlling an emergency scene.

In the past, the field of emergency management has been populated mostly by people with a military or first responder background. Currently, the population in the field has become more diverse, with many experts coming from a variety of backgrounds and having no military or first responder history at all. Educational opportunities are increasing for those seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees in emergency management or a related field.

Professional certifications such as Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) are becoming more common as the need for high professional standards is recognized by the emergency management community, especially in the United States.

Practitioners emergency management (disaster preparedness) come from an increasing variety of backgrounds as the field matures. Professionals from memory institutions (e.g., museums, historical societies, libraries, and archives) are dedicated to preserving cultural heritage—objects and records contained in their collections. This has been a major component within these fields, but now there is a heightened awareness following the events on 9/11 and the hurricanes in 2005.

To increase the opportunity for a successful recovery of valuable records, a well-established and thoroughly tested plan must be developed. This task requires the cooperation of a well-organized committee led by an experienced chairperson. Professional associations schedule regular workshops and hold focus sessions at annual conferences to keep individuals up to date with tools and resources in practice.

In recent years the continuity feature of emergency management has resulted in a new concept, Emergency Management Information Systems (EMIS). For continuity and interoperability between emergency management stakeholders, EMIS supports the emergency management process by providing an infrastructure that integrates emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement and by utilizing the management of all related resources (including human and other resources) for all four phases of emergencies.

21. Define the part of speech from which each of the words below was formed:

preparedness, controlling, currently, continuity, interoperability, utilizing, heightened, thoroughly.

22. Translate and memorize the following words from the text and their derivatives.Single out noun, verb, objective, adverb forming suffixes:

¨ Manage- managed – managing – manageability- manageable- manageably- management- manager- manageress- managerial- managerialist.

¨ Disaster- disastrous

¨ Emerge- emerging- emerged- emergence- emergency- emergent.

¨ Protect- protected- protection – protectionism, protectionist- protective- protector- protectoral- protectorate- protectress.

¨ Defense- defend- defendant- defender- defenestration- defenseless- defensible- defensibly- defensive

¨ Mitigation- mitigable- mitigating- mitigated- mitigative- mitigator- mitigatory.

¨ Preparedness- preparation- preparative- preparator- preparatory- prepare- preparing- prepared- preparedly.

¨ Response- respond- respondent- responsible- responsibility- responsibly- responsive

¨ Mobilization- mobilize- mobilizing- mobilized.

¨ Survival- survive- surviving- survived- survivor- survivorship.

¨ Installation- install- installment- installer.

¨ Assistance- assist- assistant

¨ Threat- threaten- threatened

¨ Search- searching

¨ Rescue- rescuing- rescued

23. Read and translate the text

Personal mitigation

Personal mitigation is mainly about knowing and avoiding unnecessary risks. This includes an assessment of possible risks to personal/family health and to personal property.

Personal structural mitigation in earthquake prone areas includes installation of an Earthquake Valve to instantly shut off the natural gas supply to a property, seismic retrofits of property and the securing of items inside a building to enhance household seismic safety. The latter may include the mounting of furniture, refrigerators, water heaters and breakables to the walls, and the addition of cabinet latches. In flood prone areas houses can be built on poles, as in much of southern Asia. In areas prone to prolonged electricity black-outs installation of a generator would be an example of an optimal structural mitigation measure. The construction of storm cellars and fallout shelters are further examples of personal mitigative actions.

2. Unlike mitigation activities, which are aimed at preventing a disaster from occurring, personal preparedness focuses on preparing equipment and procedures for use when a disaster occurs, i.e. planning. Preparedness measures can take many forms including the construction of shelters, installation of warning devices, creation of back-up life-line services (e.g. power, water, sewage), and rehearsing evacuation plans. Two simple measures can help prepare the individual for sitting out the event or evacuating, as necessary. For evacuation, a disaster supplies kit may be prepared and for sheltering purposes a stockpile of supplies may be created. These survival kits may include food, medicine, flashlights, candles and money.

3. The response phase of an emergency may commence with search and rescue but in all cases the focus will quickly turn to fulfilling the basic humanitarian needs of the affected population. This assistance may be provided by national or international agencies and organisations. Effective coordination of disaster assistance is often crucial, particularly when many organisations respond and local emergency management agency (LEMA) capacity has been exceeded by the demand or diminished by the disaster itself.

On a personal level the response can take the shape either of a home confinement or an evacuation. In a home confinement a family would be prepared to fend for themselves in their home for many days without any form of outside support. In an evacuation, a family leaves the area by automobile (or other mode of transportation) taking with them the maximum amount of supplies they can carry, possibly including a tent for shelter. If mechanical transportation is not available, evacuation on foot would ideally include carrying at least three days of supplies and rain-tight bedding, a tarpaulin and a bedroll of blankets being the minimum.

4. The recovery phase starts after the immediate threat to human life has subsided. During reconstruction it is recommended to consider the location or construction material of the property.

The most extreme home confinement scenarios include war, famine and severe epidemics and may last a year or more. Then recovery will take place inside the home. Planners for these events usually buy bulk foods and appropriate storage and preparation equipment, and eat the food as part of normal life. A simple balanced diet can be constructed from vitamin pills, whole-meal wheat, beans, dried milk, corn, and cooking oil. One should add vegetables, fruits, spices and meats, both prepared and fresh-gardened, when possible.

24. A compound adjective is formed from two different words and occasionally three. Combine the following words and form different compound adjectives:

rehearsed

Hazard- specific

High- level

organized

Well- established

Thoroughly- tested

Brand- new

- directed

Well- made

Well- developed

Fifteen- minute

Two- hour

Full- time

Part- time

Funnel- shaped