Section 1: Information Literacy
The future is uncertain but the past provides people with the opportunity to mitigate past calamities. Churchill in reference to Santayana's quote stated, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” (Clairmont, 2013). The annotated bibliography of important sources that depict the importance of preparation and guidelines of preparing disaster preparations.
Meyer, R. (2012). Failing to learn from experience about catastrophes: The case of hurricane preparedness. Journal Of Risk And Uncertainty , 45 (1), 25-50.
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The author notes that even after the destructions caused by hurricanes, over 69% of businesses do not have any disaster preparation plans. He also noted that in case of natural calamities that cause large destructions such as Hurricane Katrina did in 2005 over 50% of small businesses do not recover after the disaster (Meyer, 2012). The recent natural disasters namely Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Irene led should offer as a wakeup call for all businesses to prepare for such calamities. Meyer is critical on the need for preparation that will motivate the manager to invest in preparation plan.
Wallace, J., Poole, C., & Horney, J. (2014). The association between actual and perceived flood risk and evacuation from Hurricane Irene, Beaufort County, North Carolina. Journal Of Flood Risk Management , 9 (2), 125-135.
The article provides a summary of the catastrophe mainly by Hurricane Irene. Hurricane Irene, on the other hand, was a 10ft flood surge in August 2011 was a test and a reminder for the need to prepare for such natural calamities (Wallace, Poole & Horney, 2014). The consequences of such disasters cause power, petroleum, food, and shelter shortages due to the road destruction, floods, and destructions caused by both wind and water thus making it difficult for evacuations and food supplies (Wallace, Poole & Horney, 2014). The source provide details on the catastrophe caused by the Hurricane and lessons that small businesses can learn from the disasters. These issues creates ideas on the expected problems that the plan must focus on solving.
Sherwood, G. (2013). Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy: Maintaining Service during a Disaster. IT Professional , 15 (1), 4-7.
The study contains relevant info about Hurricane Sandy. The Superstorm Sandy is the fourth-costliest storm in the U.S. after Katrina, Harvey, and Maria. Hurricane Sandy caused damages of over $71 billion and about 72 deaths with more victims injured from October 22 to 29, 2012 (Sherwood, 2013). The catastrophe and losses suffered will prove that investing in disaster preparation will help the company’s smooth recovery in case of a disaster of such magnitude occurs.
FEMA. (2013). Emergency Preparedness Resources for Businesses. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.fema.gov/media-library/collections/357
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines, companies either big or small should have disaster evacuation and mitigation plans (FEMA, 2013). This source provides over 20 sources that detail the different processes and recommendations by FEMA to guide companies prepare and implement their disaster plans. For instance, the company should allocate funds to enable the evacuation of workers and all the fragile assets to a safe location once the meteorological department broadcast about expected catastrophes. The companies should have formal policies on employee evacuations or where to meet after the disaster begins for instance, in a safe room build in accordance with the approved building standards. Plywood and other hard materials should be used as barriers on the windows to prevent wind destructions (FEMA, 2013). Lastly, maintaining safety by having first aid kits, trained employees to use the kits, blocking the vulnerable areas such as doors to prevent water from entering the premises and effective disaster communication network. The source is vital in understanding the various ways to prepare disaster preparation plans using the FEMA standards.
U.S. Small Businesses Administration. (2016). Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/FINAL-2017-SBA-Disaster-Preparedness-Plan-signed.pdf
The article focuses on preparation plans for small businesses. Hurricanes have proven that failure to test and ensure that the safety equipment such as fire extinguishers or detectors can result in mass fatalities. Therefore, regular testing and replacement of faulty equipment can help save lives during such trying times (U.S. Small Businesses Administration, 2016). The source also details the essence of collaboration with FEMA and other National or states disaster management agencies and the Red Cross to ensure that the company is able to protect its employees, assets and help save community lives. The source also documents the need for insuring the business against hurricanes. The author states that in most cases, failure to understand the types of things covered by the insurance result in frustration and collapse of the business. The two hurricanes depicted that wind, fires, and floods can cause destructions during hurricanes. Therefore, it is the task of the management to ensure that the insurance covers all the three types of destructions to limit losing compensations (U.S. Small Businesses Administration, 2016). Small business owners may deem such prices as too high and with the low chances of Hurricanes or natural disaster term the risk as minimal.
Section 2: a Critical incident analysis report
The Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies require pharmacy technicians to engage in quality assurance processes. In a past accident, a diabetic patient called his physician for insulin Rx refill. The patient stated that his wife would come and pick up the insulin on her way from work. The physician was busy all day thus asked one of the interns, Jane, to refill the insulin and store it in the refrigerator. By evening, Jane had gone home and the doctor was still busy thus sent another intern, John, to find the labeled insulin RX and give it to the patient’s wife. However, the following morning after the patient inserted the new cartridge into the pen, he was found diaphoretic, unconscious, and glucometer was 2.5 mmol/L and dilated pupils. As a pharmacy technician, I was expected to chair and provide a critical incident analysis report that would determine what caused the complications and who was responsible for the error.
The report requires understanding what happened, why it happened and what can be done to reduce such an incident occurring in the future. Therefore, the first step entailed questioning all the parties involved from the physician and time of each request and what he was doing or the patient he was treating. Knowing such information provides the needed info to ensure that the doctor did not confuse the names of the insulin because he was treating another patient who uses a different type of insulin. Janes questioning provided limited information to determine the error although she does not remember whether she labeled the insulin or not. However, based on John’s statement, he found that only one package was unlabeled and since there was, no other insulin he was confident that Jane had forgotten to label thus went ahead and labeled it as insulin Rx refill before handing it to patient’s wife.
However, before John had retrieved and labeled the package, the lab technician had found an unlabeled package and was testing it to determine its content. The information demonstrates that Jane did not label the package, which caused all the errors whereas John’s assumption that the unlabeled package without seeking any confirmation led to the patient’s complications. The team decided to punish the two and promote labeling of packages before storing it in the refrigerator.
References
Clairmont, N. (2013, July 31). "Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." Really?. Big Think . Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/those-who-do-not-learn-history-doomed-to-repeat-it-really
FEMA. (2013). Emergency Preparedness Resources for Businesses. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.fema.gov/media-library/collections/357
Meyer, R. (2012). Failing to learn from experience about catastrophes: The case of hurricane preparedness. Journal Of Risk And Uncertainty , 45 (1), 25-50.
Sherwood, G. (2013). Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy: Maintaining Service during a Disaster. IT Professional , 15 (1), 4-7.
U.S. Small Businesses Administration. (2016). Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Plan. Retrieved December 13, 2018, from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/FINAL-2017-SBA-Disaster-Preparedness-Plan-signed.pdf
Wallace, J., Poole, C., & Horney, J. (2014). The association between actual and perceived flood risk and evacuation from Hurricane Irene, Beaufort County, North Carolina. Journal Of Flood Risk Management , 9 (2), 125-135.
