Commonly referred to as CM, consequence management is the measures put into place for restoration of essential services from the government and partnering agencies. The primary reasons are to provide emergency relief to affected institutes that include businesses, governments, and individuals who have been adversely hit by the aftermath of nuclear, biological, chemical or/and high – yield explosive situations. In the administration of consequence management within a local area, the assistance required is mostly allocated by the relevant authorities that collaborate with the government for quick responses.
To successfully deploy response mechanisms that are used in ensuring that the country has been restored and relief is provided where needed, the National Response Framework – NRF (2008) is the critical guide on how all incidences of hazards are handled. Some of the key roles of National Response Framework are to delineate the response doctrines, structures, and responsibilities of the country. Moreover, it ensures that systematic incident management approaches are established countrywide. Furthermore, NRF provides that the guidelines of preparedness in the Nation and planning requirements are reflected upon. Among the fundamental principles of doctrine response emphasized by the National Response Framework include the engagement of partnership whereby all leaders are expected to effectively communicate and actively support the commitment of collaboration through the development of goals and capabilities. The main purpose of this doctrine is to ensure that no one including victims and the rescue teams are overwhelmed in cases of a crisis. Besides the NRF facilitates tiered response which entails a conditional management of incidences under the lowest available jurisdiction level which can be boosted by any supplementary capabilities that may be required.
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In the response plan, the NRF ensure that the response capabilities are adaptable to the changing sizes, complexity and scope of the incidences. Hence, the response operational capabilities must be flexible, scalable and adaptable. The response must also enact combined efforts and commands for the participating organizations to play their roles efficiently and with readiness to act.
Key Tasks Related To the Three Phases of Effective Response
As mentioned earlier, the NRF highlight the essential processes highlighted in response and the initial step is planning in which all partners are expected to train, organize, equip and exercise for improvement in response. Moreover, in designing the policies, procedures, strategies and structures of response are formulated for effectiveness. The next phase is to respond to the crisis which will depend on the magnitude, size and complexity of the situation. Under this phase, the stakeholders involved developing the situational awareness in which the incidence is closely monitored collecting relevant information that will help respond effectively. Finally, the last phase of response is recovering whereby the survivors of the impact are individually assisted through meeting their needs and sustaining them. The uses of public health together with safety services are allocated in this phase to help revive the lives of the victims.
An example of an incident in the United States that made use of the consequence management is the 9/11 terrorist attack whose complexity got the response team off guard but through their doctrines and plans the situation was handled and managed to the end. While the plan for response may not have prepared for the complexity of the 9/11, the response team did their best in recovering buried persons and sustaining the families whose breadwinners lost their lives in the crisis. After the response, the country was able to enact policies that would tackle terrorism. The government ensured that the victims of the crisis received health care that included therapy for those who were traumatized. Moreover, the leader of the group responsible for the terror attack was hunted down by the US government and killed, hence an efficient way to recovery of the situation.
Conclusion
From the 9/11 crisis, all the phases of response were essential, but the recovery played a big role in ensuring that the people of America, the economy and relationship with the Islamic nations was restored. In the quest to bring back the country on its feet, it was this phase that facilitated strength for its people and ability to start a new life despite various challenges impacted to the nation.
References
FEMA. (2008). National Response Frameworks. Homeland Security.
