Question

Think up a hypothetical emergency or large-scale disaster scenario that affects a large population of people and a vast area. The scenario can be natural or manmade in nature. Some examples of natural disasters could be hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis, floods, infectious disease outbreaks, and forest fires. Some examples of manmade disasters could be suicide bombings, workplace or school shootings, radiological, biological, or chemical attacks, poisonings, water supply contaminations, mass power outages, arsons, building or bridge collapses, and infrastructure or food, water and heating supply sabotage. Use this hypothetical scenario to answer the critical incident response question sets below.

Is the management of public relations crucial during the recovery process? How could information be relayed to the public to assure them that everything that needs to be done is being done? How could some of the survivor's mental health have been affected by the disaster? Should crisis counselors be sought to deal with the survivors and victims of the disaster?

1/2 to 1 page total response length please and thank you.

Answer 1

TOPIC: Arson Attack – Hypothetical situation

An arson attack happened in our city recently. Apparently, some terrorists had made their way into our country at midnight and set the buildings on fire. They were a group of 13 men, all below the age of 25, as shown on the television. They came here and have lit up a huge chunk of the city in the name of religion. It was 3 a.m in the morning when nearby people heard screaming and yelling from the buildings. People were rushing towards the stairs to get out of the building. A large number of people lost their lives in the fire. The others lost their lives in the stampede. The apartments were blazing with fire. The flames were high. The fire engine was called to put out the fire, but there was only so many people the firefighters could rescue from the buildings. The fire engines of the other colonies were called for help and they too came to the people’s rescue. But by then, a lot of damage had already been done to the property, buildings, people, and animals.

This attack got everyone in the city scared. The nearby buildings were evacuated. The hospitals were full of injured people. Many suffered severe third-degree burns. Our city mayor has asked for help from the state. We are now receiving special relief funds from the government, and medical staff to treat the affected people. Out of the 13 terrorists who are the cause of this disaster, 8 of them have fled, but we have managed to get hold of 5 of them. Our police department is investigating the case to find out how they managed to cross the border and cause such an attack. The department has handed them over to the higher officials to further carry out the investigation in full capacity.

The management of public relations is of utmost importance during this time. The government and the authorities have to make sure that there is no misinformation being spread. There is a need to make a brief, factual description of the situation and proceed with initial response actions. They have to assure the public that they have the situation under control and that everything will eventually work out just fine. They have to do all this while keeping in mind not to mislead the public by painting a happy picture of the reality of a bad situation. They need to make a statement about people returning to business as usual. They also need to give a word to the already panicked public that the government will strive to make available essentials like food, water and electricity, and allot special fund to help the area cope with such a loss and a shock.

The survivors of the attack could be wounded not only physically, but mentally too. During this state, their mental health is very fragile and they are very vulnerable. Steps must be taken to not only treat them physically but see that they are being taken care for their mental health too. Such sudden situations could cause survivors to get PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that occurs when a person is subjected to a situation that caused him trauma from the experience. The appointment of crisis counsellors would be a great option to help the victims and survivors of the disaster. This could help them deal with their traumatic stress in an optimistic way and put them back on track as early as possible.