[PDF] Lessons From Disaster eBook

Author : Thomas A. Birkland
Publisher : Georgetown University Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 20,18 MB
Release : 2006-11-07
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781589013599

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Even before the wreckage of a disaster is cleared, one question is foremost in the minds of the public: "What can be done to prevent this from happening again?" Today, news media and policymakers often invoke the "lessons of September 11" and the "lessons of Hurricane Katrina." Certainly, these unexpected events heightened awareness about problems that might have contributed to or worsened the disasters, particularly about gaps in preparation. Inquiries and investigations are made that claim that "lessons" were "learned" from a disaster, leading us to assume that we will be more ready the next time a similar threat looms, and that our government will put in place measures to protect us. In Lessons of Disaster, Thomas Birkland takes a critical look at this assumption. We know that disasters play a role in setting policy agendas—in getting policymakers to think about problems—but does our government always take the next step and enact new legislation or regulations? To determine when and how a catastrophic event serves as a catalyst for true policy change, the author examines four categories of disasters: aviation security, homeland security, earthquakes, and hurricanes. He explores lessons learned from each, focusing on three types of policy change: change in the larger social construction of the issues surrounding the disaster; instrumental change, in which laws and regulations are made; and political change, in which alliances are created and shifted. Birkland argues that the type of disaster affects the types of lessons learned from it, and that certain conditions are necessary to translate awareness into new policy, including media attention, salience for a large portion of the public, the existence of advocacy groups for the issue, and the preexistence of policy ideas that can be drawn upon. This timely study concludes with a discussion of the interplay of multiple disasters, focusing on the initial government response to Hurricane Katrina and the negative effect the September 11 catastrophe seems to have had on reaction to that tragedy.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 85 pages
File Size : 38,35 MB
Release : 1991-02-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 0309045460

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Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.

Author : Trevor A. Kletz
Publisher : Gulf Professional Publishing
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 44,96 MB
Release : 1993
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780884151548

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It is by avoiding accidents that the process industries will improve their public image. Lessons from Disaster focuses upon the apparent inability of organizations to learn, and retain in long-term, the lessons drawn from accidents. Incidents of a similar type continue to occur within companies repeatedly. Trevor Kletz illustrates this with detailed cases, which form a gold mine of experience and advice for every engineer. He offers, with his customary vision and imagination, his own advice on how to improve the corporate memory.

Author : Brian Toft
Publisher : Springer
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 14,61 MB
Release : 2016-07-27
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1349279021

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This compelling book offers an important insight into the way organizations implement policies and procedures to prevent future disasters occurring. The third edition includes an introductory chapter which demonstrates on a theoretical and practical level a number of reasons why individuals and groups of people fail to learn from disasters in the first place. Based on thorough research, Learning from Disasters is essential reading for all those involved in risk management, disaster planning and security and safety management.

Author : Gordon M. Goldstein
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 35,83 MB
Release : 2008
Category : National security
ISBN : 0805079718

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11th Subejct: National Security -- United States-- 20th century.

Author : Barbara Allen
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 29,3 MB
Release : 2013-09-13
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1134073380

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Disasters are the result of complex interactions between social and natural forces, acting at multiple scales from the individual and community to the organisational, national and international level. Effective disaster planning, response and recovery require an understanding of these interacting forces, and the role of power, knowledge and organizations. This book sheds new light on these dynamics, and gives disaster scholars and practitioners new and valuable lessons for management and planning in practice. The authors draw on methods across the social sciences to examine disaster response and recovery as viewed by those in positions of authority and the 'recipients' of operations. These first two sections examine cases from Hurricane Katrina, while the third part compares this to other international disasters to draw out general lessons and practical applications for disaster planning in any context. The authors also offer guidance for shaping institutional structures to better meet the needs of communities and residents.

Author : William Starbuck
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 30,89 MB
Release : 2009-02-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 140514260X

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The book offers important insight relevant to Corporate, Governmentand Global organizations management in general. The internationallyrecognised authors tackle vital issues in decision making, howorganizational risk is managed, how can technological andorganizational complexities interact, what are the impediments foreffective learning and how large, medium, and small organizationscan, and in fact must, increase their resilience. Managers,organizational consultants, expert professionals, and trainingspecialists; particularly those in high risk organizations, mayfind the issues covered in the book relevant to their daily workand a potential catalyst for thought and action. A timely analysis of the Columbia disaster and theorganizational lessons that can be learned from it. Includes contributions from those involved in the InvestigationBoard report into the incident. Tackles vital issues such as the role of time pressures andgoal conflict in decision making, and the impediments for effectivelearning. Examines how organizational risk is managed and howtechnological and organizational complexities interact. Assesses how large, medium, and small organizations can, and infact must, increase their resilience. Questions our eagerness to embrace new technologies, yetreluctance to accept the risks of innovation. Offers a step by step understanding of the complex factors thatled to disaster.

Author : Alejandro Lopez-Carresi
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 49,11 MB
Release : 2013-11-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1136179771

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There is a perennial gap between theory and practice, between academia and active professionals in the field of disaster management. This gap means that valuable lessons are not learned and people die or suffer as a result. This book opens a dialogue between theory and practice. It offers vital lessons to practitioners from scholarship on natural hazards, disaster risk management and reduction and developments studies, opening up new insights in accessible language with practical applications. It also offers to academics the insights of the enormous experience practitioners have accumulated, highlighting gaps in research and challenging assumptions and theories against the reality of experience. Disaster Management covers issues in all phases of the disaster cycle: preparedness, prevention, response and recovery. It also addresses cross-cutting issues including political, economic and social factors that influence differential vulnerability, and key areas of practice such as vulnerability mapping, early warning, infrastructure protection, emergency management, reconstruction, health care and education, and gender issues. The team of international authors combine their years of experience in research and the field to offer vital lessons for practitioners, academics and students alike.

Author : Matthew Clarke
Publisher : Earthscan
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 42,96 MB
Release : 2010
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1849775133

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On Sunday 26 December 2004, a tsunami of up to 30 metres high hit the northern tip of Sumatera in Indonesia, causing immediate destruction and the deaths of at least 130,000 in Indonesia alone. The scale of the devastation and ensuing human suffering prompted the biggest response endeavour to any natural disaster in history.Post-Disaster Reconstruction will be the first major book that analyses the different perspectives and experiences of the enormous post-tsunami reconstruction effort. It looks specifically at the reconstruction efforts in Aceh, one of the regions most heavily-hit by the tsunami and a province that has until recently suffered nearly three decades of armed conflict. Positioning the reconstruction efforts within Aceh's multi-layered historical, cultural, socio-political and religious contexts, the authors explore diverse experiences and assessments of the reconstruction. It considers the importance of the political and religious settings of the reconstruction, the roles of communities and local non-government organisations and the challenges faced by Indonesian and international agencies. From the in-depth examination of this important case study of disaster reconstruction - significant not only because of the huge scale of the natural disaster and response but also the post-conflict issues - the editors draw together the lessons learned for the future of Aceh and make general recommendations for post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction-making.

Author : Douglas A. Irwin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 211 pages
File Size : 19,84 MB
Release : 2011-10-21
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0262016710

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The extreme protectionism that contributed to a collapse of world trade in the 1930s is examined in light of the recent economic crisis. The recent economic crisis—with the plunge in the stock market, numerous bank failures and widespread financial distress, declining output and rising unemployment—has been reminiscent of the Great Depression. The Depression of the 1930s was marked by the spread of protectionist trade policies, which contributed to a collapse in world trade. Although policymakers today claim that they will resist the protectionist temptation, recessions are breeding grounds for economic nationalism, and countries may yet consider imposing higher trade barriers. In Trade Policy Disaster, Douglas Irwin examines what we know about trade policy during the traumatic decade of the 1930s and considers what we can learn from the policy missteps of the time. Irwin argues that the extreme protectionism of the 1930s emerged as a consequence of policymakers' reluctance to abandon the gold standard and allow their currencies to depreciate. By ruling out exchange rate changes as an adjustment mechanism, policymakers turned instead to higher tariffs and other means of restricting imports. He offers a clear and concise exposition of such topics as the effect of higher trade barriers on the implosion of world trade; the impact of the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930; the reasons some countries adopted draconian trade restrictions (including exchange controls and import quotas) but others did not; the effect of preferential trade arrangements and bilateral clearing agreements on the multilateral system of world trade; and lessons for avoiding future trade wars.