Review of the week

This week you have:

• Discovered how emergency plans are created;
• Compared national emergency frameworks around the world; and
• Prepared your own outline emergency plan and shared this with fellow learners.

We have provided a resource list for this course which you might find useful in your further studies.

A reminder of the importance of resilient emergency preparedness

The Bhopal disaster in 1984 may have claimed the lives of up to 16,000 people and injured more than 500,000.

Watch the 2014 video ‘Bhopal: The deadly gas that enveloped an Indian city (available from the BBC News website)’. Learners should note that the video contains some disturbing images.

It was a terrible disaster and impacts are still being felt by the people of the region to this day.

The causes of the disaster have been analysed and discussed in great detail over the years but could it have been prevented?

If it could not have been prevented, would effective emergency arrangements have mitigated some of the worst consequences?

Regardless of the answers to these questions, this disaster illustrates the importance of robust emergency planning and preparedness.

Risks and consequences should be well understood and emergency plans should be clear on roles, responsibilities and actions.

The plan should form part of an overall emergency preparedness framework that ensures ongoing ownership and maintenance.

Your task

Reflect on other major disasters when an effective programme of planning and preparedness might have delivered better outcomes.