An incident commander coordinates teams of individuals with varying specializations and serves as a central point of contact for the network management of agencies and emergency responders during disasters.
The tragedies in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, were unprecedented and challenged emergency responders in New York City and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, as they worked to provide around-the-clock recovery assistance following the deadly attacks. Emergency responders from across the country and from around the world responded to assist, and a valuable lesson learned was that no single organization existed in the U.S. to provide policy, standards, and centralized ways for emergency service organizations to communicate. The Department of Homeland Security was established to provide a federal-level organization with policy, oversight, and training responsibilities for the Nation. With the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, there has been significant growth in the emergency management field, including the efficacy of emergency network management.
With this growth, comprehensive policies and processes are needed to allow organizations to effectively plan, administer, and respond to emergencies and events. These policies and processes must be evaluated regularly to determine if changes are needed to improve the management of emergency situations. Theories based on research can help emergency management practitioners better understand a problem, develop new ideas to approach it, and shape policy in various areas to address it.
Scenario
Your city routinely handles a large event that requires support from state and federal organizations. An audit of the emergency network management of the event has disclosed gaps in the ways that the different organizations involved communicate with each other, which has affected the efficacy of their responses during incidents. Specifically, there is a perception that state and federal organizations have been more concerned about their authority and hierarchical standing than with collaborating to reach common goals with city and local professionals. Leaders in your organization have asked for your recommendation on how to improve interagency collaboration in this scenario using models of communication based on scholarly theories.
Preparation
- Select a large event in your area to use as an example scenario for this assessment, such as a sporting event, performance, festival, parade, fair, trade show, conference, race or marathon, holiday celebration, or another themed gathering that requires a network of communications for emergency purposes.
- Select two theories of interagency collaboration that could be applied to managing the emergency communication network in the selected scenario. Research the collaboration models proposed by each theory.
Assessment Deliverable
Using evidence-based theories, write an 875- to 1,050-word executive summary of interagency collaboration models as if you were assisting an incident commander at an agency where you need to communicate your ideas about network management with the executive leaders of the city’s emergency response team.
Include the following information with supportive evidence from your research:
- Summarize 2 interagency collaboration theories that could be applied to managing the emergency communication network in the selected scenario.
- Explain how each theory is appropriate for the scenario. Identify similarities and differences between the 2 theories or their advantages and disadvantages.
- Identify the theory that you recommend as most appropriate for improving communication in this scenario. Based on the elements of the theory, explain how interagency relationships between city, state, and federal organizations in this scenario can become more effective by using the recommended model of collaboration for emergency management.
Cite at least 2 scholarly sources according to APA guidelines.
