0.8 9. informal disaster response

Objectives:

To understand patterns of victim and non-victim responses and emergent groups

To know some of the myths that surface in disasters

We examine typical responses of victims to disasters. We also consider the responses of non-victims, including spontaneous volunteers, donated goods, and mass assault. Disaster myths are exposed concerning evacuation, shelter, panic, looting, and others. We discuss the usefulness of the Disaster Research Center’s typology on emergent groups.

Example 1

Linda davis

Description of Principle: “An effective way to serve those indirectly affected is to design emergency response plans in anticipation of the ‘need to do something’” (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 310)

Justification: Disaster management teams must come to expect that spontaneous volunteers will be compelled to help after a disaster. The efforts of these volunteers can have “had positive impacts both for the local community and for the volunteers themselves” if disaster managers are prepared for the influx of volunteers (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 303). Volunteering can help provide a feeling of solidarity in a community, and “by doing something altruistic that benefitted others, they transformed the negative into something positive, thereby experiencing their power to influence their environment” (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 309)

Social Work Relevance: Social workers involved in disaster management must “understand the need to volunteer and the positive impacts provided by volunteering” (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 309). Social workers can be organizers and advocates for volunteers because “public officials often do not take (volunteers) into account in community emergency management planning and misunderstand both the reasons behind their emergence and the roles they play in disaster-related community problems” (Stallings&Quarantelli, 1985, p. 94). By using a “community as a resource” model, social workers can “contribute significantly to the overall health of a community by preparing citizens to be soft mitigation resources and proactively engaging them as agents in their own and their community response and recover” (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 310).

Related Definitions:

Volunteerism: contribution of time without coercion or remuneration for public benefit (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 294)

Spontaneous Volunteers: those individuals who contribute on impulse immediately after a disaster (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 294)

External convergence: when people move into a disaster area (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 294)

Internal convergence: when people move to specific sites within a disaster area (Lowe&Fothergill, 2003, p. 294)

Emergent groups: groups of citizens that emerge around perceived needs or problems associated with both natural and technological disaster situations (Stallings&Quarantelli, 1985, p. 94)

Illustrations:

These pictures demonstrate some of the tasks that volunteers can accomplish as part of the informal disaster response. Volunteers can provide everything from manual labor to blood if disaster management is prepared to integrate them into the work.

Example 2

Brodie mueller

Principle : People need to help. (Lowe&Fothergill (2003). A Need to Help:

Emergent Volunteer Behavior after September 11th. Pp.293-314 in Beyond

September 11th: An Account of Post-Disaster Research: Special Publication

#39. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information

Center, University of Colorado. )

Justification - Lowe and Fothergill share many testimonials of people who

responded to 9/11 and shared their overwhelming need to help those affected

and the urge to do something; anything. It helps us as humans to ease the

psychological burden of surviving the disaster and then needing to help those

who have been negatively impacted.

Social Work Relevance : They have an urge or psychological need to help their

community and as social workers we need to honor and use this for self

empowerment. It is difficult with social agencies because not everyone has

skills, but these experiences are important for easing internal pain or urge to

do something.

Definition : Emergent Groups: Groups of citizens that for to help with disaster

relief or tasks, groups that were not otherwise in existence.

Non-emergency time groups: Groups that continue to function after the disaster

has passed and work towards disaster mitigation and preparation.

(Stallings&Quarantelli (1985). Emergent Citizen Groups and Emergency

Management. Public Administration Review 45, January, P. 96)

Illustration