DISASTER MANAGEMENT

MALEKANO HAMPSON
Definition of disaster.
 A Disaster is an event associated with the impact
of a human-induced or natural hazard which lead
to increased mortality, illness and/or injury and
destroy or disrupt livelihood which affects people
of an area such that them and/or outsiders
perceive it as being exceptional and requires
external assistance for recovery.
Classification
 Natural.
 Man-made.
Causes of disasters
Natural
 Floods. E.g. Tsunami
 Earthquakes.
 Drought/Famine.
 Winds e.g. Cyclone, Typhoons.
 Tornadoes.
 Wild fires (inferno).
Man-made
 Road traffic accident.
 Drug/food poisoning.
 Industrial fires.
 War.
 Epidemics.
 Plane crashes.
 Riots
 Factory explosions.
 Deforestation
Disaster management.
There is a disaster management plan at :
 National level.
 Provincial level.
 District level.
At all these levels there should be:
 Policy
 Disaster management team.
 Resources. i.e. manpower, equipment,
supplies, transport, space and money.
 Only the President of the country declares an
event a national disaster after receiving advice,
information and recommendation from the
National Disaster Management committee.
 The Vice-President has the authority and
overall responsibility for national disaster
management and coordination in Zambia.
National level
The National Disaster Management plan
 This is approved by the National Disaster
Management including mitigation,
preparedness response and recovery measures.
 Updating of the NDMP is carried out once a
year and reviewed and updated after a state
disaster.
 When a state of disaster is declared, the
National Coordinator prepares a post-
disaster reconstruction, Rehabilitation
and Recovery plan which is approved by
the Technical committee for implementation
at National; provincial and district level as
appropriate.
Committees
1. National Disaster Management Committee
Composed of the;
 Vice- President (Chairperson),
 Ministers of; – Defence, Health, Agriculture,
Energy and Water Development, Environment and
Natural Resources, Finance and National Planning,
Transport and Communication, Community
Development and Social Services, Mines and
Works and Supply.
 Provincial Deputy Ministers may be co-opted into
the committee when need arises.
 The committee’s functions are to provide policy
guidelines for disaster prevention, preparedness
and mitigation.
2. National Disaster Management Technical
Committee
Comprises of;
 the National Coordinator,
 Permanent Secretaries.
Function
 To recommend policy and programme direction,
 Coordinate the implementation of decisions.
3. The National Disaster Management and
Mitigation Unit (DMMU)
 Acts as the central planning, coordination and
monitoring institution for disaster management
and post disaster recovery etc.
 Subcommittees consists of technical officers,
disaster managers in line ministries, members
from defence forces,
 Police, NGO’s concerned with disasters and other
agencies e.g. World Food Programme, ZESCO,
WHO, ZAMTEL, PAM, Red Cross Society, FAO,
and UNZA.
 There are also Provincial Disaster
Management Committees and District
Disaster Management Committees which
comprise of Heads of Governmental
Departments and NGOs.
Functions
 Prepare districts disaster preparedness and
mitigation plans, mobilise resources,
implement training programmes, assess
particular hazards facing the districts etc.
Guiding principles in disaster management
 Prior planning.
 Effective communication.
 Rapid mobilisation of human resources.
 Effective mobilization of material.
 Effective collaboration.
Management plan
 There should be prior preparation of resources
i.e. personnel with clear outlined roles, equipment
and supplies readily available.
 Communication – line of communication is
defined.
 Line of communication between the sit of the
disaster and the hospital to be known in advance.
 Staff education.
 Performance drills every 3 months is conducted.
 For deploy teams, roles and responsibilities should
be clearly established.
Preventive measures
 Disaster prevention means measures or actions
taken to avoid, eliminate, prevent or reduce
harmful natural or human adverse phenomena or
hazards from causing or resulting in disaster.
 Early warnings. Flood disasters can be prevented
by early warnings of possible floods, timely
analysing and understanding of meteorological
information and quickly acting upon it.
 Following International regulations. Industrial
and transportation disasters could be prevented by
following Road traffic regulations e.g. control
speed limits, regular maintenance of passenger
carrying vessels.
 Fire disasters can be prevented by strictly
adhering to and following internationally
recognised occupational and industrial
guidelines and regulations.
 Equipping towns and cities with adequate
appropriate fire fighting equipment.
END OF LECTURE