The chapters in Black’s book that I found the most helpful pertained to situations that I had yet to even think about. “Bhopal, Chernobyl, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and large scale computer crime foreshadow the disasters we will face in the future. […] You can live your life in denial and blame other for your own failures. The lazy among us will most certainly do that. The smart ones will prepare and take responsibility for themselves.” (Black, 8) Both natural and man-made disasters can happen anytime, and in our day, are becoming more prevalent. Being a student growing up in Wisconsin I was taught how to take cover if there were to be a tornado, where to go if there was a school shooter, and how to contact emergency personnel when need be. What I was failed to …show more content…
In our day and time, we face an unfathomable number of social and political disputes that often give rise to the use of violence in many forms. Besides man-made bombs, explosions can result from natural causes as well. Being sure to have a designated safe zone for your family to move to in the result of a volcanic eruption can mean the difference between life and death. Thanks to Black, I now know what to do if a bomb threat were to be made. I can better protect my family and peers by calling the police, signaling for evacuating of the building and being sure that everyone is out of the way of windows, glass doors, and other hazardous areas. Unfortunately, man-made explosions often come at unexpected times when the victims are most vulnerable. I have also better prepared by family by refurbishing their memories on first aid procedures that might result from these disasters. This way if injuries were to result they would know how to treat not only themselves but the people who are unable to help
...nd others for injuries, look for and extinguish small fires, inspect your home for damage, listen to the radio for instructions, and expect aftershocks.
When a change like an emergency happens people panic because they don’t know how to respond. In “From Simplexity” the author, Jeffrey Kluger, talked about when people are hit with an emergency, like during September 11, 2001, they are struck with panic and are confused on what they should do. The text states, “The people who stayed behind in both towers on September 11, 2001-or waited too long before trying to leave-bore no responsibility for what happened to them that morning. They were, instead, twice victimized-once by the men who hijacked the planes and took so many lives; and once by the impossibly complex interplay of luck, guesswork, psychology, architecture, and more that is at play in any such mass movement of people. Fear plays a role, so does bravado, so does desperation” (Kluger 129). The people inside the twin tower panic because they don’t know what to do. They look to others for
Drea Knufken’s thesis statement is that “As a society, we’ve acquired an immunity to crisis” (510-512). This means that humans in general, or citizens of the world, have become completely desensitized to disasters, we think of them as just another headline, without any understanding of their impact upon fellow
In making the decisions to protect people’s lives from hazards and disasters, evacuations sometimes become necessary. Of course early in the reaction to the incident, or the response phase, this may become a decision for local and state emergency managers. The San Diego, California wildfire which occurred in October 2007 caused a large scale evacuation. This essay is an analysis, and identification of lessons learned from the evacuation incident. As well a plan of personal recommendations and improvements will be made based on information covered in the National Housing strategy, and Robert Stafford Act.
Black Holocaust for Beginners “Death Ships”, is a realistic, and trapping article about the slave trade. Instead of the former stories on slavery and giving it a general description telling reader how slavery is bad and slavery is immoral, this article goes in and describes what it was like in a slave ship. It made the reader feel the pain of the middle passage in every page.
After the initial explosion, dead and wounded remained everywhere, fires reduce buildings to ashes and persist out of control, leaving the city in utter chaos. Dr. Fujii, Father Kleinsorge, and Mr...
Fire safety education is a crucial aspect of fire prevention. The general public needs to know how big of a threat fire is to them and how they can do things in their everyday lives to improve their safety, as well as preventing the threat of fire to begin with. The commission also realized that it was critically important that people know how to properly act once a fire has started. It is important that people have the knowledge to act quickly, safely, and effectively. When people don’t understand fire they can react in many negative ways such as panicking, not evacuating effectively, or by trying to fight a fire that they are not going to be able to extinguish. All these human reactions can decrease safety and end with tragic results. In the commission’s report they approximate that nearly 70 percent of all building fires were due to people acting carelessly because they did not understand the fire dangers that were present. The commission cited studies like one conducted in southeast Missouri. In the southeast Missouri community, a huge emphasis was put into public fire safety education because the fire death rate of the community was much higher than the national average. After increasing fire safety education in the community it was no surprise that the rate of deaths and injuries decreased
When complicated systems fail catastrophically, there are processes that aim to fulfill three general objectives. One, is to assign blame, another, to understand what happened and what why it happened. Last, is to fix the specific feature or problem so that disaster will not happen again. In the article “Blowup” published in 1996 by The New Yorker, author Malcolm Gladwell examines catastrophes such as the Challenger explosion, and the near-disaster at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. He begins by defining the “rituals of disaster,” [1] a modern process in which physical evidence is collected and scrupulously analyzed to form a conclusion, and further explores the sociological aspects surrounding disasters, tying them to the human
“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”(Lyndon Johnson). For generations in the United Stated, ethnic minorities have been discriminated against and denied fair opportunity and equal rights. In the beginning there was slavery, and thereafter came an era of racism which directly impacted millions of minorities lives. This period called Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system up in till mid 1960s. Jim Crow was more than just a series of severe anti-Black laws, it became a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were positioned to the status of second class citizens. What Jim Crow did is represented the anti-Black racism. Further on, In 1970’s the term “War on Drugs” was coined by President Richard Nixon . Later President Ronald Reagan officially declared the current drug war. In reality the war had little to do with drug crime and a lot to do with racial politics. The drug war was part of a strategy of used by the government. The President identified drug abuse as national threat. Therefore, they called for a national anti-drug policy, the policy began pushing for the involvement of the police force and military in drug prohibition efforts. The government did believe that blacks or minorities were a cause of the drug problem. They concentrated on inner city poor neighborhoods, drug related violence, they wanted to publicize the drug war which lead Congress to devote millions of dollars in additional funding to it. The war on drugs targeted and criminalized disproportionably urban minorities. There for, “War on Drugs” results in the incarceration of one million Americans ...
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
Published 40 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois details the struggle and strife that black Americans still endure. The ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments gave a glimmer of hope for racial equality, only to incur additional problems. Jim Crow laws and the ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson nullified much of what the amendments stood for, and the struggle continued for black Americans. While racial discrimination limits many of the features of equality for blacks, Du Bois suggests that the Negro community, as a whole, plays a significant role in the fight for racial equality; the struggle is not based solely in politics, hence the ‘Negro Problem’ (12). Du Bois’ solution to the ‘Negro Problem’ contrasts with that of Booker T. Washington. I believe that Du Bois displays more forethought and development in his plans for education and enlightenment, rather than Washington’s strategy for economic and industrial dominance.
After the tragedies of 9/11 and even hurricane Katrina, the nation was stunned at how a superpower such as the United States could experience such traumatic tragedies and not have been prepared to handle, protect or efficiently assist its citizens. The question after 9/11 was how do we prevent this tragedy from occurring again? How can the country be more prepared? These thoughts gave way to the early formulation of the risk assessment in 2001 that initially associated risk directly proportional to the population of an area. This formula later turned out to be an ineffective method. As the Department of Homeland Security was created and its mission expanded from not only counterterrorism, but to include non-terrorism threats such as natural or man-made disasters...
Finally, safety is the number one priority in order to survive and recover from any major catastrophic event. Education is the key to prevention. Know your local area and common disasters that occurs in that particular area. Knowing what they are and how to protect yourself will in terms help the recovery and healing process faster and easier for you and your family.
Communities throughout the country and the world are susceptible to disasters. The environment and location of a community often predisposes a greater susceptibility to the type of disaster. For example Central Pennsylvania would not be susceptible to an avalanche however communities in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado would have increase vulnerability. Understanding the types of disaster for which the community is susceptible is essential for emergency preparedness (Nies & McEwen, 2011). All communities are susceptible to man-made disasters; terrorism, fires, and mass transit accidents and emergency preparedness are essential. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is responsible for disaster planning.
Arson is one of the oldest crimes recognized throughout the world. It is defined as the intentional and malicious burning of a structure or building (Montaldo). Arson can cost the lives of individuals and the damages can be costly. In 2010, there were about 260,600 fires (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Many of these fires were intentionally set. These fires have resulted in an estimated 390 deaths, 1,340 injuries, and $1.2 billion in damages (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Most of the fires have occurred outside, but most of the deaths, injuries, and losses occurred in structures, particularly in homes (“Arson and Intentional Fires,” n.d.). Arson is considered to be a property crime to law enforcement agencies, despite that the fires created by the arsonist can injure and kill many people. This paper will discuss the history of arson as well as explaining why arson is difficult to prove, why people commit it, and also provides specific case examples and suggestions on what people can do to reduce the risk of arson.