Nowadays, it is essential to introduce effective prevention strategies to avoid the negative consequences of the crisis. Nonetheless, it is impossible to control natural and manmade disasters, and incidents such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes tend to take place. To enhance the recovery process, different non-profit and governmental entities rapidly respond to these situations. For this discussion, I have selected three organizations (American Red Cross, FEMA, and the European Network for Traumatic Stress) that attempt to react to disasters promptly. Consequently, the primary goal of this post is to describe these organizations and understand their crisis-responding roles.
American Red Cross
In the first place, it could be said that the American Red Cross can be considered as one of the bright examples of non-profit organizations that focus on providing aid in different situations. Apart from blood donations, this institution specializes in post-disaster rehabilitation while offering help and required products and support to victims in need (“American Red Cross: Disaster relief”, 2017). American Red Cross highly relies on its volunteers, as these individuals are not indifferent to the lives of other people and eager to help in dissimilar situations. For example, the role of the American Red Cross in the rehabilitation process after natural disasters such as Hurricane Matthew, Superstorm Sandy, and tornadoes in Oklahoma cannot be underestimated (“American Red Cross: Disaster relief”, 2017). In these situations, this organization’s help was vital, as it provided shelters, psychological support, and products and clothes for people affected by these incidents.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Another organization is FEMA, and it is a governmental entity that responds to various hazards to diminish their adverse consequences (“FEMA: About the agency”, 2017). Its goals have similarities with the ones of the American Red Cross such as supplying affected individuals with required services and items such as medical assistance and products (“FEMA: About the agency”, 2017). Its crisis responding role also could not be underrated, and its actions helped it become an independent organization. For example, after Hurricane Katarina, FEMA paid vehement attention not only to the material needs of victims but also provided effective mental support by investing $52 million in it (James & Gilliland, 2017). FEMA also helped recover after other devastating disasters, but this case changed the perception of crisis-responding organizations while making psychological help an essential element of the rehabilitation process
The European Network for Traumatic Stress
Lastly, another selected organization is the European Network for Traumatic Stress, and it is funded by the European Union (James & Gilliland, 2017). Similarly, to organizations operating in the United States of America, this entity also offers support to people affected by various natural disasters by offering them psychological assistance (James & Gilliland, 2017). All organizations mentioned above highlight that it is necessary to provide qualified training to volunteers and professionals, as, otherwise, they will be affected by devastating stories of victims (Gift from Within, 1998). Consequently, one of the goals of the European Network for Traumatic Stress is to minimize stress levels among specialists and provide qualified psychological help, where it is unavailable. The role of this European entity is important since it changes the perception of the rehabilitation process while increasing the availability of psychological assistance in case of emergency in rural areas and countries with a lack of financial resources. Overall, the importance of these organizations cannot be underestimated since they not only supply the affected individuals with required products and items after disasters such as hurricanes, fires, and tsunamis but also offer psychological support to increase the speed of recovery.
References
American Red Cross: Disaster relief. (2017).
FEMA: About the agency. (2017). Web.
Gift from Within. (1998). When helping hurts: Sustaining trauma workers [Video file]. Web.
James, R., & Gilliland, B. (2017). Crisis intervention strategies. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.