...Structural Collapse Fire fighters and other emergency rescue workers (first responders) have to contend with a variety of natural events causing collapsed structures such as earthquakes, fire, heavy snow accumulations, hurricanes, tornadoes, and landslides. Today, emergency responders face the added threat of entering buildings that have collapsed as a result of a terrorist attack. For example, the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, the second terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9-11-01 as well as the Pentagon. Not only do these emergency responders face the expected dangers upon entering a collapsed building such as natural gas leaks, fire, exposure to live electrical wiring, secondary collapse and insufficient oxygen, they may now have to face the unexpected hazards of secondary explosive devices and residual contamination from CBRN. As a means of mitigating these types of major disasters first responders, particularly firefighters have been asked to take on additional responsibilities which include the management of hazardous materials, confined space, water rescue and structural collapse. The attacks that occurred on 9/11 and the hurricanes that struck the gulf coast revealed shortcomings in response capabilities and demonstrated the need for increased training and preparation to respond to acts of terrorism and large-scale manmade and natural disasters. Recent history...
Words: 455 - Pages: 2
...1 2 Lets Go to the Movies: Crime is big on the silver screen and the tube as well. Here you need to choose two criminal justice –related movies, which you have seen to compare and contrast them both: In this essay I will compare the similarities and contrast the differences between two crime film openings. I will be comparing The Next Three Days' and 'The Hurricane'. I will analyze the two film openings and see how they establish their own crime film genre. Genre is a way of categorizing a film. From genre, producers are able to market their films to a target audience. With some films it is difficult to categorize them as a certain genre as they may contain more than one genre. A hybrid genre is a film, which contains more than one genre. An example of a hybrid genre is 'All about the Benjamin’s' the genres in this film are comedy, romance, crime and also drama. Most films nowadays are hybrid genre as they appeal to a larger audience. These films contain both genre of drama, romance, crime, suspense, and “wrongly accusations”. A glimpse of each movie: (1) The Next Three Days: This movie stars “just to name a few” Russell Crowe as John Brennan, Elizabeth Banks as Lara Brennan, Brian Dennehy as George Brennan, and Lennie James as Lieutenant Nabulsi. This movie is about a women by the name of Lara Brennan (Banks) which is convicted of murdering her boss after an altercation at work and after a trial is sentenced to life...
Words: 2549 - Pages: 11
...2012 Ruben “Hurricane” Carter American novelist Richard Powers once said, “We will live with racism forever but, senses of self, senses of belonging, senses of us and of others? Those are up for grabs.” What Powers is saying is racism will live among us until the end of time but, being able to have the decency to come together at a time of need is essential to our society. This reminds me of a song I once heard called Hurricane written by Bob Dylan; a 60’s American musician. Controversy in the 1960’s raised a lot of questions that influenced musicians such as Dylan to write songs regarding social and political issues; Hurricane describes the brutal story of Ruben Carter, a famous American boxer who was subjected to racism and wrongly accused of a murder crime he did not commit. Dylan told a detailed story where he used his song lyrics to take a strong stance on the case in favor of Carter’s innocence. Hurricane by Bob Dylan shows that racism in America is still in existence today. Dylan's tone of voice and its change from time to time play an outstanding effort in the conveyance of the situation at hand. The structure as well as the tone of Dylan's song is also clearly repetitive. Apart from the repetition promoting the song with rhythm it also helps with drawing the listener's attention to the parts that Dylan wants them to focus on. For example the tern 'Hurricane' which is also the title of Dylan’s song is repeated though out the entire song. The term Hurricane could be...
Words: 401 - Pages: 2
...Biographical Films Jenna Nelson December 12, 2014 JASS 248 Professor Erik Marshall Analysis Essay-The Five Heartbeats; The Film Genre of Biopics The Five Heartbeats (1991), directed by Robert Townsend, is a movie that I know all too well. This film effectively portrays the highs and the lows of the music industry and how it affects the members of a group. In this essay, I will analyze the cinematography, mis-en-scéne and the importance of music in films such as this one. I will also expound upon the genre of biographical films and how they contribute to society. Biographical films, or “biopics” represents the life history of an actual person or group. Unlike documentary film, biopics employ actors to play the roles of these individuals: they are dramatized, fictional films. Biopics are often marketed as being “inspired by” or “based on” the lives of famous people including entertainers, royalty, scientists and even criminals. Dennis Bingham conducted a study on biographical films and discusses and history of the biography. He also looks at the various forms of the biopic, including theatrical releases, made-for-television movies and short films. Bingham argues that biopics of women are structured so differently from male biopics as to constitute their own genre. The conventions of the female biopic have proven much more intractable than the male biopic. This is due to society’s difficulty with the very issue of women in the public sphere. The difficulty kept...
Words: 2412 - Pages: 10
...* E- Explanation elaborate on your topic sentence. * E- Evidence Quotes and techniques supporting your explanation * L- Linking sentence back to the question or topic sentence Introduction: Restate the question Introduce the text and author/ director Outline of main points Conclusion: Sum up what you have written If the question asks- give opinion Link back to question Language: persuasive, detailed and formal. Question: Take the role of the Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter. Explain why justice, was not achieved. In film the hurricane direct by Norman Jewison, it unleashes the character Rubin hurricane Carter who spends 22 years in jail for a crime that he didn’t commit. It looks at how he was treated in the court of law and whether his convictions were justly completed. The film the hurricane in my opinion showed a great deal of injustice due to the choices of the jurors, judges and police force. Injustice was highly pursed in the film the hurricane because of racial discrimination against him this was justified in the scene when the majority of the population referred to him and other black people as “coloured” this automatically lets us know that they saw him as if he wasn’t a human being. Although through the 22 years that Rubin carter served in jail he was eventually freed from jail but did not stop the fact that he spent his life in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. In conclusion justice was not served in this film even though the...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...An example of a trauma caused by a natural disaster is hurricanes. Hurricanes can cause people to lose their homes, their cars, and all of their other belongings. The people affected by this natural disaster have to relocate and live in shelters. An example of a personal trauma would be sexual assault. The potential affects these events have on the survivors are grief, sadness, anger, shock, and flashbacks( Shallcross, 2010). According to Shallcross, the survivors of hurricanes also have to rebuild homes and neighborhoods and reconnect with their family members. The survivors of sexual assault are depression, fear, anger, and guilt. The potential effects of these traumas on first responders can cause physical and psychological stress. The first responders of these traumas have fast heartbeats, can become emotionally scarred, and internalize effects on the survivors. The counselor’s role on treating the survivors of trauma is a very important one. All counselors must be trained in trauma-related crisis and know the basics of disaster response( Shallcross,2010). Counselors have a different role when treating first responders affected by trauma than survivors because the first responders are trained to save lives but when they cannot they are stricken with guilt. A mental health counselor could develop VT or STS by becoming too emotional involved with her client. For example, if a mental health counselor counsels a client and they are talking about the rape and the client...
Words: 467 - Pages: 2
...FEMA and Federalism Deanne Norgaard POL 120 - American National Government May 26, 2014 Season Hoard FEMA and Federalism The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a federal program designed to respond to natural emergencies and disasters all over our country. Its initial catalyst is a governor’s declaration of a disaster area. So when recent tornadoes touched down and cut a path of destruction through Illinois, particularly in the towns of Washington and Gifford, the governor made his declaration and FEMA was expected to spring into action. Upon examination however, FEMA ruled that despite seven fatalities and millions of dollars of damage, the area did not qualify for assistance. Both the Illinois governor and U.S. Senators were stunned and the state was left to respond to the emergency themselves. What is this federal policy and is it better than just having each state respond to its own issues? The qualifications to receive FEMA assistance are determined by the following: the amount and type of damage (major damage and number of homes destroyed); impact on the infrastructure of affected areas or critical facilities; imminent threats to public health and safety; impacts to essential government services and functions; unique capability of Federal government; dispersion or concentration of damage; level of insurance coverage in place for homeowners and public facilities; available assistance from other (Federal, state, local, voluntary organizations); and...
Words: 1120 - Pages: 5
... Leadership Failures of Hurricane Katrina Mark L. Perkins Webster University MNGT 6000 Professor Lee Trovas February27th2014 Abstract Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, not only because of the severity of the storm, which couldn’t be prevented, but due to poor planning and the years it took to rebuild and allow the people of New Orleans to move on with their lives.Hurricane Katrina happened four (4) years after the September 11th terrorist attacks and three (3) years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and one (1) year after the DHS had created a National Response Plan. With the world watching the Federal Government failed the people of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The government failed to show initiative and the ability to provide for the basic needs for the people of New Orleans on many levels, including planning, logistics and communication during the natural disaster and the aftermath of the storm. . Introduction I’m going to discuss several failures of leadership and not just on the federal government but on the city and state as well. There are too many to fault that are identified later in this disaster ranging from pre-planning, during the disaster and post disaster. Hurricanes are natural formations which occur...
Words: 3104 - Pages: 13
...the Internet; 2%, newspapers; 1% did not know. This presents the question, what is the role of mass media in the time of natural disasters? Mass media’s presence during disaster can expose a community’s strengths or weaknesses related to disaster preparedness. Media agenda is referred to as the deliberate coverage of topics or events with the goal of influencing public opinion and public policy (Barnes, et al., 2008). In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the gulf coast appeared to be in a panic. The media repeatedly highlighted the flaws in local, state, and federal emergency preparedness procedures. One should note that during this same time, there were many courageous and dangerous rescues made, all of which seemed to be over looked or over shadowed in the media presentation of events. With all the Media attention given to Katrina and emphasis placed on emergency preparedness, one would think that the general public’s attitude and perception would have changed; however, this was not the case. Interestingly enough the experience of Hurricane Katrina did not immediately increase Americans’ personal willingness to prepare for...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...Preparedness and Resilience Planning during Hurricane Sandy: Hurricane Sandy Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina University of Maryland University College Homeland Security Management: Resilience Planning and Preparedness for Disaster Response and Recovery (2152), Spring 2015 Written By: Brittany Wiley Introduction: Major Hurricane disasters along the coastlines have affected many cities and communities which have forced them to take into action and adopt the conception of emergency management, such as resilience planning, disaster preparedness, response and recovery planning. Mitigation preparedness plays an effective part in the emergency management plan. Many cities and communities must explore strategies to reduce the major impact these disasters have and implement resilience planning that will allow communities to rebuild. According to the National Disaster Recovery Framework (2011), “a successful recovery process promotes practices that minimize the community’s risk to all hazards and strengthens it’s ability to withstand and recover from future disasters, which constitute a community’s resiliency” (p. 11). Furthermore, Hurricane disaster’s not only expose community’s vulnerabilities but it gives them the opportunity to rebuild with more resiliency. When comparing two devastating Hurricane disasters that have impacted many cities, communities and lives; it’s important to consider Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey and New York. Both...
Words: 2725 - Pages: 11
...There is a significant difference between resilience and resistance. Resilience can be defined as a community’s ability to return to its former state after a disturbance. Resilience based approach to community development is founded on the belief that all citizens have the capability to rise above adversity and to thrive in spite of the adversity. Resilience theory is a strengths based model, which means attention is on giving the opportunities and supports that encourage life success, instead of attempting to get rid of the issues that promote failure. Sometimes resilience is confused with the idea of resistance. Resistance is an effort to stop or prevent disruptive events from occurring. Some strategies applied in resistance include physical countermeasures like creating firewalls to shield computer systems from attack. On the other hand, resilience presupposes that resistance might not always be an option and therefore incorporate the provision of or access to optional services and resources if the resistance approach fails. Resilience is not antithetical to resistance. Resilience encompasses resistance because if a society can resist an interruption, its resources are sufficient to prevent the interruption from reducing society functioning with no need for adaption. However, an approach that just directs resources towards resisting threats will almost surely be expensive, and maybe conflict with individual and societal liberties. Resilience is also much better...
Words: 1302 - Pages: 6
...personnel to save the lives of many. Any average person not working in a field relating to or participating in such volunteered practice events really doesn’t understand the time and effort it takes when a large incident takes place. Sadly during August 2005 there were four states hit by severe weather storm causing great tragedy. Due to the incidents that took place there were multiple agencies working around the clock across the states to save everyone they could, unfortunately not everyone was saved but there was an extreme effort to do so. Hurricane Katrina is now the eleventh named storm and fifth hurricane during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Today Katrina is known as the costliest natural disaster, and one of the five deadliest hurricanes known in the history of the United States. August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. This storm was given a Category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale due to the fact that it brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour and stretched over 400 miles. This storm did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was so catastrophic that it went down in history and is still known today which leaves many with a heavy heart. During this time there was massive flooding, and sadly people felt as though the federal government was to slow to meet the needs of the people who were affected by the storm. According to record hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
...historically been just that, managers of emergency situations. As the field of emergency management changes, more and more emphasis is being placed on the prevention of the emergency all together. This paper will lay out the frame work of emergency management in terms of total reorganization. The current model although tweaked many times is still response heavy, the new model will be more prevention and mitigation based, as will call for the total overhaul of conventional emergency management. Introduction The American public as an expectation that be it private or government on any level professional responders and emergency managers should be capable of handling any and all types of emergencies. They have an expectation be it fair or not that these responders should execute these responses without error. This expectation is only further fueled by popular television programs that depict stoic emergency managers that handle the large events everyday. In addition to emergency managers the same could be said about military commanders, and political leaders. The odd coincidence is that this was also the key duty that emergency managers have always focused on. The thought was that if a manager handles the call or event and creates good PR as a result, it will be considered a success, and tough questions as why it ever happened will be someone else’s problem. Ever since the inception of the modern day emergency management...
Words: 2787 - Pages: 12
...Seraphim Major Susan Washburn College Writing 04 December 2014 FEMA August 25, 2005 Hurricane Katrina tore through the coast lands. Taking people’s homes and everything they owned. Lives taken and people lost unable to be found within the debris. The inefficient performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina resulted from the failure of the administration of President Bush to respond (Outman). They should have done more. Hurricane Katrina, and the subsequent flooding that devastated New Orleans in August 2005, has posed the greatest challenge and evoked some of the harshest criticism the agency has ever faced. Due to Michael Brown’s lack of experience, Chertoff’s lack of responsibility, and President Bush’s response FEMA; hundreds of lives were lost. Alex Rich states, “FEMA was created by President Carter in 1979, elevated to Cabinet level in 1993, and incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, FEMA is charged with guiding the federal response to the nation's disasters both natural and man-made.” The agency manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration as well as helps prepare state and local emergency managers by providing first responder and emergency preparedness training. The Department of Homeland Security channels funding to federal operations and provides grants to state and local agencies. FEMA defers to state and local emergency teams to handle disasters at their...
Words: 1031 - Pages: 5
...Devastated, confused, panicked, outraged, and frightened. Undoubtedly, these words describe just a handful of emotions experienced by the victims of Hurricane Katrina during and in the days following its horrific landfall on the cities of Louisiana, Mississippi, and their neighboring states. Although not often viewed as such, authorities in positions slated to respond to the disastrous effects Katrina were a second type of victim of the hurricane. They were victims in authoritative positions who experienced the same feelings of dread and fear only to have it compounded by the knowledge that they were responsible to react and respond to the dread and fear of the masses. Using principles of critical thinking to describe how I would imagine being an authority figure expected to respond to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina is a daunting task. For my opinions and thoughts to not be considered as “biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or downright prejudiced” (Our Concept), thinking, especially when much of the reference material provided for the writing assignment could be interpreted as such, is challenging. It is understandable, however, how that type of thinking played out during the storm and its aftermath; how the actions of those in authority in the spur of the moment affected the overall outcome of the disaster because of the sheer enormity of it all. Clearly, had they had the luxury of time to think by “skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing”...
Words: 945 - Pages: 4
