Premium Essay

Volunteers Role in Disaster Management

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Nuniye
Words 419
Pages 2
Volunteers are group of people who actively take on tasks and responsibilities with no order or monetary reward. They are determined to give their time and effort to a cause. There is usually a large Volunteer presence that emerges in the aftermath of major disaster. Volunteers have tangible monetary value in terms of the reduction in actual labor costs that would have been required in the absence of volunteer. They also contribute financially by speeding up the recovery process. Disaster is an event where additonal man power is needed, it is in the best interest of the disaster operations to harness the efforts of the volunteers. Well treated volunteers will have a positive energy which can spread to the disaster victims. It is vital that the disaster management official as utilize these resources properly.

There are two types of volunteers: spontaneous and NGO volunteers. The spontaneous volunteers are those who are not part of any organization but who appear at the scene of disaster. The volunteer group possess skills, training and experience that can not be ignored by those managing the disaster. The problem is that, they make lack the specific training needed for the disaster and inexperienced volunteers tend to hinder rather than help the response and recovery operation. So it crucial to prepare the volunteers appropriately before the disaster occurs. There should be effective public preparedness program that exceeds simply raising the awareness of hazard but also trains the public to perform specialized actions. Public education is the most effective method in involving volunteers in community preparedness programs and activities. Methods of public education includes: mass media, schools, organizations, businesses, libraries, special events(emergency training day) and so on.

The first step is creating awareness about the Hazard and risks. The

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Assessment of Volunteers Performance of Cyclone Preparedness Programme from Community Point of View

...biggest contributing factor for the proneness to disasters. Due to the funnel shaped coast, Bangladesh often becomes the landing ground and breeding place of catastrophic cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal. The high number of casualties is due to the fact that cyclones are always associated with storm surges. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) is being a joint venture with the Government of Bangladesh, The CPP is an organic component of the nation’s institutional early warning system as clearly defined in the “Standing Order on Disasters”. The BDRCS CPP program is the most successful and an effective model program of its kind in the South-East Asian region. CPP is an effective, grass-root oriented, disciplined and tightly knits organization which is dedicated to the task of protecting the population along with community capacity build up activities. This programme based on the voluntary service of community people and their technical skills and commitment to ensure sufficient warning dissemination, shelter management, search & rescue and first aid services enabling them to cope with the approaching cyclone. This study has been Vol. 2 No. 2 December 2009 u 15 carried out to find the communities perspective about the volunteers performance in time of disaster event. Keywords: Preparedness, warning dissemination, rescue, first aid, risk reduction. Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Its geographic location...

Words: 3514 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

Assignment 1: the American Red Cross (Arc)

...members, politicians and the media for allocating a portion of its Liberty Fund towards future terrorist attacks, rather than addressing the needs of those who were directly affected on September 11. The three main operation fund resources are contributions, revenues from products and their services, and investment income from other sources. These funds come from corporate, foundation and individual giving, which includes the United Way, federal, wills and grants. Large donations are received from such corporation as Wal-Mart and the GE Foundation. The American Red Cross uses the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to support the American people who are victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year. The funds assist the Red Cross in meeting the immediate needs, such as shelter, food, and critical mental health counseling. Most recipients have been impacted by natural disasters like hurricanes, house fires, floods, tornadoes, and winter storms. Business ethics includes the principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business. The ethical behavior of a company is being judged and determined by its stakeholders. They may not always be right but their judgment affects the company’s reputation in society. There are several benefits of business ethics. Ethics contribute to investor loyalty – ethical conduct results in shareholder loyalty and can contribute to success that supports even broader social causes and concerns. The American Red Cross failed...

Words: 1092 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Ambulence

...A competent ambulance volunteer is expected to have certain characteristics that would enable them to overcome difficulties and emergencies. The results of this study indicate that courage, composure, optimistic attitudes and spirit of cooperation are the four most vital characteristics for an ambulance volunteer. Based on our study, we strongly recommend ambulance organizations to provide practical training with self-rescue knowledge, build optimistic attitudes and cultivate spirit of cooperation when training volunteers. 1.0 Introduction In nowadays society, increased attentions are gathered on public safety emergencies. Amongst one of the most important rescue and evacuation tools, the demand for ambulance is increasing rapidly. However, not everyone is suitable for handling ambulances. This study explores the qualities and characteristics individuals ought to have to become a successful ambulance volunteer, and provides recommendations for ambulance organizations on how to hire the appropriate personnel. All data and findings used in this report are obtained from official websites and academic journals. 2.0 Findings According to Shylen (2008), the demand for ambulance services is increasing dramatically in Australia, but the number of ambulance volunteers is gradually decreasing, with obvious drop-offs in numbers certain volunteer positions. These positions need a large amount of new employees. The qualities and characteristics the volunteers should have are listed...

Words: 1506 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

The American Red Cross

...(employee commitment, investor loyalty, customer satisfaction, and bottom line). The American Red Cross (ARC), also identified as the “The Face of Recovery”, is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. The ARC is a non-profit organization that offers services in five areas of society. The community service sector helps citizens that are in need. In the communication sectors, the ARC provides comfort for military members and their families. The collection, processing and distribution of blood and blood products are also services provided by the ARC. There are also educational services on preparedness, health, and safety which are imperative for recovery acts. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive Atlantic Hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes. Hurricane Rita hit the coast of Louisiana and Texas only a month later and was even larger category 3 storm (Ferrell, Ferrell, Fraedrich 2011). The ARC raised more than 2 billion in private donations to fund massive relied efforts for both these disasters (Ferrell, Ferrell, Fraedrich 2011). Now let’s examine how this disaster impacted the ARC, benefits of business ethics. Business ethics’ is the application of ethical values, such as integrity, fairness, respect and openness, to business behavior. The American Red Cross was criticized for their...

Words: 1377 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Red Cross Ethical Dilemmas

...help those who need disaster relief assistance. The ARC has helped with the World Wars and numerous other wars that the U.S was in. They provide relief to over 70,000 disasters each year. However, within the last decade they have been widely criticized for their response to two major disasters in the US as well as erratic leadership position moves causing concern that the organizational focus is lost. In addition, their control problems extended into the mismanagement of funds and ARC is made up of 500,000 volunteers and 35,000 employees, and at the top there is a 12-20 member governing board of directors. Over the last ten years, there has been numerous individuals in the CEO role because their predecessors were released for misconduct. The organization is further tarnished for the large severance packages that are handed to the dismissed executives. Critics have observed that leadership focus for a good chunk of two years went into searching for the right leadership rather than management of goals and infrastructure. The lack of control extended out to blood donation program where there was a lack of communication with the blood testing facilities. The disasters of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 were two of the biggest events where relief and assistance were needed. Both instances resulted in a delayed and apparent apathetic response from the ARC. In addition to the disasters themselves, the funding raised to help this relief effort were mismanaged. Volunteers had unauthorized...

Words: 665 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Foreign Exchange Market

...UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI PROJECT ON “ .” SUBMITTED BY AMARKUMAR SURYAWANSHI ROLL NO.: 38 ADVANCED ACCOUNTANCY PART 1 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF COMMERCE 2015-16 UNDER THE GUIDENCE OF PROF. VINOD CHANDWANI VIDYA PRASARAK MANDAL, THANE K.G.JOSHI COLLEGE OF ARTS & N.G. BEDEKAR COLLEGE OF COMMERECE CHENDANI BUNDER ROAD, THANE-400601 Declaration I, student of M.Com. (Part - I) Roll No. : 38 hereby declare that the project title “disaster management ” for the subject strategic management submitted by me for semester - I of the academic year 2015-16, is based on actual work carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of PROF.vinodchadwani. I further state that this work is original and not submitted anywhere else for any examination. PLACEAmarkumarSuryawanshi ROLL NO: 38 DATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is indeed a great pleasure and proud privilege to present this project work. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and acknowledge to all the individuals involved both directly and indirectly for their valuable help and guidance. This project has been an attempt to give information about the “disaster management”. I expressed my deep since of gratitude to founder and president of VidyaPrasarakMandal. I express my heartful thanks to our honorable Principal for her constant support and motivation. I express special thanks to my guide Prof. Vinodchandwaniunder whose guidence the project conceived...

Words: 4928 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Role of Local Government in Disaster Management

...development; 2) Institutional/infrastructural development; 3) Resource development including human resources; and 4) Employment. Within these areas of concern, the thematic areas are: Poverty alleviation through participatory approaches with emphasis on social sector development (e.g. health, education and nutrition); Employment generation through microcredit support, infrastructure development and local resource mobilisation; GO-NGO collaboration; Gender issues; Governance issues; and Environmental concerns for sustainable rural development. Operating through designated Contact Ministries and Link Institutions in the member countries, CIRDAP promotes technical cooperation among nations of the region. It plays a supplementary and reinforcing role in supporting and furthering the effectiveness of integrated rural...

Words: 7391 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

American Red Cross

...and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans. Not only did ARC fail to perform as expected during these disasters, but all of the misconduct that were taking place with the organization were being exposed as well. ARC’s employees including volunteers were not committed to representing the organization and working to continuing the positive reputation that the company started with. Instead the employees and volunteers of ARC were suspected of unethical practices such as lying, stealing funds and other donations that were meant for relief efforts. Stakeholders and other groups associated with the ARC began to lose trust in the organization because of their mismanagement of funds and donations. With ARC’s careless and unethical business practices, investors started to become hesitant to contribute to the organization for fear that contributions would not be used for what it is intended for. Also overtime there were many other non-profit organizations in need of monetary and other forms of donations. With a lack of trust in the ARC, other organizations started to get a lot of the contributions from investors that was once donating to ARC (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell, 2011). Customers or people of need were not satisfied because of ARC’s slow response time to specific disasters that devastated New York in 2001, and New Orleans in 2005. These disasters were handled so poorly that it cost presidents Bernadine Healy and Marsha Evans their jobs. In...

Words: 1639 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

The American Red Cross

...contribute to success that supports even broader social causes and concerns. • Customer satisfaction – one of the most important factor in a successful business strategy; a company must continue to develop, alter, and adapt products to keep pace with customers’ changing desires and preferences and it must seek to develop long-term relationships with customers and stakeholders • Profits – must have adequate financial performance in order to nurture and develop an ethical culture. Because of the actions of the American Red Cross following 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, their benefits of business effects were damaged. Employee commitment wavered because of the actions of the organization. Because of the lack of monitoring some employees or volunteers were doing unethical and fraudulent things. This misconduct severally damaged the reputation of the American Red Cross. Investor loyalty was diminished because the American Red Cross was not following their own bylaws and was mismanaging funds donated to the organization. Customer satisfaction was low because of the actions of...

Words: 1356 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

External/Internal Factors Paper/Mgt330

...following the Civil War in Europe. An organization based on volunteer work that provides emergency assistance and disaster relief. The ARC cover five area of assistance, these are: military family assistance, blood support, safety and health education, community service and international relief and development. The Emergency disaster relief helps fire, hurricane, flood and earthquake victims re-establish their lives by providing, housing, food, health education, clothing and other necessary assistance. Their education services provide people with the basic First Aid, CPR/AED trainings along with swimming and lifeguard lessons. The ARC is mainly supportive by volunteers, community donations and other Red Cross supportive programs. Their Mission Statement is “The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. Volunteers play a great role in the organization; they have all ages, backgrounds, gender, helping as instructors, teaching, case managers, administration support etc. They make the American Red Cross work happened. The four functions of management… Globalization Globalization has a large effect on the four functions of management. The four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The...

Words: 2066 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Community Health Task 4 Wgu

...The Roles of Health Personnel in Disaster Management When a disaster occurs the public health personnel must ready, prepared and organized in order to help the community. Public health personnel are better prepared and will perform tasks more effectively with the proper training. The roles of the public health personnel vary but are all focused on one goal: the overall well-being of the community. An experienced public health nurse is very important when a disaster occurs, they need to have specific knowledge in managing every phase of a disaster and disaster preparedness as well as the resources that are available to the community, the community demographics and the overall health status of the community members. The nurse needs to keep a detailed record that reflects the vulnerability of the community, provide education to ensure the population is able to cope with the impact a disaster will create in their lives, and monitor and review the resources in the community that will be needed during a disaster such as water, food and clothing. The public health nurse needs to ensure the safety of the environment and monitor and report any evidence that may pose an environmental hazard. The nurse has a responsibility teach proper good hygiene to the community members, ensure their immunization record are up to date, and also refer them to mental health professional when there is need (Patidar, 2013). When a disaster occurs, the fire department and fire services are responsible for...

Words: 1620 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Rules of Ifrc Standards

...PrinciPles and rules for red cross and red crescent Humanitarian assistance www.ifrc.org Saving lives, changing minds. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through our 187 member National Societies. Together, we act before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. We do so with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions. For more information, please visit www.ifrc.org. © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, 2013 Any part of this document may be cited, copied, translated into other languages or adapted to meet local needs without prior permission from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, provided that the source is clearly stated. Requests for commercial reproduction should be directed to the IFRC at secretariat@ifrc.org. Principles and Rules for Red Cross and Red Crescent Humanitarian Assistance 1263500 10/2013 E 250 PrinciPles and rules for red cross and red crescent Humanitarian assistance adopted by the XXi international conference of the red cross (istanbul, 1969) – revised by the XXii, XXiii, XXiV, XXV and XXVi international conferences, tehran (1973), Bucharest (1977), manila (1981), Geneva (1986, 1995 noted)1 2 > PrinciPles and...

Words: 7170 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Changing Roles of Emergency Managers

...CHANGING EMERGENCY MANAGER’S ROLES Emergency response to community needs has existed since humans started to gather in groups. Communities early in history had no specific roles. All members of the community were expected to assist when emergencies arose. According to written history, the entire community was expected to respond to fires, to open their homes to allow for triage, and every able-bodied member of the community was expected perform a role. Mayors, sheriffs, and other types of community leaders were by virtue of their office thrust into leadership roles when an emergency affected the community resources regardless of their experience. Today, Emergency Managers are often elected. They usually have a strong education and experience level. Emergency Managers are often trained with government resources, have a military background and are directly linked to Federal resources which continuously assist them in preparing for the next emergency. The most critical different is the speed by which the hazards change today. Early community leaders were rarely dealing with more than one issue at any given time, but today’s managers may be responsible for an enormous population and the additional hazards which lie within. Any natural disaster can initiate a chain of problems from HAZMAT spills to infectious disease outbreaks and today’s Emergency Managers have to be prepared for everything to happen at once. Early American history showed keen understanding of the power...

Words: 926 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Organizational Behavior and Communication Paper

...August 27, 2012 Professors Name Here The American Red Cross is a nonprofit organization was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. The focus of the American Red Cross is to help in times of disaster as well as filling the needs of community members through the caring support of volunteers providing their gifts of time and talents to service in the time of need. Their mission statement is "a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its congressional charter and the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies" (Kanter, 1998, p.19). The American Red Cross is an ever changing organization and throughout the years continues to provide relief to disaster victims as well as the nationwide provider of blood and tissue services. Communication within the American Red Cross is essential to developing the ability to respond quickly to situations of emergencies and disaster relief. In times of crisis it is important for the organization to have plans set ready for action and quick decision-making abilities. In an organization, such as the American Red Cross communication is a vital role to the perception of volunteers and the few paid employees have regarding working for the organization. Perception is defined as "a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their...

Words: 939 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Hrm in Multinational Banks in Tanzania

...ARC’s benefits of business ethics; the role that ARC’s stakeholders played in these scenarios; ways in which ARC’s corporate governance failed to provide formalized responsibility to their stakeholders; and steps that ARC could follow to improve their stakeholder perspective. Organizations have a responsibility to behave ethically and meet the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic duties that stakeholders expect them to. Those responsibilities are included in, and are part of an organization’s commitment to being a corporate citizen. Not only does the organization have to prioritize stakeholders, please and cater to the interest of stakeholders, the corporation must also protect its own reputation, image and branding. Identifying and working through ethical issues that are meaningful to stakeholders should be at the top of an organization's to do list as these issues will impact shareholder value and organizational performance and branding. (Ferrell, 2012),(Ireland, 2011). ARC’s mission is to “provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies” (Ferrell, 2012, p. 327). The ARC was guilty of straying from its vision and mission due to their negligence in handling various ethical issues. ARC experienced ethical issues such as: lack of “transparent, accurate representation of organization’s need for, and use of monetary donations, maintain effective, efficient operations response to disasters, transparently reporting failures and...

Words: 1436 - Pages: 6