Airports around the world have differences. Majority of these differences are attributed to the function of the aerodrome. For instance, an airport serving international flightsis not the same as an airport serving locally. It can be explained by the fact that international airport is big in size and itsoperations are advanced, while local airportsaccomplishless complicated facilities. However, regardless of all the differences between them, all these airports have something in common. In these regards, bothinternational andlocalairportsface emergencies. Some of these occurrencescan be categorized into six broad categories. They include; aircraft incidents, as well as accidents, natural disaster, structural fires, hazardous material incidents, bomb incidents and failure of power.
These emergencies requirequick responsesin order to save lives, protect public health, or even protect property. When suchincidents occur, airports whether local or international, depend on the surrounding community because there is no airport that has enough resources to respond to all emergencies faced. Apart from the need for sufficient help, airport must be prepared throughestablishing clear plan so that the crises can be solved efficiently and effectively.
While handling airport emergencies, various institutionsare directly involved. A good plan helps these groups to know exactly their roles, rather than act in confusion, and hence endangering lives of victims. Individual responsible for establishing an emergency plan is the airport manager. Below is a case of airport emergency.
An aircraft was hijacked with hijackers on board and en-routed to land at an airport. This form of emergency falls under terrorist airport emergency category. In such cases, saving the lives of the victims on board is the ultimate and sole aim. In order to carry out this objectivesuccessfully, an emergency plan highlighting specific activities of different organizations that are involved while resolving airport emergencyhas to be established.
Airport management involves airport and subordinate managers. In the case of hijacked aircraft en-route, theyneed to conduct various activities before the emergency, during an emergency as well as after it. Some of these activities include:
Aircraft operators group mostly includesthe pilots, co-pilots and even radar readers. This category is rich in details about aircrafts and can be significant duringthe emergency. They are, therefore, tasked to:
Cases of hijacking, as well as hostages, are very delicate. In some instances, injuries may occur though they are not highly anticipated. Therefore, it is necessary to have emergency medical agencies in place. These organizations are expected to:
Terrorism is a federal offense. This necessitates involvementof the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The purpose of this organization is to:
In regards to the bureau assuming control, the hijackers may make demands that are way beyond the airport managers’ functions. The bureau is a state organization thus making it to be in a better position to handle the situation. Also, the bureau has trained negotiators who can efficiently as well as effectively handle an emergency.
As was previously mentioned, this emergency has high potential risks. Victims can be injured being the hostages of hijackers. Hospitals coordinate the contingency plan with the airport as well as community thus helping to save lives. The hospitals create the rooms to receive the injured when they are brought in by the emergency medical agencies. Also, the hospital staff is available so as to help to manage the situation efficiently as well as effectively.
Accurate information helps public understand the situation right. If there are any important messages, community will be informed thus playing their roles effectively. For instance, in case of injuries, the public will be advised toclear the roads for easy and quick transportation of injured to hospitals.
In this case hijacking law enforcement is necessary. Also, police officers need to regulate thetraffic. Police, as well as security organization, are, therefore, tasked to:
Toexecute the emergency plan efficiently a particular flow of activities should be followed. The first necessary step that enables efficient as wellas effective resolution of the contingency plan is to establish the plan. At this stage, various activities of different groups involved before, during and after an emergency are identified. Second step is to review the plan. This processensures that the airport is ready for any possible occurrences that may take place and thus that thenecessary changes were made. Third step is to train personnel in their various matters that affect the plan, like policies, procedures as well as resource availability. Training will help the groups involved in the plan to stay informed. Fourth step is the execution stage. This step includesvarious groups performing their different assignments to facilitate the accomplishment of the objective of the plan.
Design is crucial to the execution of theemergency plan. The layout serves as a map indicatingstrategy points where each group involved would be found. This helps to achieve an adequate response and thus accomplish the purpose of the plan. In this case, Federal Bureau of Investigation would take the front line. This happens since the group would be leading in negotiations. The airport manager and the police officers would be next. Manager would provide the necessary information about the facilities to enhance effective and efficient execution of the plan. Police officers would be positioned there so as to move in fast when the hijackers surrender and arrest them. Emergency medical agencies would be placed after the police officers for easy and quick access to victims once released. They would offer first aid services and transport victims to hospitals for further checkups. Media would follow then in orderto receivea clear view of activities taking place and thus to get the accurate information to acquaint the public with.
To carry out the emergency plan successfully the consistent review is necessary. Some of the issues that should occasionally be reviewed include the contacts of important groups for the execution of the program as the local number of the police department as well as that of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The contactsofvarious agencies like emergency medical agencies as well as hospitals should occasionally be reviewed.
Apart from reviewing numbers of relevant groups in the execution of the plan, frequency of communications should often be tested, for example, monthly. This verification makes sure that in case when emergency rises nothing hinders communication and thus smooth execution of the plane.
Resources that would be used in case whenemergency arises should beoccasionally inspected, too. Apart from examining emergency resources, personnel assignments should sometimes be reviewed. The airport management should also keep in touch with off-airport agencies so as to inform them of activities that may impact negatively on execution of an emergency plan and possible alternatives provided.
Various airports are subjects to airport emergencies. Terrorism is part of these occurrencesas theterrorists can hijack theaircrafts. In most cases of emergencies, situations need to be managed. This helps to save lives as well as protect properties. Regarding the emergency management, emergency plans have to be established. According to them, responsibilities of various groups are spelled out to enable efficient and effective resolution of the emergency.
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