Disasters experienced in recent years have had significant impact on people, property and the environment,and this widespread impact has informed the review of policies, mearsures and approches in managing them. Despite response arrangements such as multi-agency response, military efforts and variuos other international efforts, disasters still continue to have a negative impact on communities across the world. While response approaches and arrangements are not incorrect, they are at times not grounded in the minimal response strategies from preparedness phase. This gap emphasises the ralated concepts of practices in emregency management, its phases, and the role of strategic preparedness in ensuring that the impacts of emergencies are better managed. However, review of existing practices and literature shows that there are various explanations and operations for the preparedness phase which do not actually result in effective response to and mitigation of emergency/disasater impact. The preparedness phases as operational in the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia were all examined to identify best practice and effective preparedness cycles and systems. This approach to the research proved useful in identifying the main gaps and problems in the preparedness phase in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is the research case study. Therefore, this resaerch aims to investigate the state of emergency preparedness in the UAE, identify limitations and provide recommendations for the UAE government to adopt strategic approach for improving emergency preparedness in the UAE. Following examination of the National Response Framework (NRF), a series of interviews was carried out in the UAE which confirmed that no preparedness system, framework or cycle existed. Qualitative methods of data collection and documentation were adopted to examine the current preparedness practice in the UAE, its application and effectiveness. Content analysis was used to analyse these data which helped to identify barriers to the current deployment of the preparedness phase in the UAE. The findings of this research show that the eight elements for emergency preparedness are missing in the UAE emergency management system. This finding affirms the need for a startegic approach which combines all eight elements of emergency preparedness in the UAE. Therefore, both barriers to deployment of the preparedness phase and the lack of elements of preparedness provided the basis for the recommendation made in order to strategically improve the emergency preparedness phase in the UAE.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:674949 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Alteneiji, H. R. |
| Publisher | University of Salford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://usir.salford.ac.uk/36146/ |
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