One of the biggest problems associated with climate change is the loss of life due to lack of preparedness for emergencies. Tragedies such as the 1970 Bhola Cyclone in East Pakistan that affected what is now Bangladesh, which claimed an estimated 300,000 lives, and another cyclone in 1991 that struck Bangladesh, killing 140,000[1], are just a couple examples of storms that were extremely catastrophic and took hundreds of thousands of lives. Tragedies such as these will, hopefully, take less lives as people are given more warning and education around natural disasters.
The practice of emergency response is reacting to extreme situations by ensuring that people are as prepared as possible for the potential damages associated with climate change. More specifically, the practice entails increasing awareness of extreme weather threats, implementing safety protocol, and disseminating information to better educate people about the dangers of flooding and extreme heat. The issues addressed by emergency response will be increasingly relevant and the quality of emergency response procedures will be even more important as the delta region of Bangladesh is subjected to more extreme weather, flooding[2], and heat as a result of climate change. These events directly affect people by threatening their homes, property, and lives.
Risks associated with flooding include drowning, loss of valuables, and potentially dangerous exposure to the elements. Risks associated with extreme heat include heat stroke and dehydration. Risk associated with extreme weather include violent storms with the potential of tearing through infrastructure. Solutions would address these risks to make sure people are safer and more informed.
Increasing awareness is essential because it informs communities about what may be affecting them in the future and better prepares them to react to emergencies through education within the community. Implementing safety protocol provides communities with a preparedness plan before disaster strikes and allows for a single message to be spread throughout the community, allowing for uniformity of response across a region by involving the local government. Finally, disseminating information is the end goal of having a plan in place. By educating the communities about emergency response, people are better prepared for the impacts of climate change and more able to reduce loss of life.
In developing solutions related to Emergency Response, our priority is saving lives. Ideally, the people of a threatened region would be able to react to emergencies by simply prioritizing their health and doing everything they can to get a safe area and stay alive. However, in reality, there are many considerations when it comes to saving lives and being able to protect people from climate change. For example, people have to worry about leaving their property, which, in some cases, means leaving cattle and land that has been owned by their families for generations, in addition to knowing enough about the issues to understand their potential impacts and the threats that they pose. Our solutions have been adapted to consider these roadblocks in addition to preparing communities for the impacts of climate change.
Detailed plans for the solutions addressing risks to the affected area of Emergency Response are listed below.
Community-Based Adaptation Cyclone Shelters Emergency Alert System
By Asia Hypsher
References
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2015). Bangladesh Emergency Response Preparedness Plan. Humanitarian Response,5-39. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
- Chapter Two: Tropical Cyclones and Storm Surges. (2017). Climatic Hazards in Coastal Bangladesh, 35-81. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-805276-1.00002-8