Listen to this articleEmergency Preparedness
Outline:
- Introduction
- Spiritual strength- First step towards preparedness
- Physical preparedness- Actual preparation having some results
- UNO –International Organization to cope with various disasters
- Japan’s excellent preparedness against the earthquakes
- Conclusion
Every individual and nation has to face some conditions that are dangerous to their existence. These situations are known as states of an emergency. Wikipedia defines an emergency as “a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment.” Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent worsening of the situation, although mitigation is not possible in some cases, and one can offer only palliative care for the aftermath. The steps taken to avoid the imminent danger or prevent the worsening of the situation are collectively called emergency preparedness. This readiness has four phases -mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery- associated with spiritual and physical aspects. These courses of action ensure the safe and longtime occurrence of species.
All living things are made up of two basic elements: the soul and the other one is the body. The soul is something like software that guides and makes the body functional; that’s why it requires the individual -first of all-to prepare himself internally to face the adverse circumstances. It is known as spiritual readiness.
Spiritual strength prevents a man from depression and provides a spirit. It enhances the confidence to stand firm in the face of adversity. Spirituality is majorly based on ideologies and religious values. The history of human evolution shows that it has been dependent upon divine guidance to face different disasters for a long time. It is a fact that almost every person in today’s world is also associated with different types of religion, as religious practices offer serenity to their followers. It is why Muslims offer prayers five times a day; Christians go to churches daily, and Hindus visit the temple to perform their religious rituals. The people having good practice of religion are more peaceful and calm than those of others. Douglas Johnston, President, and founder of the International center for worship and diplomacy identify the attributes that religious leader and institutions have which promote peace and reconciliation.
To cut a long story short, it can be said that the first step towards tackling the emergency is to get internally brave. And for this purpose, a person can practice spending more time with loved ones, go outside, and reduce distractions. E.g., social media and the internet-, step out in faith and give services to others as Jesus, Buddha, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Abdul Star Edhhi… the list goes on. Once the individual gets ready internally, he realizes that to become miserable; the gut is not a solution to the problem. He comes to see that it is not the end of the world, and he has to grin and bear as great people do in such conditions. Therefore, after getting spiritually strengthens, he tries to make himself physically unbeatable.
Physical preparedness means using all available resources in a calculated way to deter the danger that is about to happen. It is the actual readiness that would have some results. If one takes the human examples for physical preparedness, one can see that nowadays, humans have developed a lot to prevent themselves from emergencies. For instance, man has invented vaccines for various diseases, built dams to avoid water shortage, food storage siloes, great yielding varieties, and even a Svalbard Global Seed Vault made to stand the test of time – and the global challenge of natural or human-made disasters. Moreover, every country has its disaster management agencies like the United States has ‘The Federal Emergency Management Agency,’ Pakistan has ‘National Disaster Management Authority.
The most prominent organization ever since has been established to deal with any emergency to humanity is the United Nations Organization (UNO). Its different organs, like Food and Agriculture Organization, World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, etc., deal in their respective fields worldwide. The emergencies that can happen ahead are Global Warming, Food Security, and Third World War need the world’s cooperation and readiness. Currently, various reports are available on the phenomena mentioned above, which can potentially exert a high risk in the future. All of these upcoming disasters can be avoided with the effectiveness of UNO, which is, in the current scenario, nonfunctional in solving many socio-economic problems. As Hammarskjöld said, “The UNO was not created to take humanity into paradise but rather to save humanity from hell.”
Moreover, not only humans but also animals do prepare physically for future emergencies. Animals like Chipmunk, beavers, Blue Jays, etc., are some animals that store food to eat later – called hoarding or caching. Animals usually cache to prepare to meet future scarcity.
It will be an injustice to ignore mentioning the example of Japan’s preparedness to deal with disasters. Japan has the most recorded earthquakes in the world as it is located in a highly seismic area – the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire-. It is the nation that prepared itself against the deadly earthquakes. According to the British daily broadsheet newspaper, ‘The Telegraph,’ Japan is better prepared than anyone for quakes and tsunamis.
On the other hand, the nations and civilizations, and species that had not prepared themselves for the emergencies are no more on the earth; it does not matter how strong or advanced they were. Gandhara Civilization was well organized urban society in the Indus Valley but the present world. There is no existence of this civilization because they were not prepared to face the emergency of war and floods.
Given the facts mentioned above, it has been said that humans historically have been facing emergencies and who have prepared themselves against the adversities have successfully survived. Still, those who do not qualify have been eliminated. If one wants to survive in the states of emergency, he would have to be prepared both spiritually and physically.
Originally posted 2021-06-06 16:10:06.
