Disaster Management

Disasters are the outcome of human or natural calamities. The adequate management of strategies, programs, and resources required for adequate action to be taken in case of any natural disaster or untoward incident such as flood, tsunamis, earthquakes, and tornadoes is called Disaster Management. Disaster Manager can be interpreted as the administrator for devising policies for handling all the humanitarian stances of emergencies, like preparedness, response, and recovery to reduce the impact of disasters. The Government of India formulated the Disaster Management Act 2005, which grants a constitutional and institutional structure at districts, state, and national levels for the creation of specific disaster management organizations.   

A Disaster Manager is responsible for collaborating with other officials of regional governments, hospitals, schools, and other institutions for their requirements to prepare and examine damage estimates following emergencies/ disasters, conducting surveys to ascertain the kinds of emergency-related requirements that are needed to be addressed in disaster planning, or providing technical support to others conducting such surveys, and regulating disaster response activities. These may include; implementing special needs plans, ordering evacuations, and opening public shelters, administering and planning emergency/disaster readiness training courses. These activities educate people on how to efficiently respond to major disasters. They are involved in developing and liaising with municipalities, county departments, and similar other entities to facilitate timely coordination, plan development, response effort, and exchanges of personnel and supplies. Developing and performing inspections and evaluations of crisis management strategies in accordance with state and federal statutes, inspecting buildings such as emergency management centers and communications tools in order to ascertain their operational and practical capabilities in emergency circumstances is a part of their role. They are also responsible for suggesting modification of crisis response methods based on regulatory changes, technological changes, or knowledge gained from issues of previous emergency situations, reviewing contingency plans of individual organizations such as medical amenities in order to secure their competence and studying emergency plans used by other organizations. 

Route to Disaster Management Profession

• 10+2 in any stream
• B.A. / B.Sc. in any field for 3 years
• P.G Diploma in Disaster Management/ Certification Programs of Disaster Management for 1-2 years/M.A/ M.Sc/MBA in Disaster Management for 2 years PhD for 2-3 years in Disaster Management

Significant Statistics

• Minimum 50% required in 10+2 for admission to most of the colleges
• Only selected colleges offer M.Sc. Disaster Management and Post-Graduation Diploma in Disaster Management 
• Being a specialized field, only PG level programs are offered in it.

Pros

• Job satisfaction in making a difference to people’s lives by taking up relief measures
• Preparing the country to handle disasters
• Exciting as well as challenging job

Cons

• Limited options to study disaster management in India
• Hectic work schedule as field work is involved
• Risky in there in this job