Disaster management from the perspective of governance: case study of the <i>Hebei Spirit</i> oil spill

Hur, Joonyoung

doi:10.1108/09653561211234471

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The second is associated with the actions of untrained, uncoordinated volunteers, who may disrupt organised responses and reduce the resources available to those affected. For example, following the 1999 Golcuk earthquake in Turkey, information about the toxicity and harmful effects of petroleum after the 2007 Hebei Spirit oil spill in South Korea meant that many volunteers were not properly clothed and later suffered from skin diseases(Hur, 2012). Risks to both safety and organisational responses were apparent following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, which saw around 30,000 volunteers converge on New York City.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges

Whittaker

McLennan

Handmer

2015

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

380

346

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Despite highly specialised and capable emergency management systems, ordinary citizens are usually first on the scene in an emergency or disaster, and remain long after official services have ceased. Citizens often play vital roles in helping those affected to respond and recover, and can provide invaluable assistance to official agencies. However, in most developed countries, emergency and disaster management relies largely on a workforce of professionals and, to varying degrees, volunteers affiliated with official agencies. Those who work outside of such systems have tended to be viewed as a nuisance or liability, and their efforts are often undervalued. Given increasing disaster risk worldwide due to population growth, urban development and climate change, it is likely that 'informal' volunteers will provide much of the additional surge capacity required to respond to more frequent emergencies and disasters in the future. This paper considers the role of informal volunteers in emergency and disaster management. Definitions of volunteerism are reviewed and it is argued that there is an overemphasis on volunteering within, and for, state and formal organisations. We offer a broader definition of 'informal volunteerism' that recognises the many ways ordinary citizens volunteer their time, knowledge, skills and resources to help others in times of crisis. Two broad types of informal volunteerism are identified -emergent and extending-and the implications for emergency and disaster management are considered. Particular attention is given to increasing 'digital volunteerism' due to the greater accessibility of sophisticated but simple information and communication technologies. Culture and legal liability are identified as key barriers to greater participation of informal volunteers. We argue that more adaptive and inclusive models of emergency and disaster management are needed to harness the capacities and resilience that exist within and across communities.

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mentioning

confidence: 97%

A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges

Whittaker

McLennan

Handmer

2015

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

380

346

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“…Although untrained citizens rescued almost 800 victims in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 100 rescuers lost their lives in the attempt to rescue others. This example can be observed with regard to trained volunteers in the traffic accidents and casualties resulting from earthquake that because of unsound transportation leads to spinal cord injury of the victims [69]. Liath [47] mentions that without appropriate training and support, these volunteers, in turn, can be traumatized and by becoming victims of the disaster, may need a lot more services, that should be provided to them.…”

Section: Emergency or Immediate Voluntary Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Volunteer Citizens in Response to Accidents and Disasters

Aminizade

Moghaddam

Jam

et al. 2017

HDQ

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Background: Many organizations, especially at the time of accidents, disasters, and critical conditions, cannot provide their services without the presence of volunteers. When accidents and disasters occur, the first persons who normally appear at the scene are citizens. Volunteer citizens with the skills and local knowledge can play important roles when accidents and disasters occur and can provide valuable assistance to the relief forces. The current article aimed at examining the role of volunteer citizens in response to accidents and disasters. Materials and Methods:The current study examined the published articles from 2000 to 2016 based on the following keywords: informal volunteers in the disasters, challenges facing volunteer citizens in accidents and disasters, informal volunteers and disasters in local and foreign electronic databases including SID, Magiran, Iran Medex, ISC, Google Scholar, PubMed, ISI, and Scopus.Results: Based on the search strategy, 50 articles were examined and the keywords, definitions, volunteer roles, role of volunteers in accidents and disasters, various types of informal voluntary activities, and volunteer citizens' participation were examined. Conclusion:Studies referred to the roles, definitions, and challenges that informal volunteers face in various stages of accidents and disasters and the obvious point in the research was that more adaptive and comprehensive crisis and emergency management models are needed to utilize the capacities and flexibility of volunteers available within and between communities in disasters, and the network structure management can be helpful to manage the volunteers.

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“…First an assessment of the situation is made, to learn what is going on. This may be quite difficult when citizens lack the knowledge and skills required (Fernandez et al, 2006;Hur, 2012). They may, for example, not know the consequences of toxic substances or what would be a safe location to go to.…”

Section: Situation Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, after the 2007 Hebei Spirit oil spill in South Korea, many citizens were not aware of the toxicity and harmful effects of petroleum. As a result they took no precautionary actions, and as they were not properly clothed, they later suffered from skin diseases (Hur, 2012). Second, citizens have to decide, under some level of uncertainty, between options with different outcomes and consequences (Seeger, 2006).…”

Section: Situation Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Turning crisis into opportunity: the influence of government and social environment

Bakker

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Citizens' Behavior During a Crisis Crisis situations of the past (e.g., earthquake in Christchurch and hurricane Katrina in the United States) show that citizens often take action in response to a crisis (Sauer, Catlett, Tosatto, & Kirsch, 2014; Whittaker et al., 2015). Evaluations of citizen behavior during actual crisis generally show that citizens behave adaptively: as far as possible, they start with the search of victims, take care of victims and start with reconstruction (Perry & Lindell, 2003). Grimm, Hulse, Preiss, and Schmidt (2014) found similar results when they interviewed survivors of a range of disasters: collapse of a building, earthquakes, fires, floods and terror attacks. The most frequently mentioned behaviors were supporting each other through the crisis, saving people's lives, preparing for evacuation and seeking information. Clearly, citizens do not passively wait for the emergency services to arrive, but tend to act in what they believe is the best way given their understanding of the situation (Perry & Lindell, 2003). Despite citizens' good intentions to provide help during crisis, several risks are involved when citizens act upon a crisis. Not every individual may be able to provide help in an adequate way due to limited knowledge and skills, and actions may not always be optimal given the situation at hand (Fernandez, Barbera, & Van Dorp, 2006). For example, after the 2007 Hebei Spirit oil spill in South Korea, many helpers were not aware of the toxicity and harmful effects of petroleum, and so they were not properly clothed and later suffered from skin diseases (Hur, 2012). Another example, after the 2001 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center, is that many volunteers who were at the scene to assist search and rescue operations, were later overwhelmed by the emotional impact of their actions (Whittaker et al., 2015). Taken together, citizens who spontaneous help by spending their time, knowledge, skills and resources during a crisis represent a vital resource for emergency and disaster management. However, this helping behavior may be ineffective and can actually hinder emergency activities by creating health and safety problems for themselves or others if they engage in activities without the right knowledge, equipment, training and skills. Therefore, research suggests that organizations that have to deal with crises have to collaborate with citizens, for example, by providing information that is required to help adequately (Whittaker et al., 2015). Information from Government Citizen participation during a crisis is valuable, so governments and crisis management organizations have to integrate the help of ordinary citizens in mitigation, adaptation, or emergency management and recovery plans (Hoss, Klima, & Fischbeck, 2014). This is necessary to reduce the risk that citizens act upon a crisis in a manner that is not adequate for the specific situation. By providing citizens information before and during a crisis, through risk-and crisis communication, behavior can be guided (Vihal...

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Disaster management from the perspective of governance: case study of the Hebei Spirit oil spill

Cited by 21 publications

References 8 publications

A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges

A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges

The Role of Volunteer Citizens in Response to Accidents and Disasters

Turning crisis into opportunity: the influence of government and social environment

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