Crisis situation Essay Example for Free

Crisis situation Essay Crisis situation happens in an unpredicted manner from which the instinctive response necessitates methodical actions to firstly prevent and secondly to recover from the magnitude of impact. But how come a crisis situation can be instantly managed at the spontaneity of incident and nick of time? This reverberating question could be the unspoken words of victims and survivors in the carnage of terrorist attack to the US soil on September 11th 2001 when the world was shocked of the great US tragedy. The crisis situation inevitably slipped beyond the US homeland security defense measures but to face the bleak reality and act for emergency management. This paper will discuss the momentous fate of the victims in the 9/11 tragedy, relating how fast, determined and methodical the emergency management have been engaged. Discussions Overview Based on the documentaries, it was about 8:46 am at the busy business district of New York City began the fateful day that doomed the twin towers of the World Trade Center as the great symbol of American power. The American Airlines Flight 11 was high jacked by unknown numbers of terrorists and purposely crashed to the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The gruesome landing instantaneously put ablaze the higher level floors and became an inferno as the airplane’s fuels exploded and oozed out throughout the building. As reported by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (NCTAUS), the 911 Police Emergency Dial System was flooded with a lot of calls from eyewitness accounts. They were able to properly identify the target of the terrorist act. Response teams were mobilized within 5 seconds after the crash. The New York Police Department called for Mobilization Level 4. Immediately, 22 lieutenants, 100 sergeants and 800 police officers were dispatched to the scene of the crime. In a span of 17 minutes, what boils down as the largest search and rescue mission in the history of New York City, was dispatched (NCTAUS, 2004). The illustration below shows the flaming towers of WTC: Source: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (2001) According to the report, another American Airlines plane was rerouted to the World Trade Center’s South Tower as everyone thought that the attack was over. The crash intensified the woes of the rescuers, although the magnitude of the damage was not as great as that of the North Tower. As cited, â€Å"Stairwell A† was still passable from the 91st floor while a hundred of people were caught in the 78th floor of the building waiting for evacuation to begin. They tried to squeeze themselves into the already filled up express elevators but to no avail. As time passed by, the number of injuries and deaths continued to rise due to suffocation and psychological stress. Only those who were still conscious and alert were able to reach first the World Trade Center complex exits upon guidance of the evacuators (NCTAUS, 2004). Meanwhile, rescue operations went into full blast with the New York City Fire Department, the police department, and personnel from the ports authority who jointly managed the emergency response. Illustration below shows the aftermath of the â€Å"towering inferno†: Source: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (2001) The above illustration was also dubbed as the â€Å"ground zero† of the WTC wherein thousands have been killed including those firemen from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) who rushed to the scene unprepared. The rubble has sustained numerous deaths when the burning debris collapsed to both rescuers and survivors who were supposed to be evacuated from the ground floors of WTC (NCTAUS, 2001). Placement of emergency management structure The placement of emergency management structure and leveling of preparedness was set since the first terrorist attack in 1993. As a brief background, Claire Rubin (2004) from the Washington University has cited in her study paper that the homeland security and emergency system of the government has established the strategic defense. This was in line with the emergency response to the 1993 terrorist attempt to bomb the World Trade Center when a 1,500-pound bomb was detonated killing 6 people and injuring a thousands. The illustration below shows the potential target of terrorist attacks: