By Trisha McOrmond
Contemporary Emergency Management (EM) originated in the 1950s with the civil defence which assisted communities overwhelmed by extreme events (Public Safety Canada, 2015). Today, the task-oriented goals of early EM remain, ‘get in, make people physically safe, contain the damage, rebuild physical infrastructure, get out’.
I spent seven years in government, supporting senior decision-makers in public safety and EM in Alberta and across Canada. The Canadian EM model where the costs of replacing lost belongings and rebuilding infrastructure are addressed by insurance companies, government, and charitable organizations, seldom includes resources targeted for rebuilding the torn social fabric of communities or restoring the mental health of community members. Although the mental, social, and cultural wellbeing of people impacted by the events were not intentionally overlooked by early EM practitioners, even today, the EM recovery model does not actively integrate physical and community social restoration.
The cost of not addressing mental health resilience
EM focuses on heroic response and rebuilding measures, but avoids difficult questions about the long-term community recovery beyond hard infrastructure even as the negative impacts on social infrastructure are increasingly apparent. Kathleen Hogan, Chief People Officer for Microsoft, centres the human energy crisis as the number one issue facing the global economy (2023). Disasters, emergencies, and evacuations exacerbate this crisis and the impact is cumulative. For many people, one disaster could be the tipping point. In Canada, the annual economic cost of mental health is $50 billion with substance use disorder costing an additional $40 billion. The cost of a workplace disability leave for a mental illness is about double the cost of a leave due to a physical illness” (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2024).
Ideally, EM should prepare individuals and communities for all aspects of hazards: Physical, mental, emotional, cultural and spiritual. Programs to address all aspects of wellbeing for people and communities are needed. Although events of recent years clearly show that while disasters exacerbate houselessness, unemployment, mental health concerns, interpersonal violence, and substance use disorder (Parkinson and Zara, 2013), policies and programs to address them lag. The practice remains “time heals all wounds” and the assumption is someone, usually women, will ‘make casseroles’ and volunteer on weekends.
Typically, Canada’s disaster assistance programs do not typically include resources for rebuilding a community’s social fabric except for anniversary or celebratory events. Speaking from personal field and policy experience, the majority of disaster financial assistance available beyond physical replacement is predominantly for individual mental health supports (Public Safety Canada. 2024). Most requests for community support are passed to social services agencies, such as the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) but without clear objectives or accountabilities[5] (personal field experience) and the demonstrated impact of the CRC is rated as ‘Low’ by Charity Intelligence Canada (2024)[1]. Alternatives are needed.
Longitudinal research of Fort McMurray residents evacuated in 2016 shows continued and, for some, worsening mental health challenges (Adu, et. al., 2022). Research from the Long-Term Evacuees project found long-term feelings of depression and alienation in First Nations who experienced evacuations (NCC, 2021). Across Alberta, people are again evacuated for wildfire in Summer 2024, and reports of depression, anxiety, and overwhelm are rising. Long-term individual and community well-being are defined by the strength of formal and informal relationships, a concept known as social capital (Putnam, 2000). Disasters stretch and often break social bonds. Without support for active rebuilding efforts, people become increasingly isolated.
I invite the discipline of EM to develop approaches to address community wellbeing. EM is uniquely positioned for rapid field-testing of theoretical and practical options developed by experts (Ron Kuban, personal communication, July 2017), placing this discipline on the front lines of climate change adaptation, physically and socially. Intentional inclusion has an ameliorative effect on excluded communities impacted by disasters (Gilmer, et. al., 2021) and can enhance community and social fabric, addressing pre-existing systemic issues as part of larger recovery.
Universal design
EM could consider adopting Universal Design (UD) to meet the needs of emergent and unique situations and provide support across a spectrum of community vulnerabilities and strengths.
“Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability, or disability.” Furthermore, an environment and any component of that environment should be designed to meet the needs of all the people who wish to use it. This is not a special requirement, for the benefit of only a minority of the population. It is a fundamental condition of good design. (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design).”
Applying UD to EM could begin to address the psychosocial, cultural, mental-emotional, and physical aspects of disaster and ensure those most impacted by events and those with the least resources can access services and supports, while the needs of those who are less impacted or with more resources are also met. Community rebuilding needs safety and time for integration; these need external support and outreach. Scalable tools to address these gaps have been developed for population subsets (e.g., the Pittsburgh Neighbourhood Resilience Project).
A three-stage approach using established, trauma-informed practices (Herman, 2022) in community restoration[2] is proposed:
1. Establish safety and empowerment: The first priority is always getting people away from direct threat. However, establishing physical safety from the threat does not ensure emotional and psychological safety or empowerment[3].
For example, when in temporary accommodations, evacuees often face drug dealers at entrances (author, pers. comm.) [9] which reduces ability to move freely and safely.
2. Support healing and wellness: Beyond access to medical treatment, healing and wellness is not just the absence of disease, but the presence of vitality.
Providing nutritious food, quiet space, child-minding, rhythmic activities, and creative outlets enables people to regulate their nervous system and begin to integrate the events that happened in a safe environment.
3. Connection and Integration: When communities rebuild after disasters, old routines and connections are disrupted and sometimes lost. Proactive drop-in activities are a preliminary step to support reconnection.
Providing a strengths-based program of informal structured individual supports and community events create space to both grieve and imagine.
Conclusion
Even strong communities need support to rebuild their social structures and networks because post-disaster, they are overwhelmed. It is reasonable to believe that by providing appropriate funding, programs can be supported to weave stronger community fabric, concurrent with rebuilding buildings. When communities work to restore their community fabric with the same rigour given to the physical and economic infrastructure, people experience increased wellness, building more resilient and sustainable communities.
References
Adu, M. K., Eboreime, E., Shalaby, R., Sapara, A., Agyapong, B., Obuobi-Donkor, G., Mao, W., Owusu, E., Oluwasina, F., Pazderka, H., & Agyapong, V. I. O. (2022). Five Years after the Fort McMurray Wildfire: Prevalence and Correlates of Low Resilience. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 12(4), 96. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12040096
Alexander, Adam C., and Kenneth D. Ward. 2018. “Understanding Postdisaster Substance Use and Psychological Distress Using Concepts from the Self-Medication Hypothesis and Social Cognitive Theory” in Psychoactive Drugs. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101235/
Bray, B., 2019. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Blackfoot (Siksika) Nation Beliefs. Rethinking Learning by Barbara Bray. https://barbarabray.net/2019/03/10/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-and-blackfoot-nation-beliefs/ accessed 15-06-2024
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health “Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics” online. https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics accessed 10-06-2024
Centre for Excellence in Universal Design https://universaldesign.ie/about-universal-design accessed 24-07-2024
Gilmer, T.P., Center, K., Casteel, D. et al. Developing trauma resilient communities through community capacity-building. BMC Public Health 21, 1681 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11723-7
Dangerfield, Katie and Katherine Ward. 2023. “Anxiety, depression and anger: The mental health impacts of natural disasters” Global News https://globalnews.ca/news/9912490/natural-disasters-wildfires-canada-mental-health/ accessed 12-07-2024
Gutierrez, N., 2022. The Pain We Carry: Healing From Complex PTSD. Oakland. New Harbinger Publications.
Harve, M. A., & Li, D. (2024). Social Impacts of the American Red Cross (ARC) Disaster Interventions: A Scoping Review. Cureus, 16 (2), e55265. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.55265
Herman, J., 2022, Trauma and Recovery. New York. Basic Books.
Hogan, K., March 30, 2023. “Microsoft Chief People Officer: We are experiencing a global human energy crisis” in Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90872995/microsoft-chief-people-officer-we-are-experiencing-a-global-human-energy-crisis
National Collaborating Centres on Public Health. 2021. “Health & Social Impacts of Long-Term Evacuation Due to Natural Disasters – First Nations Communities: A summary of lessons for public health” Long-Term Evacuees Project.
Neighborhood Resilience Project. 2024. Trauma-Informed Community Development https://theneighbourhoodresilienceproject.com Pittsburgh accessed 01-03-2024.
Parkinson, Debra and Claire Zara. “The hidden disaster: domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster” https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-apr-2013-the-hidden-disaster-domestic-violence-in-the-aftermath-of-natural-disaster/ accessed 31-07-2024.
Public Safety Canada (2024) Guidelines for Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/mrgnc-mngmnt/rcvr-dsstrs/gdlns-dsstr-ssstnc/index-en.aspx accessed 08-08-2024.
Public Safety Canada (2015) Canadian Emergency Management College History https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/mrgnc-mngmnt/mrgnc-prprdnss/archive-cndn-mrgnc-mngmnt-cllg-hstry-en.aspx accessed 05-08-2024.
Putnam, R., 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York. Simon&Schuster.
Thurston, Alyssa Mari, Heidi Stockl, Meghna Ranganathan. 2021. “Natural hazards, disasters and violence against women and girls: a global mixed-methods systematic review” BMJ Global Health. Online. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8112410/
Bio
I am the Métis founder of, and lead practitioner with, magpie inc. I am a trauma-informed intersectional sociologist, apocalyptic optimist, and decolonial practitioner. I have excellent pattern recognition, am values-driven, and provide that sober second thought that most people too worried about promotions only say after the fact. I have been known to take on questionable side quests.
Burnout and toxic cultures are the result of 19th century solutions to 21st century problems. At magpie, we focus on problem identification and then work with clients to develop relevant contemporary and sustainable strategic objectives to get the work done. From restoring community fabric to helping high-performance teams manage burnout in the face of unknowable change, our commitment is a livable future for all our relations, all the time, with joy and service.
We also make time for lunch and ceremony.
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[1]Charity Intelligence provides this caveat: The demonstrated impact rating is based on Ci’s estimates of the ‘demonstrated social return on investment’ and ‘data quality’ (quality and quantity of impact data) and key results may not represent a complete picture.
[2] It is important to note that parallel supports for responders and people working in recovery need also be in place, one cannot support others if one is not supported.
[3] People having agency in their day-to-day decision-making and about long-term decisions that directly impact them.
