Public Safety Networks

2. Emergency Management Phases

Disasters can be of different types: natural disasters, as hurricanes, floods, drought, earthquakes and epidemics, or man-made disasters, as industrial and nuclear accidents, maritime accidents, terrorist attacks. In both cases, human lives are in danger and the telecommunication infrastructures are no longer operational or seriously affected.

Disaster management involves three main phases:

• 1.

  Preparedness must be to some extent envisaged:

  • o

    PSN must be operational when some disaster occurs.

  • o

    To observe the Earth, to detect hazards at an early stage.

• 2.

  Crisis from break-out (decision to respond) to immediate disaster aftermath, when lives can still be saved. Crisis is understood as the society’s response to an imminent disaster; it must be distinguished from the disaster itself.

• 3.

  Return to normal situation must be envisaged with provisory networks.