Health Medical Homework Help

During a disaster or public health catastrophe, a “State of Emergency” declaration is made. This is one of the roles the government has during these emergencies.

1. In your first post, answer the following questions:

a) What is a reason for declaring a State of Emergency, and what does it provide for the disaster area? Who is now allowed to respond?

b) Discuss what this does to benefit the victims, and how this helps you as the operations manager.

c) Declarations of Emergencies restrict citizen freedoms. Research what civil rights are lost during this declaration. Is it worth it, why or why not, and how long should it last?

2. Post responses to at least two other students, preferably those whose responses for question “c” you disagree with. Critique their posts, explaining why you disagree.

Student 1:

Hello Class,

1. A State of Emergency can be declared by the President, usually at the request of a Governor or Tribal Leader. An example is after a flood or other natural disaster has exceeded the local government’s ability and resources. Declaration of a State of Emergency allows for federal funding and support to the state or tribal government. There are many different levels of this support depending on the type of emergency. (FEMA, 2021)

2. If a Major Disaster is declared there is help available both to the state and to individual victims. For individuals this can take the form of housing and food assistance and crisis counseling. For the state, assistance can mean debris removal and help repairing roads and structures necessary for basic utilities. (FEMA, 2021)

3. Under a State of Emergency the government is able to restrict rights including freezing prices on goods and services, enforcing rationing, restricting movement by closing down roads and instituting curfews. They are also able to seize materials and facilities for use in dealing with the disaster (Praats, 2018) I agree with expanding the powers of the government during an emergency within reason. Restricting citizens from entering certain areas can help keep not only the citizens, but the first responders safe. While everyone thinks that they would be useful in an emergency, many will actually just get in the way. Instituting price freezes keeps store owners from jacking up prices on common goods that everyone needs.

I agree that such restrictions to our rights in a temporary situation can be necessary to fixing the situation faster and more efficiently. People tend to focus on their individual rights and forget that by living in a society, they have agreed to a social contract. I’ll post a link below, but the basic idea is that by entering into a society, people give up certain individual rights in exchange for protection of their other rights. A super simple example is that you gave up your right to steal from people in exchange for living in a society that provides you with walls to protect you from predators. By looking at the bigger picture and being temporarily willing to give up certain rights we can help resolve the emergency faster.

https://legaldictionary.net/social-contract-theory/

FEMA. (2021, April 15). How a Disaster Gets Declared. FEMA.Gov. https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared

Praats, M. (2018, October 1). Conflicting rights: How a state of emergency can challenge constitutional rights. Port City Daily. https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2018/10/01/conflicting-rights-how-a-state-of-emergency-can-challenge-constitutional-rights/