Accidents and Catastrophes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Accidents and Catastrophes - Essay Example , meaning depending on the number of casualties and destruction done or according to the nature of the accident, that is whether it was caused by human or natural factors (Quarantelli, 1987). The linear model of classifying accidents uses ‘size’ to categorize and give different names to accidents (UN, 1992). An emergency can be termed as being an unanticipated occurrence that threatens life and property and calls upon immediate and urgent reaction from the relevant authorities within the given social set up. It is to be found that each social set up has its own way of coping with emergencies and, that there are different pre-arranged response depending on the magnitude of the emergency situation (Porfiriev, 1995). A disaster is an occurrence that causes extensive damage to the infrastructure within a given societal set up that is so severe to the extent that the resources available within the society itself are not adequate to function a response. At the same time a disaster jars the day to day activities of the society (Porfiriev, 1995). While a disaster might disrupt the functioning within a social set-up, a catastrophe brings a society to a standstill. A catastrophe throws a community into total mayhem where institutions of leadership may completely disintegrate and other institutions like schools and hospitals may be wholly destroyed. Catastrophes call for international intervention if the society affected is so crippled that it does not have the capacity to help its own survivors and casualties (Quarantelli, 1987). Although there is no unanimous agreement as to how accidents are to be listed using the linear model, it is generally accepted that, from the smallest to the most dire the order is an incident emergency, disaster and catastrophe. There are other terminologies that occur frequently when dealing accidents and their nature. A calamity is an occurrence that, like a disaster brings about large-scale disruptions in the normal functions of a