Addressing Disasters: Beyond the Employee Assistance Program

With extreme weather-influenced events, such as recent flooding in Houston and Louisiana and massive wildfires in the American west, or natural events such as the earthquake in Italy, facing disaster is becoming a frequent challenge for people – and for the companies for which they work. Questions arise as to how best to address such disasters and their impacts.

The response to a disaster, whether natural or otherwise, comes in three primary phases: Rescue, with an immediate focus on saving lives; relief, when short-term provisions for food and shelter dominate and the focus is on providing safe and sanitary conditions for survivors; and recovery, a longer-term phase toward rebuilding and returning to self-sufficiency.

Affected individuals turn to local and federal governments for immediate and longer-term assistance. In addition, victims call on civic agencies such as the American Red Cross, and faith-based relief organizations, for support and assistance. Such agencies almost unanimously request monetary contributions rather than food, clothing and other goods, because as agencies with relief programs in place, they are organized to provide critical basics and to coordinate local partners and community members for relief and recovery work.