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Developing an early warning capability for Papua New Guinea

Countries
PNG
Sources
Govt. PNG
Publication date
Origin
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Introduction

Over the last 15 years there has been a considerable amount of international discussion and debate on the subject of early warning systems. As a result there are now a variety of successful local initiatives in place around the world.

However, as I pointed out in my paper Early Warning Systems: reframing the discussion, published in the Community Safety Edition of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management (Vol. 22, No.2, May 2007), the international emphasis on early warning systems has shifted the focus from emergency management to science and technology, and scientists and technologists are now generally considered to be leading the development of early warning capabilities. As a result, the international community has lost sight of the fact that early warning is the integration and extension of existing emergency management capabilities and that the effort to establish any early warning capability must be led by emergency managers, not by scientists and technologists.

In simple terms, emergency management brings together the everyday endeavors of private, voluntary and government agencies in a comprehensive and coordinated way to deal with the range of emergency needs. Through this coordinated effort, emergency managers make use of existing tools and processes, all of which are used to provide specialised services to the community on a day-to-day basis, to help communities deal with natural hazard risks and events. While there are important benefits to be gained from improving detection and interpretation systems for natural hazards, these benefits cannot be fully realised unless those systems are integrated into the all-hazards emergency management capability.

In the Papua New Guinea context, adopting an all-hazards approach, in which local needs are clearly identified and provided for in provincial, national and regional policies, generates synergies and efficiencies that can - and must - be leveraged in provincial and national strategic planning for early warning capabilities. To do this, emergency management needs to strengthen existing, and establish additional, international collaboration and exchange of information mechanisms on early warning capabilities, just as science has done with early warning system technology.

Putting Early Warning in Context

The place of early warning within the context of effective emergency management can be more easily understood by considering early warning in terms of the hazard event itself. The hazard event - be it a volcano, tropical cyclone, tsunami or earthquake - is real; everyone, from the international community of experts and specialists to the people living in areas that experience the hazard event, can talk about it in meaningful terms. With respect to the hazard event, everyone exists in one of two states; they are either preparing

for the hazard event should it occur (i.e. in the Prepare State), or dealing with the hazard event when it does occur (i.e. in the Action State).

The hazard event itself triggers the transition from one state to the other; when it occurs, we deal with it and when we have dealt with it, we prepare in case it should occur again. This description provides a realistic structure within which the National Disaster Centre can manage the many community awareness, education, scientific, technical, political and logistical details required to prepare for and deal with hazard events in Papua New Guinea. It is simple and logical, can be communicated clearly and understood by all possible target audiences. It provides a basic point of reference for emergency managers, scientists and technologists, planners and politicians, strategic service providers, and the media; their actions must help the communities at risk prepare for the hazard event should it occur, or help the impacted communities deal with the hazard event when it does occur, otherwise they are simply not helping!

The word "early" in early warning emphasizes the need to improve and optimise not only the science and technology, but also the human capability throughout the full range of interactions that support emergency management. Science-based agencies such as the National Weather Service must continually improve their ability to accurately detect, interpret and report a hazard event at the earliest possible moment. The National Disaster Centre must be supported by a communications technology infrastructure that integrates with traditional methods of communication, so that they can send emergency information quickly out to every community and person at risk. The village communities must, through their awareness and participation, add to and confirm the information from the scientific or technical systems with local knowledge and observations, which in many circumstances throughout PNG will be their only early warning capability.