1994 Heat Wave
Case Summary
The case discusses about one of the worst disasters to strike the city of Chicago in the form of a heat wave that swept across the Great Plains and the Mid West in July 1995. It represented the affect of the disaster and also the problems faced by the healthcare and public protection authorities in coping up with the situation during and after the disaster. The number of lives lost was estimated to be 522 and 733, count given by two sources. The heat wave struck Chicago on 11 July and it left on 16th July leading to an annihilating situation in the city with a huge loss to life.
The disaster was found to affect the city long after its existence in the form of the questions raised on the healthcare and public protection authorities namely Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Police Department and Emergency Medical Services Commission of Metropolitan Chicago for initially not understanding the intensity of the situation and employing the relevant preventive measures and also not specifying definite guidelines for the operations of the medical services, which saw various loop holes during the situation in the form of announcing Bypass by hospitals at the time when should not have actually done that. Various alternatives are also discussed in the case that talked about how the situation could have been handles more efficiently that would lead to a comparatively lesser loss and the requisite changes in the policy that should be implemented to deal with such situations in future.
Effect of Organizational Dynamics
The organizational dynamics had both positive and negative effect during the situation. Where many departments were breaching the policies and getting out of the responsibility to support in the situation, many departments stretched their hands beyond the scope and provided a valuable contribution in fighting with situation. It depends hugely on the type of leadership that governs the organization. If the leadership is skilled and
The case discusses about one of the worst disasters to strike the city of Chicago in the form of a heat wave that swept across the Great Plains and the Mid West in July 1995. It represented the affect of the disaster and also the problems faced by the healthcare and public protection authorities in coping up with the situation during and after the disaster. The number of lives lost was estimated to be 522 and 733, count given by two sources. The heat wave struck Chicago on 11 July and it left on 16th July leading to an annihilating situation in the city with a huge loss to life.
The disaster was found to affect the city long after its existence in the form of the questions raised on the healthcare and public protection authorities namely Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Police Department and Emergency Medical Services Commission of Metropolitan Chicago for initially not understanding the intensity of the situation and employing the relevant preventive measures and also not specifying definite guidelines for the operations of the medical services, which saw various loop holes during the situation in the form of announcing Bypass by hospitals at the time when should not have actually done that. Various alternatives are also discussed in the case that talked about how the situation could have been handles more efficiently that would lead to a comparatively lesser loss and the requisite changes in the policy that should be implemented to deal with such situations in future.
Effect of Organizational Dynamics
The organizational dynamics had both positive and negative effect during the situation. Where many departments were breaching the policies and getting out of the responsibility to support in the situation, many departments stretched their hands beyond the scope and provided a valuable contribution in fighting with situation. It depends hugely on the type of leadership that governs the organization. If the leadership is skilled and