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Policy responses to disaster risk209Protecting critical infrastructure and services against allconceivable sources of harm is prohibitively expensive,especially so for countries and cities with small economies.Resilience targets can be used in planning to act as goalpostswhen determining a minimum level of capacity to beprotected in the case of a disaster. These are rough guidelines;but they enhance transparency in priority setting. Sucha target could be that for a city there should be a 95 per centchance that 80 per cent of hospitals can operate at 90 percent of their capacity within 24 hours of an earthquake of aparticular severity. Monitoring performance can includesimple metrics. In the case of transport infrastructure, forexample, possible criteria could include total vehicle hourstravelled post- and pre-earthquake (congestion); total vehiclekilometres travelled post- and pre-earthquake (detour length);time delay between critical origin/destination pairs (e.g. fromdamaged areas to emergency hospitals); and restoration timeto, say, 80 per cent of pre-earthquake capacity. 63Critical infrastructure and services share a reliance onnetworks that allow for the movement of information andcommodities. These networks are fundamental in ensuringthe health and safety of the population and the functioningof the urban economy. They are interdependent so that afailure in one system can lead to repercussions in associatedsystems. The links that unite life-support networks andconvey vulnerability can also be a source of resilience, offeringalternative routes for information flow and feedback inthe system or for overlapping functions and spare capacity.In any system, it is important that both direct and indirectlinks are made visible. Indirect links are those that cascadethrough intermediary networks and are often hardest toperceive. For example, storm winds toppling power cableswill lead to blackouts with direct impacts on business; butbusiness will also be affected if the blackout cuts off powerto public mass transport.There is a large technical literature on risk managementfor critical infrastructure and services. The majorityconcerns risk management procedures to be undertaken aspart of good management practice. There has been relativelylittle work on linkages with the urban planning community.The majority concerns internal risk management, with only arelatively small part oriented towards the urban planningcommunity. As shown in Box 8.13, a review of this literaturefrom the perspective of natural disasters argues that riskcommunication should be a central pillar for buildingresilience and response capacity. 64PAHO has been a leading organization pushing forhealth services to be incorporated within disasterplanning. It has produced a number of studies on protectinghealth services through appropriate construction,design and management of health facilities. For example,in Peru, legislation has been drawn up to encourage theinclusion of disaster reduction activities in health-sectoraction plans. 65In the education sector, the goal of meeting theeducation targets of the MDGs has raised the political impor-Protecting criticalinfrastructure andservices against allconceivable sourcesof harm isprohibitivelyexpensiveBox 8.13 Risk communication for critical infrastructure and servicesA communication system is needed to ensure the transfer of informationbetween linked critical infrastructure and services. It shouldaim to help in the coordination of risk reduction, the containmentof disaster impacts and in speedy recovery. It is recommended thata formally constituted risk management committee (RMC) shouldbe established with representatives from all linked networks andassociated local stakeholders who would be affected by decisions,as well as municipal and national authorities with responsibility foroverseeing operations in these life-support systems. The RMCwould have subcommittees for particular domains of expertise andbe driven by four areas of work:Risk preventionThe first responsibility of the committee is to ensure that vulnerabilityis adequately reduced to provide an acceptable level of risk.Any residual risk with implications for the population will require apolicy on disclosure.Risk preparationEach life-support network has the responsibility of reaching a levelof preparedness that permits it to maintain or re-establish, in theshortest possible time, the functions that allow it to fulfil itsmission during a disaster. Certain elements will need to be plannedjointly with the RMC, including early warning criteria; a protocolfor exchanges between networks; channels for communication orexchanges; agreements on encoding and decoding transmittedinformation, as well as feedback processes; the implementation ofmitigation measures at the level of operations and infrastructure;and decision-making levels required and involved in these informationexchanges.Risk interventionDirect links between managers and experts of linked life-supportsystems must be established for use during a crisis. Preferredchannels of communication must transport high-quality, concise,precise and tangible information; transmit information quickly andwithout distortion; transmit information that sets mitigationmeasures in motion; transmit information that integrates with theoperations of the destination networks, and establish a direct linkbetween personnel of the hierarchical and operational levels; andcreate robust, redundant and compatible links between thenetworks. All mechanical and electronic means can be considered.The RMC can provide a review for the system or a reference pointfor networks seeking advice on how to connect to the system.State of readinessThe RMC has responsibility for maintaining the system. It mustagree on responsibility for maintenance of the communicationchannels; verification of the robustness of these channels; trainingof personnel who intervene in emergency situations; and preparationof joint exercises, allowing the readiness of all participants tobe verified.Source: Robert et al, 2003