An emergency (ES) is a violation of the normal life of people associated with material losses, a threat to people's health or their death. An emergency can be the result of spontaneous action, the actions of terrorists, environmental disasters, natural or man-made factors.
Emergencies are classified by:
- the degree of surprise (sudden, expected, or, in other terminology, unpredictable / predictable);
- propagation speed. The most dangerous are explosive disasters, followed by rapid, rapidly spreading (fast), smooth (moderate);
- scale (from object to global);
- duration of action (short-term, prolonged).
If you consider the causes of emergencies, then you can make another classification. It is much more complex and detailed.
- Emergencies are technogenic. These include traffic accidents, explosion threats, harmful emissions and other accidents related to the production or operation of equipment. In turn, each type of technogenic emergency is subdivided into subspecies. For example, emissions can be chemical, biological, radioactive.
- Natural emergencies. Most often, these are flooding, earthquakes, drought, freezing, tornadoes, etc.
- Ecological disasters. This is an excess of the permissible concentration of harmful substances in water and soil, a change in the composition of the atmosphere, a violation of the ecological balance, etc.
A special place in the classification is occupied by emergencies of a social nature. The reason for their occurrence is usually social, religious, political or other social contradictions that have developed in a particular territory. Such contradictions can result in clashes, armed conflicts, riots and other situations that can lead to death of people, threat to their health, material damage. Emergencies of a social nature can harm the environment, the environmental situation, and lead to disruption of the population.
The starting point of such emergencies may be:
- unemployment;
- inflation;
- Act of terrorism;
- nationalism;
- crises in government;
- food problems;
- low level of social security;
- corruption;
- others.
If a society is under the influence of such adverse factors for a long time, then a tension arises, gradually turning into deprivation, the emergence of social, political, military conflicts.
Emergencies of a social nature are very diverse.
- Legalized forms of violence (war, armed conflict, repression, terrorist attacks, riots and the like).
- Use of substances that violate the psychophysical state of people (alcohol, drugs, smoking).
- Physical impact on a person (crime, theft, banditry, quackery, etc.)
- Mental pressure (the activities of banned organizations whose activities affect not only the social system, but also the psyche of people (sects, gangs, pyramids, etc.)
Unlike man-made and natural, emergency situations of a social nature have been little studied. Moreover, not all sociologists distinguish them in a separate class. Many experts consider the social nature of such phenomena as the consequences associated with other types of disasters. For this reason, there are other classifications. The following is considered most convenient.
All emergency situations of a social nature are divided into social and military ones.
Actually social can be aimed at:
- human health. This includes: mental disorders (suicide, activities of zombie organizations, social diseases (AIDS, etc.), exposure to substances (drug addiction, etc.);
- the person himself (mental, physical). Mental impact is blackmail, any kind of fraud. Physical - hostage-taking, banditry, terror, rape;
- groups of people. Poverty, unemployment refers to economic and social factors, conflicts between groups of people - to socio-political. This also includes demographic risks associated with a change in the political system and environmental conditions.
Emergencies of a social nature of a military type are divided into situations related to the use of conventional, nuclear or advanced weapons (for example, radiation or genetic).