Disaster Management

Disaster management (or emergency management) is the creation of plans through which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.[1][2] Disaster management does not avert or eliminate the threats, instead it focuses on creating plans to decrease the impact of disasters. Failure to create a plan could lead to damage to assets, human mortality, and lost revenue. Currently in the United States 60% businesses do not have emergency management plans.[3][4] Events covered by disaster management include acts of terrorism, industrial sabotage, fire, natural disasters (such as earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.), public disorder, industrial accidents, and communication failures.


Emergency planning ideals[edit]

If possible, emergency planning should aim to prevent emergencies from occurring, and failing that, should develop a good action plan to mitigate the results and effects of any emergencies. As time goes on, and more data becomes available, usually through the study of emergencies as they occur, a plan should evolve. The development of emergency plans is a cyclical process, common to many risk management disciplines, such as Business Continuity and Security Risk Management, as set out below:

• Recognition or identification of risks
• Ranking or evaluation of risks
    • Responding to significant risks
    • Tolerate
    • Treat
    • Transfer
    • Terminate
• Resourcing controls
• Reaction Planning
• Reporting & monitoring risk performance
• Reviewing the Risk Management framework

There are a number of guidelines and publications regarding Emergency Planning, published by various professional organisations such as ASIS, FEMA and the Emergency Planning College. There are very few Emergency Management specific standards, and emergency management as a discipline tends to fall under business resilience standards.


In order to avoid, or reduce significant losses to a business, emergency managers should work to identify...