PPA 573 – Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Lecture 1b – Models of Emergency Management

Introduction

An impressive amount of attention has been given to the future of emergency management.Numerous calls for a broader view of emergency management.The most recognized academic paradigms and policy guides include disaster-resistant communities, disaster resilient communities, and sustainable development and sustainable hazards mitigation.

Introduction

Most fail because they ignore comprehensive emergency management or they ignore vulnerability as a central concept.

Comprehensive Emergency Management

Advantages– Acknowledges diverse disaster agents.– Acknowledges functional similarities among

disasters.Disadvantages– Focus on hazards ignores social, political, cultural,

etc. variables.– Limited focus on managers, first responders, and

public officials.

Disaster-resistant Community

Advantages.– Exemplary focus on mitigation to reduce degree of loss.– Marketability (given project impact from FEMA).

Disadvantages.– Applies only to extreme natural disasters.– Ignores social, political, and cultural triggering agents.– Does not cover all functional areas (preparedness and

response).– Excludes most actors other than urban planners and

engineers.

Disaster-resilient Community

Advantages.– Recognizes that not all hazards can be anticipated

and efforts should be directed to recovery.– Captures the social variables.– Includes social science actors other than engineers.

Disaster-resilient Community

Disadvantages.– May not be concerned with all triggering agents.– Too strong a focus on natural disasters.– Paradigm may be too reactive.– May imply return to normalcy, rather than a reduction

in vulnerability.

Sustainable Development and Sustainable Hazards Mitigation

Advantages.– Focus on the importance of a shift in culture to reduce

vulnerability.– Notes the importance of process for disaster reduction.– Promotes an understanding about how response and

recovery can retard development or reduce the probability of future disasters.

– Incorporates many of the variables in disaster reduction.

Sustainable Development and Sustainable Hazards Mitigation

Disadvantages.– Sustainability is related to extreme natural disasters, but less

so to other types of disasters.– Sustainable development may be more relevant to mitigation

and recovery than preparedness and response.– Sustainable development may not be relevant to all

emergency management actors.– Sustainability appears to be related to a limited number of

disciplines.

Comprehensive Vulnerability Management

Comprehensive Vulnerability Management

Holistic and integrated activities directed toward the reduction of emergencies and disasters by diminishing risk and susceptibility and building resistance and capacity.– Risk – the likelihood of physical loss.– Susceptibility – social, cultural, political, etc. vulnerability to

disaster.– Resistance – infrastructure ability to withstand physical

destruction.– Resilience – community ability to respond and recover based

on preparedness.

Comprehensive Vulnerability Management

Advantages.– Related to all types of triggering events.– Related to each of the four areas of emergency

management.– Related to the majority of actors involved in disaster

reduction.– Related to the wide array of disaster-inducing or

disaster intensifying variables.