DISASTER MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP

Disaster management (or emergency management) is the creation of plans through which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters.

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% of businesses do not have emergency management plans.

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.

There are four main types of disaster.
• Natural disasters: including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions that have immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further death and suffering from (for example) floods, landslides, fires, tsunamis.

• Environmental emergencies: including technological or industrial accidents, usually involving the production, use or transportation of hazardous material, and occur where these materials are produced, used or transported, and forest fires caused by humans.

• Complex emergencies: involving a break-down of authority, looting, and attacks on strategic installations, including conflict situations and war.

• Pandemic emergencies: involving a sudden onset of contagious disease that affects health, disrupts services and businesses, brings economic and social costs