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NOTICE:
TIEMS Transportation Safety and Security Workshop January 28-29th 2003
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Welcome to
the
Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management
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| January 2003
Volume 3 - Number 4 |
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Links:
Current events
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The Evolution of Preparedness as a Function of Emergency
Management
By Alan Petro
Abstract
Preparedness is a fundamental component of emergency management and is the basis for the planning, training, and exercising and necessary to establish the capability to respond to a disaster or emergency. Preparedness and emergency management as a discipline have evolved significantly in the past few decades. Preparedness origins date back to the 1950's and the days of civil defense. Civil defense programs were a by-product of the Cold War fear that the Soviet Union was developing nuclear weapons and would mount an attack on the United States. Throughout the 1960's and 70's, States witnessed an increase in the number of natural disasters but received only limited assistance from the Federal government. Preparedness capability was complicated further with the development of nuclear power plants and toxic materials. In 1979 in an effort to consolidate the various Federal entities that dealt with disaster preparedness and civil defense, President Carter on behalf of the National Governor’s Association, created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Because a large concentration of the agency's personnel came from civil defense, it proved difficult to move away from planning for nuclear attacks to planning for natural disasters. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, FEMA has been forced to emphasize the threat of terrorism in its scope of hazards. It is vital that any future initiatives falling within the scope of preparedness not only apply to terrorist threats, but also to man-made and natural hazards. Future initiatives should examine the use of GIS data and the establishment of protocols for the sharing of sensitive information with State officials. To full paper |