The Five Phases Of Emergency Management (1992)

Emergency Management Concepts Most adults can remember, as a child being in school and practicing drills in case of a fire or tornado. At the sound of the bell, students immediately lined up, single file and quietly followed the teacher to the safety zone. In the event of a fire, the teacher led the students outside of the building to a designated area and if it were a tornado drill, the teacher led the students to the cafeteria area or lowest level of the building. They are no longer referred to as drills and the only concerns are not just with fire and tornados. Today the term emergency management takes on a role, that at the very least, can be overwhelming to those in charge. The Civil Defense department was the first to develop the

The prevention phase is the most critical phase of emergency management. Although not every disaster can be prevented in whole, measures can be taken including reviewed and practiced evacuation plans and environmental planning aiding in reducing the loss of life and injury (The Five Phases of Emergency Management, 2018). The second most critical phase of emergency management is being prepared. To be prepared, organizations must routinely practice planning and organizing and looking for ways to be more readily prepared in case of disasters and should practice for all hazards, not just limits of one or two (The Five Phases of Emergency Management, 2018). The response phase is just as critical and, in some cases, more critical than being prepared. This reactional phase coordinates and manages all resources available at the time of the disaster where measures are taken for life, property and environmental safety (The Five Phases of Emergency Management, 2018). The fourth phase of emergency management is the recovery phase where stabilization efforts are managed, and critical community functions are beginning to be restored. Once the threat to life and limb has subsided, this phase is immediately started (The Five Phases of Emergency Management, 2018). Finally, the mitigation phase steps up. This is the phase where engineers and developers see changes that need to be made in structural and non-structural measures. Changes may include adding flood gates or changing the type of materials used on buildings or even changing building codes altogether in an effort to limit the impact of the next disaster (The Five Phases of Emergency Management,