The Management of International Disasters: A Comparison of Practices

International emergency management has two components: the comparison and study of national emergency management practices and the international assistance given to aid large scale disasters. As the occurrences of disasters (natural, technological and man-made) continue to rise, the responses to those disasters have the capability of becoming international efforts. Research was gathered on international disaster management in the form of case studies, symposium notes, and scholarly articles to analyze the practices in the field of emergency management. Information was gathered on the organizational structure, practices and policies, and technologies used in the various case studies. A content analysis was performed to identify successful and unsuccessful emergency management practices. Overarching themes on the national management of disasters include the use of localized resources in aiding the response and recovery efforts, organization of the response with the appropriate leadership, and completing sustainable actions to better mitigate future events. Common themes prevalent in the international management of disaster assistance include the ability of the leadership to guide the public, the coordination between internal and external forces, the cohesion of civilian and military responders, and the use of ad hoc networks in the response. Holes in the international disaster management practices are connected to the large number of international treaties, agreements, and organizations as opposed to a unified framework for international response