Introduction to Emergency Management

Emergency management university programs have experienced dramatic and exponential growth over the last twelve years. This new, fully updated edition introduces majors and minors to the field and provides content accessible to those students taking introductory emergency management courses. The book’s strength is in looking at the regional, state, and local level response, as well as some of the often misunderstood or overlooked social aspects of disasters. Real-world cases are described throughout including considerations of international emergency management and disasters.

Brenda Phillips, PhD, is the Associate Dean and Full Professor of Sociology at Ohio University-Chillicothe. She is the author ofMennonite Disaster Service and an editor on Social Vulnerability to Disasters(CRC Press). In 2013, she was inducted into the International Network of Women in Emergency Management’s Hall of Fame. In 2012, she received the Blanchard Award for Excellence in Emergency Management Education. Professor Phillips has conducted research on disaster recovery since 1982, beginning as a student of E.L. Quarantelli at The Ohio State University’s Disaster Research Center. Her published research can be found in a variety of journals including theInternational Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, Disaster Prevention, Disasters, Humanity and Society,the Journal of Emergency Management, Natural Hazards Review, and Environmental Hazards. She has been funded multiple times by the National Science Foundation to study disasters and vulnerable populations. Dr. Phillips has been invited to teach, consult or lecture in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, India, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, and the People’s Republic of China. She is a graduate of Bluffton University (Ohio) and Ohio State University.Dave Neal, PhD, is a Professor with the Fire and Emergency Management Program and Director of the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events at Oklahoma State University. Since the completion of his thesis on disaster preparedness in 1978, he has been actively engaged disaster research. He has studied a wide range of events (e.g., tornadoes, flood, hurricanes, earthquakes) throughout the United States, but also in Sweden and India. Such organizations as FEMA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the American National Red Cross among others have supported his research. He has published numerous articles on disasters. Dr. Neal taught his first class on disasters in 1979. In 1989 he joined the faculty of the Institute of Emergency Administration and Planning, the first bachelor’s degree program in the world in emergency management, and later served as its director. Dr. Neal has also published articles related to developing degree programs in disaster management, virtual teaching environments, and has also served as a consultant for universities for starting degree programs in disaster management. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University. He obtained his PhD in Sociology from Ohio State University where he also served as a research assistant with the Disaster Research Center.

Gary Webb, PhD, is an associate professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Public Administration at the University of North Texas, which houses the nation’s first bachelor’s degree program in emergency management. He holds a PhD from the University of Delaware, where he worked at the Disaster Research Center, and he taught previously at Oklahoma State University, where he received theRegents Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Webb has conducted extensive research on organizational preparedness for and response to numerous disasters in the United States and abroad. His research has been supported by various agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, and it has appeared in a variety of professional journals, including theInternational Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, International Journal of Emergency Management,Environmental Hazards, Natural Hazards Review, Rural Sociology, andSociological Focus. His research has also been featured in national media outlets, including theLos Angeles Times, Newsday, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has been invited to teach or present his research to international audiences in Denmark, France, South Korea, The Netherlands, and Turkey.