THE FUTURE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

George HaddowThe George Washington University

Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management

Washington, DC2005 Emergency Management Higher Education Conference

FEMA Emergency Management Institute

Emmitsburg, MD - June 7-9, 2005

Spring 2003

“We are optimistic that emergency management can survive and thrive in the future if it embraces the lessons learned from the past and moves forward with a

progressive agenda that will be valued by the American people.”

Four Lessons

• Maintain an all-hazards approach to emergency management.

• The federal response infrastructure, based on the Federal Response Plan, works.

• Continue to practice the concepts that facilitated the U.S. emergency management system becoming the best system in the world.

• Make mitigation the focus of emergency management in the United States.

Emergency Management Today (2005)

• Terrorism focus

• National Response Plan (NRP)

• Customer focus, partnerships and communications

• Mitigation

Five Pressing Issues

• Imbalance of focus between homeland security and natural disaster management

• Challenge of involving the public in preparedness planning

• Lack of an effective partnership with the business community

• Cuts to EM funding• Questions surrounding the evolving

organizational structure of the nation’s emergency management system.

A History of Imbalance Repeated

• Civil Defense

• Hugo, Loma Prieta, Andrew

• History repeating itself

More Public Involvement Needed

• Limited role

• Project Impact, Tulsa, Napa

• “Redefining Readiness”

Public-Private Partnership Effort Failing

• Business Roundtable

• Overall strategy

• Information and planning

Emergency Management Funding Cuts

• Natural hazards programs

• First responders and plans

• Homeland security offices

Organizational Uncertainty

• Partnership

• Structure

• DHS

A New Path for Emergency Management

• Lessons learned

• Single focus

• DHS mission

Where does emergency management go from here?

• Community level

• New breed of government official

• Consensus building process

• All-Hazards including terrorism

Conclusion