1st Edition

Comparative Emergency Management Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters

Edited By DeMond Shondell Miller, Jason David Rivera Copyright 2011
    470 Pages 52 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    A host of natural and man-made disasters have plagued the world in the twenty-first century, many with significant global impact. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Indian Ocean tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina all affected broad regions with devastating results. The need for better emergency management policies, procedures, and cooperation among nations is evident. Bringing together contributions from a cadre of international experts, Comparative Emergency Management: Examining Global and Regional Responses to Disasters demonstrates ways to recognize and reduce regional infrastructure vulnerability by building secure networks of collaboration within different geographical areas of the world.

    Explores issues on all continents

    With discrete sections on the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim, the book presents the work of researchers and practitioners who examine ways different societies have responded to environmental threats using innovative methods to cope with their vulnerabilities to disaster. Topics discussed include:

    • A game approach that has been used as an effective tool in the communication of disaster risk information in the Caribbean
    • Efforts to rebuild tourism in New Orleans despite the challenges presented by media coverage of Hurricane Katrina
    • Faith-based organization (FBO) humanitarian assistance in the Muslim world
    • Nongovernmental and community-based responses to the Asian tsunami and the Sumatran earthquake

    The book presents a multifaceted study that aims to foster dialogue among policymakers to reduce social vulnerability and build local and regional capacities to withstand environmental assaults. Encouraging creative thinking, it offers ideas and solutions that have been successful in a range of environments worldwide. The authoritative scholarship presented combines interdisciplinary studies that will be valuable to a broad range of fields and professionals.

    Foreword; Jane E. Rovins
    Section I:The Americas
    Forging Partnerships within Geopolitical Regions of the United States for Mutual Aid and Mass Prophylaxis Intervention; Kathleen O. Vito

    Network Governance in Emergency Management in the Caribbean; Philip Duku Osei

    Game Approach to Disaster Loss Reduction in Caribbean Multicultural Societies: The Disaster Awareness Game; Virginia Clearveaux and Balfour Spence

    Rebuilding a Regional Tourist Image in the Aftermath of Disaster: New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina; Mark Hutter and DeMond S. Miller

    Addressing the Future Urban Water Crisis in Southern Ontario: An Ethnographic Look at the Promise of Expert–Lay Collaboration in Water Management Research; Benjamin W. Kelly

    Section II: Africa and the Middle East
    Critique of Stakeholder Participation and Decision-Making Processes Affecting the Design and Implementation of Transboundary Water Governance Projects Bordering Vulnerable/High Risk States: Lake Chad and Basin, Danube and Tisza River Basin; Filip Aggestam and Stephanie Hodge

    Global Food Crisis and African Response: Lessons for Emergency Response Planning; Sheryl L. Hendriks and Scott Drimie

    Faith-Based Humanitarian Assistance in Response to Disasters: A Study of South African Muslim Diaspora; Sultan Khan

    Analysis of the Interorganizational Cooperation in the Jewish and the Arab Sector in Israel; Alex Altshuler

    Role of Schools in Rebuilding Communities after Disaster; Beryl Cheal

    Section III: Europe
    Citizen Seismology: How to Involve the Public in Earthquake Response; Rémy Bossu, Sébastien Gilles , Gilles Mazet-Roux, and Fréderic Roussel

    Social Capital: The Missing Link in Coping with Environmental Disaster; Sotiris Chtouris and Flora Tzelepoglou

    Supporting State Agencies in Providing Early Warning Services: A Case Study from Ireland; Ioannis M. Dokas, John Feehan, Stephen Fortier, Franclin Foping, and Syed Imran

    Section IV: Asia and the Pacific
    NGO and Community-Oriented Disaster Response: Lessons from the Humanitarian Response to the Asian Tsunami in India and the Jogyakarta Earthquake in Indonesia; Patrick Kilby and Kim Williamson

    Analysis of the Emergency Response by Business, Government, and the Public During and After a Sour Gas Well Blowout; Chuansheng Jiang and Yunfeng Deng

    Section V: Global Challenges and Next Steps for the Twenty-First Century
    Collaborative Leadership in Global Health Partnership Strategies of Canadian Research Universities; Anatoly Oleksiyenko

    Conclusion: Future of Regional Collaboration

    Afterword;
    J. Steven Picou

    Index



    Biography

    DeMond Shondell Miller is a professor of sociology and director of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Institute for Research and Community Service at Rowan University (Glassboro, New Jersey). He has worked as principal investigator to facilitate research projects involving natural and technological disasters, environmental issues, and community satisfaction. His primary area of specialization is environmental sociology (disaster studies and the study of the social construction of place), community development and community organizing, and social impact assessment. He is currently engaged in research on international environmental policy, coastal and maritime sustainable tourism, and the ongoing social impacts of Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

    Jason David Rivera is a research associate in the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. His research focuses on social vulnerability to natural and manmade disasters with an emphasis on minority experiences. Additionally, his research highlights institutional structures that have historically perpetuated social vulnerability within minority and low income communities. These research findings have been incorporated into policy recommendations that make mitigation, response, and recovery more efficient.