Emergency and crisis management

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Emergency and crisis management includes the systematic handling of emergency, crisis and disaster situations. This includes general prevention as well as the identification, analysis, initiation and tracking of countermeasures and the development of coordinated coping strategies in the context of the above-mentioned situations.

Introductory consideration

In the past, the terms emergency management and crisis management were often separated from one another and viewed as separate areas. An emergency can escalate into a crisis and a crisis can grow into a disaster . From the previous fact, it makes sense not to consider the entities separately from each other and to use well-founded expertise based on interdisciplinary cooperation when emergency and crisis situations arise.

In addition, (new) factors of uncertainty are constantly emerging and growing in the course of globalization and technology-related changes in society. Individuals, institutions and entire social systems are increasingly exposed to unforeseeable, uncontrollable and interlinked events (emergencies, crises, catastrophes) and have to cope with the subsequent challenges and circumstances appropriately.

Objects of emergency and crisis management

Successful emergency and crisis management includes concepts for problem solving from the areas of emergencies , crises and disasters and thus offers extensive possibilities for prevention, handling and managing the associated problems. From the perspective of emergency and crisis management, the overall system of hazard prevention is addressed from many different perspectives in order to prepare individuals or institutions as comprehensively as possible for confrontation with emergencies, crises and disasters. In this context, scientific and engineering perspectives are just as justified as a social and sociological perspective, which emphasizes the interdisciplinary orientation of emergency and crisis management. The planning, implementation and evaluation of measures for the primary and secondary prevention of emergencies are also in focus, as is the assumption of leadership and management responsibility in disaster situations. Crisis management at authorities or commercial enterprises is also included. In addition, individual emergencies and major disasters are equally important subjects of comprehensive emergency and crisis management. Social science research fields arise particularly in areas such as empirical disaster research, disaster planning , crisis and disaster communication, disaster management, international cooperation and related scientific disciplines.

When disaster studies the experiment can be understood, "[...] educate the active patterns leading to systematic failure by scientific methods". An event causing a catastrophe rarely stands alone and in isolation, therefore it is of interest in disaster research to consider how various factors interact and lead (can) or influence the same to a catastrophe.

Disaster planning includes the active handling of hazard analysis and disaster control as well as the synergetic overall process of hazard prevention.

The disaster management deals with organized screening (risk analysis, prevention, preparedness increase), avoidance (early warning) and disaster management.

The area of crisis and disaster communication considers aspects of communication science (crisis communication research) in the context of damaging events, both at internal and external, as well as from local to international level.

International cooperation includes the status and development of international disaster relief and all associated (e.g. legal) aspects that contribute to the ability to understand, plan and carry out foreign missions.

Emergency and crisis management in a scientific context

The scientific examination of the above-mentioned content has a considerable advantage for individuals, economic actors and entire social systems. Valid findings from emergency and crisis management can be used effectively in the field of public and operational hazard prevention and offer new approaches and possibilities for the prevention and management of damaging events.

The evaluation of major disaster situations according to scientific standards is also part of emergency and crisis management in the current context. The changing global conditions not only bring opportunities but also new problems for which the existing emergency, crisis and catastrophe systems may not offer sufficient solutions. The research work in the field of emergency and crisis management is also being promoted by the state for the reasons mentioned, which underlines the relevance of this topic.

In this way, current global developments can also be taken into account and comprehensive strategies and concepts can be developed through accompanying scientific research in order to successfully face the challenges of the present.

Emergency and crisis management in the context of companies

With increasing company size and increasing importance for the maintenance of systems of society as a whole (telecommunications, logistics, health care, etc.), many companies have their own departments that deal with (threatening) situations from emergencies, crises and disasters both preventively and in acute situations. For example, with the help of business continuity management ( business continuity management ), the continued existence of a company is to be secured in emergency, crisis and other threatening situations. Activities and processes within a company are then maintained through alternative plans and options for action in crisis situations or in the event of other disruptions. This increases the stability of the business processes and the efficiency of a company is only limited or restricted for a short time. The economic existence of a company and the functionality for processes that affect society as a whole are also preserved.

literature

  • Peter Höbel, Thorsten Hofman: Crisis Communication. 2nd, completely revised edition. Publishing company UVK Konstanz – Munich. (2014)
  • Jochen Zschau, Bruni Merz, Eric J. Plate, Johann G. Goldhammer: Prediction and early warning. In: Eric J. Plate, Bruno Merz (ed.): Natural disasters causes - effects - precaution. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Nägele and Obermiller). Stuttgart. (2001)
  • Elke M. Green: Population behavior and possibilities of crisis management and disaster management in multicultural societies. In: Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Aid (Ed.): Research in Civil Protection Volume 11. (2010)
  • Ansgar Thießen (Ed.): Handbook of crisis management. 2nd Edition. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-04292-9 .
  • Michael St. Pierre; Gesine Hofinger; Cornelius Buerschaper: Emergency management, human factors and patient safety in acute medicine . 2nd updated and expanded edition. Springer-Verlag Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-16880-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carsten Felgentreff, Wolf R. Dombrowsky: Hazard, Risk and Disaster Research . In: Carsten Felgentreff, Thomas Glade (Hrsg.): Natural risks and social disasters. Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, p. 74 .
  2. ↑ BMBF safety research. Retrieved February 2, 2017 .