Emergency and Disaster Relief: Bridging the Gap

摘要

As the Japanese earthquake and the Indian Ocean Tsunami had demonstrated so dramatically and tragically, the massive damage to infrastructure of the affected areas especially the loss of bridges poses critical problems to emergency relief operations. With key infrastructure down, it is simply impossible to move supplies and people in quantity and at speed. Increasingly, civil emergency and disaster relief agencies are turning to their respective armed forces for help and assistance in the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster. With its organisation, discipline and equipment, the military is becoming the default option for these relief operations.