The Role of Science and Technology in Emergency Management

摘要

'Emergency management' refers to dealing with all types of emergencies and disasters by planning and coordinating the actions--mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery--of national, state, and local agencies. This report reviews the nature and functions of the emergency management system, its needs, and the relevance of science and technology to meeting those needs. Most emergency management situations require the application of fairly straightforward science or technology and of basic management principles or tools, but a few critical areas demand sophisticated science or technology. In almost all cases, however, the principal problems are the use and transfer of existing information. The report concludes that better use of science and technology by the emergency management system requires better management of technical information and that improved coordination among federal agencies dealing with emergency-related science and technology is needed. The report recommends that FEMA take a leadership role in setting research objectives in emergency management for the various federal agencies and also interpret and disseminate the important research results to user groups.