International Emergency Management Structure

1. Similar to the federal-to-state issues you examined in Week 8, special considerations need to be made when designing international emergency preparedness and mitigation activities. Aside from cultural aspects, governance structures can also present emergency managers with unique challenges and barriers.

For this Discussion, select one other country (not your own or the United States), ideally a developed country, and review the media, International Emergency Management, located in this week's resources. Consider the emergency management structure in the country you selected.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post a brief description of the country you selected, and explain how emergency management is structured in that country, particularly related to risk assessment and mitigation. Then explain similarities and differences in the emergency management structure between the country you selected and the United States. Finally, explain what can be learned from that country related to emergency management structure and mitigation that may be useful to U.S. jurisdictions.

2. Cultural Factors and Disaster Risk

Recall from the week's Introduction that similar disasters may have dissimilar impacts in other countries. Why is this so? For one, developed countries usually have sturdier structures that better protect occupants but are significantly more expensive to rebuild. As mentioned, some countries might have similar building codes, but the codes are poorly enforced. In some cases inspectors are even paid off to approve an inspection.

Sociologists and anthropologists have noticed that a disproportionate number of women died in the 2005 Indonesian tsunami due in part to various cultural factors. Many men commuted inland to work while women stayed home, close to the shore. In the Indonesian culture it is considered improper for women to wear swimsuits; thus, learning to swim may not have been an option. Even if the women did know how to swim, the traditional dress worn by many women may have severely restricted their movement in the water.

For this Discussion, select a country (not the United States) and examine cultural factors that might impact risks associated with disasters. Then consider how these factors could be integrated into a mitigation and preparedness system for that country.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post a brief description of the country you selected. Then explain how cultural factors in that country might contribute to increased risks associated with a disaster. Finally, explain how you, as an emergency manager, might integrate this information into a mitigation and preparedness system for that country.