Emergency Management

Author(s):
Terri Rebmann, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC Director, Institute for Biosecurity, and Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Saint Louis University, College for Public Health and Social Justice
St Louis, MO

Revised:
November 1, 2023
Published:
October 14, 2014
Declarations of Conflicts of Interest:
  • Terri Rebmann reports that she works as a paid per diem subject matter expert for Elsevier, editing online courses/modules on topics related to infectious diseases, infection prevention, and disasters.

Abstract

Many types of disasters, ranging from natural disasters to human-made events, have the potential to affect healthcare. Emergency management is the process by which an individual, facility, and/or community uses mitigation strategies to become better prepared for, able to respond to, and recover from all types of disasters/emergencies and mass casualty events. To accomplish these goals, an all-hazards approach must be used. Emergency management is a multidepartmental, multiagency endeavor that requires coordination and communication among many groups to be most effective. It is essential that infection preventionists participate in all phases of the emergency management process to decrease the mental health impact, costs, morbidity, and mortality related to mass casualty incidents.