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The Emergency Manager as Risk Manager

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Disaster Research and the Second Environmental Crisis

Part of the book series: Environmental Hazards ((ENHA))

Abstract

Emergency management as an institution has grown in size and scope in recent decades, but has this emergent profession brought better public decisions about managing hazards and risks? The evidence is mixed because though emergency managers have acted wisely and heroically, they are subject to institutional constraints as well as the same decision biases and barriers that affect other experts and professionals. We propose that emergency management can be improved and hazard vulnerability lessened more readily through better decision processes than through the traditional approach of incremental improvements in the quality of information. The current fascination with “big data” focuses on more and better information, but emergency and hazards managers should ensure that they use the data they already have access to well.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Patrick S. Roberts & Kris Wernstedt

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Joseph Arvai

  3. Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA

    Kelly Redmond

Authors
  1. Patrick S. Roberts
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  2. Kris Wernstedt
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  3. Joseph Arvai
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  4. Kelly Redmond
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick S. Roberts .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Disaster Research Center and Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    James Kendra

  2. Department of History, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Scott G. Knowles

  3. Disaster Research Center and Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    Tricia Wachtendorf

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Roberts, P.S., Wernstedt, K., Arvai, J., Redmond, K. (2019). The Emergency Manager as Risk Manager. In: Kendra, J., Knowles, S., Wachtendorf, T. (eds) Disaster Research and the Second Environmental Crisis. Environmental Hazards. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04691-0_13

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