The principal concept underlying this handbook is that modern disaster management is very much an ongoing national requirement, important to governments and people alike. It has special significance today because of increasing dangers to the world environment posed by natural hazards and their effects on economic development. To be effective, disaster management should be implemented as a comprehensive and continuous activity, not as a periodic reaction to individual disaster circumstances. Consequently, national officials who are charged with disaster management responsibilities have to deal with a wide range of policy, planning, organizational, operational, and other matters. It is clearly beneficial for them to have access to relevant guidelines and advice, especially in the form of a ready-reference handbook.
The handbook draws upon disaster management practices in the region and endeavors to relate realistically to the needs of national disaster managers. It covers the broad disaster management field and offers guidelines on the major segments that constitute that field. The handbook does not attempt to deal with highly specialized aspects of disasters such as detailed economic, technical, and sociological issues. These are more the concern of specialists who are normally available to provide the relevant advice. The reader should find the handbook simple and straightforward to use. Individual chapters are as self-contained as possible, with adequate cross-references where necessary. Its content is not dogmatic, instead it takes an advisory line, including options and case material references to help disaster managers in resolving their local needs. This contributes to the application of past experiences accrued within the region and, where appropriate, elsewhere.