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A Model of Community Response: Institutional Structures and Effective Disaster Management
Author(s) -
Hughey Erin P.,
Bell Heather M.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
risk, hazards and crisis in public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.634
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1944-4079
DOI - 10.1515/1944-4079.1113
Subject(s) - emergency management , disaster response , consistency (knowledge bases) , context (archaeology) , computer science , work (physics) , quality (philosophy) , emergency response , business , process management , risk analysis (engineering) , political science , engineering , geography , artificial intelligence , mechanical engineering , medicine , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , medical emergency , law
Abstract What are the institutional structures that influence effective disaster management? Building on earlier work (Hughey 2003, 2008; Hughey and Bell 2011), this paper explores the utility of Hughey's (2003) Model of Community Response to Disaster applied within the context of The Bahamas. The model provides a framework for the systematic review of some of the institutional and social mechanisms that contribute to response quality. The model was applied using data collected on conditions, disaster management processes and structures, and response outcomes before and after the implementation of a national Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) system. Results indicate that the model can be successfully applied outside the United States and supports a better understanding of the dynamic relationships between events, institutional and social structures, and disaster management operations. In order to improve consistency and facilitate more robust and comparable results, the development of an accompanying metric is recommended.