Table 1 The four phases of the disaster life cycle
From: Co-creation of improved quality in disaster response and recovery
The four phases of emergency management | |
|---|---|
Mitigation |   Includes any activities that prevent an emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. |
Preventing future emergencies or minimizing their effects |   Buying flood and fire insurance for your home is a mitigation activity. |
|  |   Mitigation activities take place before and after emergencies. |
Preparedness |   Includes plans or preparations made to save lives and to help response and rescue operations. |
Preparing to handle an emergency |   Evacuation plans and stocking food and water are both examples of preparedness. |
|  |   Preparedness activities take place before an emergency occurs. |
Response |   Includes actions taken to save lives and prevent further property damage in an emergency situation. Response is putting your preparedness plans into action. |
Responding safely to an emergency |   Seeking shelter from a tornado or turning off gas valves in an earthquake are both response activities. |
|  |   Response activities take place during an emergency. |
Recovery |   Includes actions taken to return to a normal or an even safer situation following an emergency. |
Recovering from an emergency |   Recovery includes getting financial assistance to help pay for the repairs. |
|  |   Recovery activities take place after an emergency. |