Defining emergency preparedness and response

Abstract

There are many related terms and definitions in emergency preparedness and response. This section differentiates between emergencies and disasters and provides other related definitions. This section defines four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Mitigation and preparedness occur before an emergency event, while response and recovery occur after an event. At any given time, communities are in at least one of the phases of the emergency management cycle.