This book is intended as a history and survey of large-scale emergency management policy in the United States. The field of emergency management is relatively new, and rapidly changing as new technology and technology-dependent societal systems emerge. The impacts of past catastrophic events on policy development, and implications of older policy in new markets are discussed. The book also explores non-governmental policies as they relate to for-profit emergency management and professional associations of practitioners. For any person working in the field of emergency management who wonders "why do we do things the way we do?" this book is essential.

Dr. Andrea M. Jackman has her BS in meteorology and PhD in wind science & engineering, and has worked in disaster science since 2003. She currently works on the software development team for a national disaster mitigation model distributed globally by the U.S. government, and conducts research on the cost and effectiveness of federal-level disaster policy.