The Search for Collaborative Emergency Management

The Search for Collaborative Emergency Management

The importance of public safety has gained recognition from governments of all countries around the world. Public safety includes howwell communities copewith extreme phenomena, such as natural disasters and threats of manmade hazards, as well as how effectively emergency response agencies respond to such crises. The uncertainty and unexpected consequences of these extreme events create severe conditions such as large scale destruction of buildings, dramatic change in geography, destruction of communication and electrical infrastructure, exacerbated by a lack of understanding of risks to which communities are exposed. Natural disastersmay create heavy damage across wide areas that require public agencies to work together nationally and locally to manage states of emergency. Such crises require a clear understanding of risks and skillfully coordinated operations to return the situation to normal. Under urgent constraints of time and threat to life, information and communication facilities are critical to enable multiple agencies to coordinate their actions simultaneously andmake timely informed decisions. In states of emergency, all participating response agencies need to work together and communicate with each other. This study examines how emergency management policies are implemented in Thailand at national and local levels separately and cooperatively, and what information and communication processes are essential to emergencymanagement.