ABSTRACT
Key Issues to Consider in Emergency or Disaster Response Situations Case Study Selection and the History of Disaster Response The case studies in this book were selected for three main reasons. First, some case studies were chosen due to the impact they have had on the development of disaster response and emergency management in modern times. Events such as the Love Canal Disaster in 1970 were used as examples because they had a strong impact on the introduction of new legislation that attempted to prevent such situations from occurring again. Second, other events were selected due to the sheer magnitude of the event, for example, 9/11, Charles Whitman’s 1966 attack at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Aum cult attack on the Tokyo subways. Third, other case studies were included due to their unique characteristics or complexity. These events posed unique challenges to the ability of public administrators to resolve the event successfully. Events such as the great white shark attacks of New Jersey in 1916, the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in 1979, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake pose such challenges.
