ABSTRACT
Communities are not immune to the impact of tragic events that will, in many cases, shake the foundations of the communities themselves. Events that threaten communities range not just in scope but also in the impact of that scope. Planning must also consider the unknown or assumed, including what threats are realistic, what the level of impact may be, the damage sustained, and how quickly and efficiently the response plan can be initiated and executed. The positive aspect of the fact that disasters do not occur often is communities may go decades or even centuries without a major event. Most events impacting our communities are limited in scope and do not require major assistance from state or federal agencies. The disaster response community is, in fact, not just one organization, but rather a confederation, drawn together for a specific purpose and collected from a wide range of participants, often including public, private, for-profit, not-for-profit, and volunteer agencies and individuals.
