ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors introduce the need for social workers to be actively engaged not only in the emergency response to a disaster but also in disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction. They examine of disaster social work practice by discussing various layers of practice from macro-, to meso- and micro- levels, noting how these levels of intervention are crucial to disaster practice. The authors explore the stages of disasters from preparation to post-disaster and provide the types of interventions – at various layers of practice – in which social workers might engage. Emergency Service Response workers arriving in the first post-disaster wave must assess mortality and morbidity factors, assist people to safety, and determine what are the governance structures and collaborations in the overall response team. Non-government organisations also pay significant attention to sustainability and to disaster risk reduction and preparedness.
