Disaster Preparedness, Rapid Assessment, Response, Recovery, and Foresight: Responding to Unplanned Events and Emerging Threats

In 1907, Baden-Powell, a soldier and scouting founder devised the motto: “Be Prepared” and this motto is repeated across 216 countries and territories. In the early 1900s World War I was looming and Baden-Powell wanted young people to be able to act quickly in an emergency. This was also recognized by Sir Winston Churchill when he praised scouts for their role in watching coastlines during World War II. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a blueprint for making communities safer and more resilient. It provides concrete actions to protect development gains from the risks posed by disasters. While disasters can occur naturally, they can also be caused by human actions, planned attacks or as a consequence of policies or governance. It is widely recognized that preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters and traumatic events is essential to the behavioral health of individuals and communities. This chapter provides an overview of disaster risk reduction, health and safety risk management, rapid assessment responses to unplanned events, and step-by-step futures exercises and foresight for preparedness. It concludes with two case studies one illustrating the rapid assessment and response (RAR) approach and the other detailing a futures exercise for research priorities.