Introduction to Emergency Management, Fourth Edition, offers a practical guide to the discipline of emergency management. It focuses on the domestic emergency management system of the United States, highlighting the lessons and emerging trends that are applicable to emergency management systems in other parts of the world. The book begins by tracing the historical development of emergency management from the 1800s to the present world of homeland security. It then discusses the hazards faced by emergency management and the methods of assessing hazard risk; the function of mitigation and the strategies and programs emergency management or other disciplines use to reduce the impact of disasters; and emergency management preparedness. The book also covers the importance of communication in the emergency management of the twenty-first century; the functions and processes of disaster response; government and voluntary programs aimed at helping people and communities rebuild in the aftermath of a disaster; and international emergency management. It also addresses the impact of September 11, 2001 on traditional perceptions of emergency management; and emergency management in the post-9/11, post-Katrina environment.