Calibrating Theory with Practice - IEM7e Reviewed by ASIS

George Haddow, Jane Bullock, and I have always considered our efforts on Introduction to Emergency Management to be a genuine 'labor of love'. As practitioners, we do our best to portray our collective 100+ years of practical knowledge and experience in the pages of this book (and others in the series) in recognition that theory so often needs a bit of 'real-world' calibration to put it in context.

It takes a tremendous amount of our personal time to keep these going, but we have always found this work to be more than worthwhile because the year over year adoptions are telling us that the academic community is still finding value in their pages (and we certainly appreciate and hope to support every single one of those course adoptions!)

That notwithstanding, there is perhaps no better reward as an author than unexpectedly coming across a review like this one. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Dr. Glen Kitteringham CPP for his thorough and generous assessment of our work.

The review follows:

"The goal of risk management is to reduce risk—not to an unrealistic zero, but to an acceptable level. In the absence of critical thinking, fear-based decision making may occur. The seventh edition of Introduction to Emergency Management can help point the way to better risk decisions.

"Those responsible for emergency management are expected to manage crises quickly and efficiently, from planning to recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example, illustrating how an unexpected threat changed the way business is done throughout the world. Readers of this book will learn about the emergency management process, the tools to establ

ish and manage crises, and what is and is not realistic.

"For students, the book includes a staggering amount of introductory information with plenty

of detail—enough for various instructors to pick and choose what to focus on when presenting the material. Learning objectives, case studies, critical thinking questions, class exercises, additional references, and points of research enable learning.

"For the emergency planner, the book details the classic emergency management process of hazard identification via risk assessment and provides information on the mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery stages.

"For the responder, discussions of the incident command system, communication (including social media), leadership, critical thinking, and partnering with the media will be useful.

"Contents are laid out in a logical manner, but the reader can also jump to one of the self-contained chapters. While most of the book has an American viewpoint, it does include occasional references to non-U.S. events, as well as a chapter on international disaster management.

"This book has almost everything a reader could want to know about the emergency m

anagement process."

Reviewer: Dr. Glen Kitteringham, CPP, has worked in the security industry since 1990. He is president of Kitteringham Security Group Inc., consulting with companies around the globe and has extensive experience developing emergency management programs and managing emergency events.