Emergency management

Emergency Management
www.moh.govt.nz/emergencymanagement

Emergency planning is about being prepared for events or incidents that stretch our ability to cope beyond our normal day-to-day capacity.

While an emergency is usually devastating in its own right, we can prepare as much as possible to reduce its impact and speed recovery. In some cases being prepared can even help prevent an emergency situation from turning into another kind of crisis.

The New Zealand health sector has had extensive experience in dealing with major incidents or events over the years. These include the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, the Napier earthquake in 1931, the sinking of the Wahine ferry near Wellington Harbour in 1968, Cyclone Bola in 1988, to more recent crises such as the 2003 SARS outbreak and widespread flooding events.

These kinds of events have shaped the way we prepare for emergencies, and have also shown the important role that the health sector plays in responding to major incidents. Although emergency preparedness can never be a perfect science, we can use our experiences to continue to learn and improve our ability to not just cope but exceed expectations.

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Page last updated: 21 August 2007