Charting a Course for Emergency Management: Insights from the Literature, 2020–2023

The field of emergency management is changing rapidly. Emergency managers are being asked to carry out new missions—in particular, public health preparedness and response (as shown during the 2019 coronavirus pandemic), as well as addressing the consequences of increasingly frequent and severe weather events. As a result, and based on the insight that many emergency management approaches apply across all types of disasters, the field is moving toward an expanded all-hazards approach. As one step toward understanding these changes and charting a path forward for emergency management, the authors of this study assess the current state of thinking about the field by conducting literature reviews and analyses of both scholarly and practitioner-oriented sources, aggregating top issues in the field, identifying priorities for a research agenda, and suggesting ways for practitioners and researchers to engage with and learn from each other. While the study includes key findings and recommendations for emergency management going forward, it also serves as a pilot for a regular review of current issues in the emergency management field.