Comprehensive Emergency Management is often described in terms of 4 phases - loosely and incorrectly term as 4 phases of disasters, more correctly as 4 phases of emergency management. This phase based model was developed as 1 of the 3 core components of Comprehensive Emergency Management, based on an understanding that disasters are events that continue over a period of time and that can be described in terms of a life cycle. In this context it made sense to describe the management of an emergency management program in phases tied to the disaster life cycle especially as the basis for programmatic allocations of resources and funding. Each phase should involve actions at the federal, state, and local level guided by an all hazards approach.
