Natural disaster management is a discipline that is involved with determining risks, minimizing those risks, and recovering when the risks come to fruition during such events as a natural disaster. There are four phases in natural disaster management:

Mitigation:
Steps taken to prevent a disaster from occurring or minimizing the risk of a natural hazard becoming a natural disaster. Mitigation involves long-term measures, in contrast to the preparedness stage, which is focused on the short-term.

Preparedness:
This stage in emergency and natural disaster management involves developing proper plans of action when a disaster strikes or is imminent. This involves preparing inventor and supplies, developing means of adequate communication between emergency response teams and the general public, and preparing emergency relief plans for the area, usually by volunteer organizations such as the red cross.

Response:
This is the first phase in emergency and natural disaster management that responds to the actual incident. This includes firefighters, policemen, and medical teams. Response efforts are greatly improved when proper mitigation and preparedness is established first before a disaster occurs.

Recovery:
The recovery phase happens after all immediate relief efforts are done, such as saving lives or providing necessary supplies. This is a process that takes longer than the response effort and is aimed at rebuilding an area effected by a natural disaster to the point where it was before it.

The Profession of Emergency and Natural Disaster Management:
Emergency managers are trained in a variety of disciplines that are needed for the entire duration of a crisis. Training for this field generally is provided by local, state and federal organizations, and sometimes from private organizations as well. In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security in the United States released the National Incident Management System (NIMS) which detailed guidelines for multiagency cooperation during the event of a major crisis. All training programs now meet NIMS guidelines.

While traditionally personnel with military background have always been the primary source of workers in the event of a crisis due to their experience in first-response situations, there has been a rise in undergraduate and graduate degrees in emergency and natural disaster management. Experts providing aid for areas affected by a natural disaster come from many different educational and professional backgrounds.

Organizations Involved with Emergency and Natural Disaster Management:

International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM):
IAEM is a non profit organization that provides educational tools for saving lives and safe-guarding property in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. They provide information, networking opportunities for professionals, and aim towards improving emergency response and relief efforts in general.

Red Cross/Red Crescent:
The National Red Cross have an important role in emergency response and relief. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies focus generally on the recovery efforts of emergency management.

United Nations:
The United Nations may respond to a country affected by a natural disaster by sending a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team.