Catastrophic Disaster Planning and Response

Catastrophic Disaster Planning and Response. By Clifford Oliver. CRC Press, www.crcpress.com; 401 pages; $79.95.

Author Clifford Oliver does an excellent job of covering this topic, providing tips even seasoned professionals can learn from and building the reader’s knowledge base with a historical perspective. He also discusses the distinction between catastrophes and disasters. This foundation is important to the understanding of the remainder of the text.

Due to the nature of catastrophes, the author spends a significant amount of time discussing the roles of local, state, federal, and global officials in planning and response. Developing the ability to step back and see the broader view of any situation is crucial to success in this arena.

This book achieves the objective of being a critical reference for security professionals and also of being a desired resource as an academic textbook. Even the most experienced security professional who has worked in emergency preparedness for years would benefit from this book. I learned a number of significant key concepts regarding response to catastrophic events.

Reviewer: William Crews, CPP, is the global security compliance manager for the synthetic textile and polymer manufacturer INVISTA. He is a member of the ASIS Petrochemical, Chemical and Extractive Industries Security Council.