Title: A study on the emergency management system of the local government in Taiwan for climate change with Chunghua County as a case study

Authors: Chia-Chou Tsai; Mei-Hsuan Chen; Wei-Ta Chang

Addresses: General Education Center, Chung Chou University of Science and Technology, No. 6, Lane 2, Sec. 3, Shanjiao Rd., Yuanlin Township, Changhua County 510, Taiwan; Department of Environmental Engineering, Da Yeh University, No. 168, University Rd., Dacun, Changhua 51591, Taiwan ' Huatan Township Health Center, No. 11, Zhongzheng Rd., Huatan Township, Changhua County 503, Taiwan ' Changhua County Fire Bureau, Taiwan; Department and Graduate School of Safety Health and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech), 123 University Road, Section 3, Douliou City, Yunlin County, 640, Taiwan

Abstract: The effects of climate change have caused tremendous harm to Taiwan. During Typhoon Morakot, the local government in Taiwan could not effectively integrate the related departments to deal with such a contingency; this revealed a problem: the emergency management system of the local government operated slowly and was in chaos when disaster occurred. This paper is an in-depth study of current emergency management system of the local government, aimed at finding an appropriate emergency management system. The emergency management system for the government of Chunghua County was selected for this study, focusing on the organisational and functional aspects of their system. This paper discusses the emergency management system of other countries and then compares them with Chunghua County's emergency management system, which is used to identify which parts of the system should be improved. From the conclusion of this case study, suggestions are provided to improve emergency management.

Keywords: climate change; disaster prevention; rescue planning; emergency management; local government; Taiwan; case study.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2015.074039

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2015 Vol.11 No.4, pp.283 - 301

Accepted: 15 Jul 2015
Published online: 03 Jan 2016 *

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