The United States vs. the International Disaster Response Team

Many factors accrue to make a country one of the best when it comes to managing risks and disasters. For many years, the European Union (EU) and the United States have claimed leadership in disaster management. Even so, it is apparent that other countries like China, Canada, Netherlands, and Australia have significantly improved as far as preparedness and disaster management is concerned (Matthews & Smith, 2016). There have been instances where the nations’ capacities on disaster management preparedness have been tested on various occasions which include the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Even at their capacities to deal with disaster management issues appropriately, they received much criticism from both local and international observers (Allen & Smith, 1990). The EU and the USA, in collaboration, came together to show their potential as far as solving the matter was concerned, but even so, most people complained about how the entire matter was handled, more especially the part of saving people. It is an indication that even when they are claimed to be the leaders in terms of disaster management, there are still loopholes to be amended so that they can become best of best in such an area (Kirschenbaum, 2019). This paper seeks to review the United States’ disaster preparedness, in comparison to other nations internationally. Although there are much similarities with the way the United States handles her disasters, a fact remains that most of the strategies applied are similar to other nations’. There is no much difference when it comes to matters of disaster management and response (Matthews & Smith, 2016). However, it is apparent that apart from most of the strategies being almost similar in all the countries, at times, a lack of resources may become a challenging factor. Unlike other nations, the United States is a powerhouse economy and a superpower country with the most required resources when it comes to disaster management. This is mainly the point of difference when it comes to managing risks. From tsunamis, hurricanes, explosions, to the oil spill, and a human-made and natural catastrophes, all nations are expected to act in the same way as far as mitigation schemes are concerned (Farazmand, 2017). The primary reason for risk management plans is to ensure that citizens are entirely protected. No country in the world would wish to expose its citizens to different levels of disasters. The first world nation just like the United States manages to increase situational awareness amongst the citizens. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands are likely to perform better when it comes to disaster management. The reason for this is purely based on the fact that the countries have better resources as opposed to the developing nations like those in Africa and certain parts of Asia (Kirschenbaum, 2019). In the modern day world, technology has taken the course, and most countries are expected to make use of it.