An evaluation of contingency planning for major emergencies in the UAE

Abstract EN

Major Emergencies (ME) often pose a challenge for emergency services to manage.

This is mostly due to the complexity of the incident and the strain put on available resources to respond rapidly.

Effective contingency planning that incorporates lessons learned from past emergencies has been instrumental to better responses to major emergencies.

This paper aims to examine challenges associated with dealing with major emergencies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and evaluate the current Contingency Planning (CP) status.

This study used cross-sectional survey for data collection.

107 officers from Abu Dhabi Police (ADP), Civil Defence and National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) completed the survey.

Data generated from information provided by senior and junior officers from the named organisations were analysed using Factor Analysis.

Findings indicate that coordination problems and inadequate planning for ME continue to hinder planning and emergency response activities.

Result show that CP is still in its infancy, and that lessons from past ME should be incorporated as part of CP when improving planning for ME.

Results discussed in this paper contribute to practice and academic field of emergency and disaster management.

Pathways for improving current level of preparedness in the UAE have been identified, while theoretical explanations for the relationship between emergency planning and response are advanced through this paper.