| American Red Cross | A national member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCRCS) |
| Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) | A group of concerned citizens that receive some basic disaster training. |
| Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) | Similar to a local mutual aid agreement but it is for states. |
| Emergent organizations | Groups of individuals who work together to perform common goals but do not have a formalized organization (Stallings and Quarantelli, 1985, p. 84). |
| Established organizations | Groups that perform routine tasks with existing structures. |
| Expanding organizations | Groups that perform routine tasks with new structures. |
| Extending organizations | Groups that perform nonroutine tasks with existing structures. |
| Faith‐based organizations | Nonprofit groups that perform some of the same functions as other nonprofits, but they are associated with religious organizations. |
| Federal Emergency Management Agency | Agency created in the late 1970s by President Jimmy Carter to help coordinate the activities of the government. |
| Federal government | The national political unit that is composed of many agencies and officials. |
| Local governments | City or county organizations that perform important public functions. |
| Mutual aid | The sharing of personnel, equipment, and facilities. This occurs when local resources are inadequate to meet the needs of the disaster. |
| National Guard | A reserve military unit operated under the direction of the governor. |
| National Disaster Recovery Framework | A guide to enable effective recovery in disaster‐stricken areas. It provides disaster recovery managers with a flexible structure to restore affected communities. |
| National Response Framework | A document that describes what the gov ernment and whole communities will do in catastrophic disasters. |
| National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD) | An organization that brings agencies together to promote various types of assistance after disasters. |
| Nonprofit sector | The division of society that is comprised of humanitarian, charitable religious, and voluntary organizations. |
| Points of Light | A foundation dedicated to the promotion of volunteering. |
| Private sector | A part of society that includes businesses and corporations. |
| Public sector | The segment of society that is made up of government offices, departments, and agencies. |
| State government | The political unit comprised of numerous cities and counties and includes bureaucratic agencies and politicians. |
| Tribal government | “An Indian or Alaska Native tribe … that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994.” |
| Whole community | The idea that a “government‐centric approach to emergency management” is not sufficient to face a catastrophic disaster. All available resources must be collectively utilized at each level of government to prepare for and respond to such an incident. |
