Who should read this book? Someone on their way out the door for their first or an early career health emergency and disaster risk management (HEDRM) experience, regardless of role, or someone who is trying to support one who is, or who does it all of the time and wants to know that they are not alone What does this book tell the reader? It provides the shock of jumping into the cold water of health emergency and disaster risk management (HEDRM), without the risk of drowning; it focuses on practical aspects of the experience of doing the work that guidelines and playbooks (as important as they are) do not address Who else might be interested in this book? People keen to understand how HEDRM happens in the context of highly communicable diseases, or about how global public health, emergencies, aid, and development mix, or medical history... the technical and contextual curious Who should NOT read this book? Anyone who is looking for gory details What is the main strength of this book? It is a raw view of the experience of conducting such responses at the clinical: public health interface, with some lessons durable across emergencies What is the main weakness of this book? It carries all of the biases of such experiences. There is a lot not said; the book has snapshots and cannot relate the 10,000,000 events during the year not described What is new in the 2024 edition? In print and e-book, overdue editing without loss of content, a forward that reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of themes in the book, and in the print edition available on www.amazon.com, a series of essays stepping back and exploring the ways in which people interact with the threat of infectious diseases that defines our willingness and readiness to meet them
