Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has emerged as a core element of sustainable development. (UN/ISDR 2002). Reducing risk requires long-term engagement (O'Brien 2006), and the actual work of DRR is largely a task for local communities. (Schipper 2006). DRR shares some tenets with preventive medicine (Sidel 1992). As in preventive medicine, risk reduction calls for a basic attitude shift in the minds of many who traditionally get sick first and seek treatment later. The challenge for DRR, as applied to health, is to broaden the focus of disaster management from that of tertiary prevention, (response and recovery) to also emphasize primary and secondary prevention, (prevention, preparedness and mitigation).

The role of the health sector spans across the spectrum of DRR to include prevention, mitigation and preparedness activities. DRR, as applied to health, is intended to prevent and/or reduce the negative health consequences of disaster hazards. This is accomplished by two means: hazard avoidance and vulnerability reduction. Health and medical volunteers at the community level can play an important role in reducing human vulnerability to disasters by: (1) reducing susceptibility – “healthy people” (2) reducing exposure to disaster hazards – “healthy homes; (Srinivasan et al. 2003); and (3) increasing resilience – “healthy communities”. Volunteers help to reduce exposures to disaster hazards through participation in population protection measures such as shelter-in-place, evacuation and mass care. They work to reduce susceptibility by participating in health care, health promotion, and immunization programs. Finally, volunteers may build resilience by way of their participation in community-level preparedness, response and recovery efforts. (Keim 2008)