The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the complexity of disaster preparedness strategies and to establish the basis and concepts of country-specific guidelines on disaster preparedness since emergencies situations will, fundamentally, differ from country to country and be on varying scales, and affect groups of people or communities differently. This article looks at the definition of disaster management and disaster preparedness, the role of health care professionals, emergency health care workers and stakeholders in health department and codes of ethics. The conclusion sets out some guidelines on what is expected of health care professionals in a disaster.