Computer support for crisis management is currently mostly focused on immediate emergency and rescue operations, while there are few all-in-one systems capable of deploying support to decision making processes in state administration and at international level. The paper presents the concept of a Hybrid Decision Support System for Crisis Management (HSWDK). The idea has been developed with a view to, firstly, demonstrating the potential inherent in systems that would be able to address a wide range of emergency response operations, and secondly, outlining a system architecture proposal. The discussion is placed in the context of Poland's crisis management system, which provides both an inspiration and an underpinning for the proposed “Four Lights” platform. The authors also describe some recent applications and current development trends in the area of crisis/disaster management systems.