Emergency Management Archives

Incident Management Teams: A Blueprint for Success

William MacKay February 25, 2009

Some time ago the nation’s firefighting community recognized the need for an efficient and effective method of managing wildland incidents that involve thousands of response personnel and cover hundreds of square miles. The result was a concept of a team, rather than a single incident commander (IC), that by working

New Focus on Private-Sector Preparedness Standards

Diana Hopkins February 11, 2009

At last! A Federal Register notice asks the nation’s business community to comment on ideas that have been submitted to upgrade the disaster-preparedness capabilities of the U.S. private sector. Read, heed, and proceed – but do it fast.The nation’s private-sector businesses – a generic term that includes not only manufacturers,

How the NDMS Can Be Made More Effective

Michael Allswede January 28, 2009

The Spirit of Volunteerism is a noble virtue, and has been embraced by millions of Americans. Many of them volunteer once too often, though, creating a difficult dilemma for NDMS and other agencies that have a joint claim on their skills and services.

The Mumbai Attacks – Lessons for the Western World

Joseph W. Trindal January 14, 2009

The terrorist attacks two months ago in Mumbai provide a number of lessons for emergency-services agencies throughout the world. The attacks, which represented an ever-increasing level of sophistication and ingenuity of terrorist activity worldwide, started during the evening hours of 26 November 2008 when small teams of armed terrorists launched

Changes and Clarifications – NIMS Upgrade Released

Stephen Grainer January 14, 2009

On 18 December 2008, long-awaited revisions to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) – officially described as an “upgrade” by the former acting director of the NIMS Integration Center, Albert Fluman – were published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and are now being implemented.The effort to improve the

Safety: Those Who Stay Behind

Joseph Cahill December 10, 2008

The evacuation of a major city devastated by a natural disaster or an act of terrorism takes multi-agency cooperation, numerous training drills, & dedicated professionals who have the courage needed to stay in place while saving the lives of others.

The Human Dimension: Identifying and Treating Disaster-Related Stress

Kay C. Goss December 10, 2008

After a disaster, emergency managers – along with other federal, state, tribal, and local leaders – begin rebuilding the communities struck, whether by natural or human-induced incidents. The recovery process calls out for the best of leadership and partnership in the region. Debris removal, the re-opening of schools and businesses,

Important Homeland Security Input: High-Ranking PNSR Group Releases Its Final Report

Martin D. Masiuk December 10, 2008

The report, perhaps the most important and best grounded national-defense and homeland-security document released since 1947, includes numerous recommendations that, if fully implemented, will add immensely to current and future U.S. defense capabilities.

DHS STEPs Forward to Identify NIMS Technology

Rodrigo (Roddy) Moscoso December 3, 2008

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5), which required the development of a National Incident Management System (NIMS) framework to coordinate the responses of local, state, and federal agencies to domestic terrorist attacks, was signed in December 2003. The NIMS framework is based on the Incident Command System (ICS) developed by

A Matter of Mutual Trust: The Fallout from Katrina and the Effect on Gustav

Joseph Cahill November 26, 2008

With nations as with individuals, the most tragic failures sometimes lead to the most stunning successes. Provided the right lessons are learned – and then fully and carefully implemented.

Emergency Operations Centers: The Heartbeat of Disaster Management

Kay C. Goss November 26, 2008

Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) are complex facilities to design and build. Many emergency managers and other participants in response operations may be involved in only one new facility or only one remodeling during their careers. To begin with, it is a major challenge to obtain funding for an EOC that

H5N1: Still Waiting in the Wings – An Updated Assessment of the Pandemic Flu Threat

Steven Harrison November 26, 2008

Just in case the United States, & the rest of the world, did not have enough to worry about, recent public-health reports provide a timely reminder that new pandemics, possibly the most disastrous ever, could still strike at any time.

TWITTER

Get Instant Access

Subscribe today to Domestic Preparedness and get real-world insights for safer communities.

Sign up for Updates!