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Has your emergency management program seriously considered the use of social media, drones, tablets and other tempting new technologies? In this episode, we discuss the responsibility of emergency managers to accomplish basic work before adopting new technologies and then to do so carefully by thinking about useful life, total cost of ownership, opportunity cost, return on investment and other important considerations.
Tim Manning worked the last eight years as a FEMA Deputy Adminstrator in charge of Protection and National Preparedness. Emergency management and homeland security have dramatically changed since he took office in 2009. In this episode, we revisit what he saw going into Washington DC, what he and FEMA were able to accomplish and what he sees for the future of our profession.
How do emergency management programs differ across the U.S. and in jurisdictions of different size? In this episode we went east to the nation's largest city - New York City - to discuss their unique duty officer program and EOC organization, as well as the city's use of technology, relationship building and public engagement. Perhaps most important, we again found evidence that emergency management programs across the country improve in much the same way: one thoughtful, deliberate step at a time.
Emergency managers who don't develop and maintain a recovery plan leave that work for someone else. When a community is "lucky" enough to be declared a disaster area by the POTUS or head of a Federal agency, then a some assistance may be available to individuals, families, community-based organizations and government, but huge gaps often remain. Filling that gap in recovery assistance - between what the government and insurance complanies provide - are volunteer agencies.
What does it take to "move the needle" when it comes to community disaster preparedness? In this episode, Mona Curry shares how the City of Los Angeles is partnering across departments and with existing neighborhood councils to engage more residents and businesses in disaster preparedness activities.
Emergency managment and homeland security programs would be vastly different and in many jurisdictions, may not exist at all, without grants. In this episode, we speak with someone who administers several grant programs within a state. He outlines the primary emergency management grants, what makes local grant programs effective and how applicants can achieve better outcomes.
In this second of two episodes we devote to policing and active shooter incidents, recently-retired, police LT. Fred Leland describes the differences between management and leadership; mistakes and gross negligence; success and failure during response. He talks about the role of leaders and how written policies and procedures shouldn't be used as a substitute for good judgement or as simply a shield against risk because in both cases, they seldom work.
What might Jack Nicholson's Col. Jessep, law enforcement and emergency management have in common? Good reason to conduct routine, honest, self-evaluation. In this episode of the Complete EM Podcast, we discuss the current state of policing given recent active shooter events, what's now affecting policing outcomes, and where we go from here. And while we talk a lot about law enforcement, emergency managers will quickly hear (and feel) the program simularities and walk away with some great insights with which to improve their programs.
Severe weather forecasters often feel the heat when it comes to getting forecasts correct and communicating clear, useful information to all members of the public. They know understated, overstated or just plain incorrect forecasts can cause people to tune-out, so they're always looking for ways to better communicate forecast uncertainty. In this second of two episodes on emergency weather, Rob Dale explains the practice of forecasting, what part of that work is easy, and what part involves nuance and finesse that computers cannot yet provide.
Many emergency managers understand the vital role that meteorologists play in emergency management, but for one reason or another, the two disciplines seldom get a chance to discuss collaboration. Fortunately, technology is changing that by making it easier for weather experts and emergency managers to communicate before, during and after weather disasters. In this episode, we speak with someone who has unique insights into the WX/EM relationship, having worked both sides of it for several years.
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