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The Key Bridge Collapse – Through the Lens of Community Lifelines

The eight major elements of Community Lifelines use traffic-light-type color-coding to categorize the adverse impact status of a disaster. The article’s author has applied this same system to the recovery efforts following the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland. Learn how he applied this information-gathering tool to an ongoing recovery effort.

Five Key Domains of Incident Management

Effective incident management is a set of activities, not policy box-ticking of doctrine that may or may not be followed. A new free toolkit based on five key domains can help incident management teams assess and improve their effectiveness regardless of the incident, incident management team, and policy doctrine members of that team are using.

Jane Doe – Responding to Vulnerable Patients

Despite the prevalence of first responders encountering human trafficking victims, they are not always aware of the signs or proper handling of the situation to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of victims. One paramedic shares his experience with an encounter that provided him lessons to share.

Fentanyl Hazards and Detection

Two scientists in yellow PPE prepare samples under scientific hoodThe deadly opioid epidemic in the United States does not stop at overdoses. It also poses life-threatening exposure to first responders who arrive on scene. Learn about the new ways scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are expanding detection strategies and technologies to keep these responders safe.

Shielding Communities: Public Health Strategies for Natural Hazards

Person wearing glasses, white protective suit, blue gloves, and respirator, holding up thumb in a room with mold on the walls.Public health risks are common concerns when natural hazards occur. However, history shows that the increasing frequency of events and growing population sizes have been increasing the scale of events and the needs of affected populations. To mitigate complex public health challenges, personnel across disciplines must plan, coordinate, and develop response strategies that build a mutual understanding of the risks and hazards communities face during these events.

Navigating the Seismic Dance: Preparedness in the Ring of Fire

top view of live volcano in blue with smoke coming upThe Pacific Ring of Fire, a moniker that evokes images of volatility and destruction, is not merely a geographic term but a constant reminder of humans’ vulnerability to the earth’s whims. Learn about the multifaceted nature of earthquake risks and delineate the indispensable role organizations play in mitigating the impacts of such calamities through informative, equitable, and persuasive techniques.

Mental Awareness to Enhance Preparedness

Red lightbulb with a brain on top and a cord laying underneathEmergency managers, public health officials, and first responders often stress the importance of physical fitness, but what about mental fitness? Without focused mental agility in even one of the emergency management phases, mistakes or subpar performance are likely. Learn about this author’s new acronym that can help prioritize mental health in the planning process.

Interoperability During Mass Casualty Incidents

Man with headset sitting at a desk in front of computersDuring a mass casualty incident, response agencies must be able to communicate in real-time. This means that interoperability plans need to include everyone involved in the response. One lesson learned from past incidents is that hospitals are an often overlooked “responder.” Learn what one agency is doing to close this gap in the Washington, DC, region.

Support and Planning Inside 911 Centers

Headphones hanging on cubicle partition in empty call center officeIn an emergency, call 911. This simple instruction is easy to remember, but many do not know about the people, training, and technology required to make this lifesaving tool available 24-7. Learn about what happens inside the four walls of an emergency communications center and the strategic planning every community needs to ensure that someone is always there to answer calls for help.

Protecting Infrastructure – Cyber, Physical, and EMP Attacks

Power lines against a blue skyImagine 3,500 spiders, each with their own style, getting together to create a giant web. That’s how this author describes the U.S. power grid and the complexities related to protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber, physical, and electromagnetic pulse attacks.
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