Sir Earnest Benn, political publisher and British baronet (1875-1954) once said that, âPolitics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.â For school safety and security, the stakes of getting it wrong are too high to simply let the normal political process play out.
Public health professionals fill vital roles in homeland security preparedness. One of these roles is to ensure that government decision makers are well informed on issues that may affect the life and health of â perhaps not all, but at least most of â their community members.
The war against terror cannot be won solely on the battlefield, but instead must be fought with a counter-radicalization strategy. Implemented at the local level (i.e., mayorâs, sheriffâs, and/or governorâs offices), with the coordinated effort of federal, state, and local organizations, this strategy could address and counter the critical factors that make people susceptible to the terrorist message.
Among some professional emergency managers and media outlets, the role of senior elected officials
in incident response and recovery efforts is, at best, perceived as unhelpful. However, political
engagement is necessary for effective disaster response and recovery, and continuous, meaningful
involvement of elected officials is an essential element of the National Preparedness System.
There are many challenges as well as numerous nuances associated with disaster recovery operations that must be addressed by all levels of governmental, nongovernmental, and private sector agencies and organizations in order to ensure ongoing attention to all facets of the recovery effort, effectively building a resilient community.
Public health agencies at all levels have extensive experience recovering from disasters, mostly without the benefit of a pre-disaster recovery plan. Established guidance from a number of federal agencies coupled with an inclusive planning process can help public health agencies ensure that they and the critical services they provide are resilient after a disaster.
Resilience, a central element in any recovery, is established before potentially disastrous events. Twenty-one federally sponsored risk methods and tools were screened for possible use as the core of a defensible, repeatable risk/resilience management process that would capture the greatest benefits for available budgets. None was fully ready for this role, but several hold promise for further improvement.
 Disasters often lead to chaos, but how long the chaos lasts depends largely on the actions of the affected communities and whether all local resources are being used effectively. […]
When planning and training for major disasters, communities often place more emphasis on the response rather than the recovery effort. However, it is critical that the recovery effort begins concurrent to the response in order for communities to be more resilient. New York City recognized this need and exercised one of its recovery plans.
In an ever-changing biological environment, laboratory support is necessary to help responders identify, categorize, and manage incidents involving biological threats. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is one source that provides valuable testing data to help todayâs first responders collect, screen,identify, and ultimately protect against such threats.
Sir Earnest Benn, political publisher and British baronet (1875-1954) once said that, âPolitics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.â For school safety and security, the stakes of getting it wrong are too high to simply let the normal political process play out. 
There are many challenges as well as numerous nuances associated with disaster recovery operations that must be addressed by all levels of governmental, nongovernmental, and private sector agencies and organizations in order to ensure ongoing attention to all facets of the recovery effort, effectively building a resilient community. 