COMMUNICATION & INTEROPERABILITY ARCHIVES
Realizing the Power of Community in Disaster Recovery
Aaron Clark-Ginsberg
August 21, 2024
No two communities are the same. Each community has unique vulnerabilities, capacities, and needs, and each has its own leaders, areas of cooperation, and areas of disagreement. Understanding these factors and building on the community’s strengths are critical steps in disaster recovery.
Return on Investments in Public Engagement
June Isaacson Kailes
August 14, 2024
Public engagement and participation involve community members in problem-solving, decision-making, and policy development. This article shares some new practices for creating actionable opportunities for key stakeholders to participate in decisions that affect their communities. Result-centered engagement can help protect people with disabilities and other community partners from many adverse impacts
Bridging Preparedness: State Medication Reserves for Pandemics and Beyond
Angie Im
August 14, 2024
New human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been confirmed in the United States. Although most cases like this do not escalate to pandemic status, it is critical that communities be better prepared than they were for COVID-19. However, one study shows that preparedness gaps may hinder these efforts.
Lessons in Social Media – Preparing Kids and Community Leaders for Disasters
Patricia Frost and Michael Prasad
August 7, 2024
Addressing children’s needs during a crisis can be challenging. Leveraging social media to create crisis communication campaigns can be an effective way to boost community outreach efforts and raise awareness of the unique needs children have in disaster planning and response. Successful social media campaigns by governmental and non-governmental organizations
A Homeland Vulnerability Continues
Robert C. Hutchinson
August 7, 2024
The U visa process offers help to immigrants who are victims of certain violent crimes. However, loopholes or weaknesses in the process could provide a safe haven for undeserving applicants. Learn more about the process, its flaws, and how to close the gaps to guard against foreign threats while protecting
What Level of Ugly Are Communities Prepared For?
Joseph J. Leonard Jr.
July 31, 2024
The July 2024 attempted assassination of Former President Donald Trump raised questions about event security, the roles that agencies play, and the planning and execution of those roles. This article provides lessons learned and best practices that emergency preparedness and public safety professionals should consider before, during, and after upcoming
Volunteers: Incident Management Assets or Liabilities?
David Wells
July 31, 2024
Responses are often only effective if volunteers and their teams are properly trained, prepared, motivated, and deployed. One faith-based organization has refined these criteria over its 57 years of responding to major disasters in the U.S. and abroad. Learn about their best practices for driving the mission, boosting the response
Drones – A Life-Saving Time-Saver
Kevin Jones
July 24, 2024
As drone technology continues to evolve, it is important for law enforcement and other first responder agencies to understand the range of possible applications and physical and legal limitations of these tools. This article highlights the uses that save lives and time during incidents.
The Key Bridge Collapse – Through the Lens of Community Lifelines
Michael Prasad
July 17, 2024
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
Five Key Domains of Incident Management
Aaron Clark-Ginsberg
July 10, 2024
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
Jane Doe – Responding to Vulnerable Patients
Catherine L. Feinman
June 26, 2024
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.
From Shadows to Light: Addressing the Aftermath of Human Trafficking
Michael Breslin
June 19, 2024
The 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.
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