Resilience is about mobilizing human potential, especially at the individual citizen and local government level. Through surveys and discussions, key professional decision makers from local, state, and federal governments, non-governmental organizations, and private-sector partners have provided both qualitative and quantitative feedback for building resilient regions. DomPrep has compiled that feedback into a report that lays out a tactical plan for sustaining a resilient nation.
By following the training and preparedness efforts practiced in Israel, the United States can move toward a cohesive national strategized approach to provide line officers the ability to look beyond the single incident before them. However, individual responders also must take the initiative needed to develop and advance their own capabilities and training in order to apply those skills in extreme situations.
The terrorist use of anthrax against the United States in 2001 pointed out the nation's vulnerability to biological attack and need for rapid and sure response. Since that time, strengths and limitations of the current biodetection system have been discovered. To achieve a better preparedness posture, now is the time to reevaluate biodetection methods and build unity of effort at all levels of government.
There is general agreement that the best way to protect emergency responders against anthrax would be to immunize them prior to an attack. But, despite the fact that millions of "expired" doses of anthrax vaccine are routinely destroyed each year, many civilian responders still are not provided pre-event vaccinations. This raises two questions: (a) Why? and (b) Why not?
The higher likelihood of a chemical or biological terrorist attack makes such incidents the focus of many education and training exercises. Preparing for a Fukushima-like nuclear incident, whether accidental or deliberate, must be addressed by educating the public, understanding how to best detect radioactive material, and protecting the population before an actual threat emerges.
The terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 emphasized the need to better protect the nation against future threats. New government agencies were formed while existing agencies expanded their roles in preventing, responding to, and recovering from a variety of natural disasters and other emergencies. The Environmental Protection Agency is one such agency that is taking steps to improve operational readiness at the national level.
Preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters as well as everyday events are important steps in the process of emergency management. Resilience as an important component of emergency management is a fairly new concept, but successful resilience depends on leaders who can modify that concept to fit their own organizations' needs to effectively reduce future response and recovery times.
"Everybody who goes to war gets shot," one soldier says. "Some in the body. Some in the head. Some in the heart." The National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (NCVAS) estimates that, as of 30 September 2011, the nation's veteran population is more than 22.2 million. Although the journey home for each soldier, airman, and medical caregiver is different, "Centerline" depicts the individual, yet common, story of many of them.
There is no room for error during a radiological event. For that reason, information must be readily available and as accurate as possible. Listen to subject matter experts from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as they discuss the types of resources available and how communities are working together to provide the best programs for dealing with radiological hazards.
Following the 12 January 2010 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, news of the event and cries for help traveled around the globe faster than rescuers could reach survivors. Since then, social media tools have continued to play a growing role in response to disasters such as the tsunami in Japan, the Joplin tornadoes in Missouri, Hurricane Irene on the U.S. East Coast - and the list goes on.
