by Carl Amritt, Eliot Bradshaw & Alyssa Schulenberg -
In 2021, the number of terrorist attacks increased 17% from the previous year. As actors adapt and change their tactics and techniques, cities must develop new capabilities to counter these threats. This article explores notable global practices to help cities develop or enhance their threat assessment and management programs.
Training is often a check-the-box task. However, it can be difficult to know how much training was learned. Virtual reality and its related analytics provide a way to heighten participation and monitor learning levels for numerous threat scenarios.
Planners in the Harris County, Texas, area are successful specifically because of the relationships they have built over many years. For example, the county’s Industrial Liaisons Program provides many positive takeaways and best practices practitioners can implement throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Active shooter trainings can help prevent some injuries and deaths. However, additional measures should also be taken to prevent the attack from occurring. This article describes how to apply environmental design to thwart attackers.
An enterprise data management program emphasizes the importance of managing information as an asset and protecting it from misuse or loss. Knowing the landscape of data and how to manage it is critical to an organization’s recovery and sustainability after a disaster. This article explains the need to coordinate data management with emergency planning.
An essential national incident management guidance document is finally available to responders nationwide. This document will significantly improve a unified response to and recovery from large-scale incidents. However, additional work is needed to create an enhanced unity of effort and fully integrated response among federal, state, and local responders.
Since the emergence of COVID-19, many trainings have had to adapt to an online presence. In one case, an active shooter training not only successfully transitioned to support the online delivery of these skills, but the developer embraced it and has now made it publicly available for everyone.
by Tanya M. Scherr, Daniel Scherr & Richard Schoeberl -
How the war in Ukraine will end is unclear. However, research shows that there is the potential for devastating effects on a global scale. As such, it is important for emergency planners to reassess their all-hazards plans to ensure their communities identify the threats and ensure their planning processes include procedures and resources to respond to these threats.
History reveals patterns that preparedness professionals can use to better protect communities from agroterrorism and supply chain threats. One historical study has been updated to reflect cases of intentional food contamination events around the world. Learn more about this research and how to protect the food supply.
Volunteer general aviation pilots have assisted their communities during emergencies and disasters for many years. This is the second of a two-part article on their disaster preparedness efforts in the Pacific Northwest. In this part, they participate in two separate yet coordinated functional earthquake and tsunami disaster exercises.
