General aviation pilots have been finding ways to assist their communities during emergencies and disasters for many years. However, over the past two years, significant advances in disaster preparedness have been made as emergency response plans were created and exercised to integrate volunteer aviation response into other community response efforts.
When intentional acts of violence occur, people often wonder if the incident was preventable. For example, after a mass shooting killed 19 students and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, many were questioning the predictability of the gunman’s actions and the decision-making process of the responders. This article examines these questions.
Despite the deaths of Islamic State and al-Qaida leadership, violent extremism is not gone. This article describes why, despite recent successful strikes against terrorist groups, intelligence agencies and others tasked with protecting their communities must stay vigilant. More strategic depth is needed to help reduce the possibility of the extremist groups’ resurgence.
Life is beginning to return to normal following the past two years of the pandemic, but the world is still as unpredictable as ever. When it seems as though one catastrophic situation is coming to an end, another tends to emerge as the newest public safety issue. This article addresses the wildfire threat and the need for a common operating picture.
Public safety agencies require funding to support their operations. Government grants provide opportunities to build preparedness and response programs and strengthen community resilience. However, the grant process has changed over the years. This article helps agencies navigate the current competitive grant process and improve their chances of receiving much-needed funding.
When an injury causes a life-threatening bleed, minutes matter. There may not be enough time for first responders to arrive on the scene, so immediate responders are needed. Knowing how to respond to this type of injury and being able to stop the bleeding are skills that everyone should learn. This article explains why and how to do that.
Each disaster a community faces must be effectively managed. By viewing each crisis as a project and each emergency manager as a project manager, communities will be better prepared to mitigate future threats, manage special events, and respond to emergencies and disasters. This article describes how traditional models converge to create a comprehensive project management approach.
Experience required. Many jobs require wide-ranging qualifications and expertise to be able to apply and interview. However, people often ask, “How can I get the experience if I cannot get a job?” A great way to get “a foot in the door” is through internships, which can be vital in the emergency management field. Multifaceted and sometimes fast-paced, this is the type of profession where one must have the drive and passion for helping others and serving the community. Despite some public misconceptions that emergency management is only active during an event (which is often the only time an agency receives media attention), it is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year profession. Therefore, exposure to what happens in the field on “blue sky days” and during an emergency or disaster is paramount for someone new to the profession to experience.
Several national critical functions and all 16 critical infrastructure sectors rely either directly or indirectly on functional and consistent position, navigation, and timing (PNT) signals. As such, fragility of weak and easily imitated global positioning system (GPS) signals could lead to catastrophic impacts on dependent and interdependent critical infrastructure systems. Designating PNT-signal-emanating assets as a standalone national critical function would bring resources, awareness, research, additional risk mitigation measures, and new solutions to help keep consistent and resilient PNT signals operational if threatened by natural and human-caused threats.
Shootings, acts of violence, crimes, abuse, suicides, overdoses, and other incidents and tragedies are increasing nationwide. Cities across the nation saw a surge of homicides in 2020 and many cities were at or near record levels for homicides in 2021. Cities also saw spikes in 2020 and 2021 with crimes, abuse, suicides, overdoses, and other incidents. Organizations, schools, and communities have continued to add more security solutions as well as more hotlines, safety/threat assessment teams, policies, trainings, and laws. However, violence and crime statistics do not reflect better safety.
