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Article Out Loud – Incident Command for Natural Disasters: A Natural Fit

Stephen Grainer August 9, 2022
The United States already has a national system in place that can help responders “manage” any disaster situation – both natural and manmade. By adapting and modifying the concepts and processes of the Incident Command System, large and small jurisdictions alike can easily incorporate several categories of specialized response teams

Article Out Loud – NIMS & ICS: The Next Level

Stephen Grainer March 22, 2022
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) resumed the “next” series of its NIMS (National Incident Management System) Incident Command System (ICS) training in August with the delivery of eight ICS position-specific Train-the-Trainer (T-t-T) programs

Setting & Maintaining Realistic Recovery Expectations

Stephen Grainer August 26, 2015
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.

Response Management: Back to Basics

Stephen Grainer July 22, 2015
When a seemingly unrealistic incident occurs, emergency managers must be equipped with the base knowledge necessary to respond to the previously unknown scenario. Acronyms are a good way to remember what to do when stress levels are high and time is short. By getting back to the basics, managers are

Ongoing Training Needs: Virginia’s Solution

Stephen Grainer March 18, 2015
In a remote rural area – far from customary amenities, distractions, and other conveniences – players are faced with challenges and must learn to adapt and overcome in order to reap the benefits, otherwise face the consequences. No, this is not a reality television show, but it is an effective

Resilience – Making a List & Checking It Twice

Stephen Grainer December 3, 2014
When the electric power infrastructure fails, it affects much more than just the electronic equipment that is powered by it. A lesson from Superstorm Sandy demonstrates how managing ground support, supplies, and facilities may differ when electrical power is gone. It may even require hundreds (or thousands) of orange traffic

The Team Spirit of Emergency Management

Stephen Grainer May 17, 2014
In the area of emergency management, teams and organizations strive to mitigate the outcome of any potential or actual emergency. Such intervention, though, requires trust in team members to perform their tasks when needed. As with any successful football team or racecar pit crew, emergency managers also must devote the

Natural Disasters: Challenges & Opportunities

Stephen Grainer March 19, 2014
Diverting a tornado, deflecting high winds, and steering a hurricane away from landfall are not within the scope of practice for emergency planners and managers. However, planning and training for a large-scale natural disaster with the right tools will help jurisdictions prepare for both common and uncommon incidents.

Incident Command for Natural Disasters: A Natural Fit

Stephen Grainer May 15, 2013
In February 2003, President George W. Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive Number 5 (HSPD-5), which directed the establishment of a National Incident Management System (NIMS). That directive mandated, among other things, the adaptation and adoption of an Incident Command System (ICS) as a core component of the NIMS. As

Incident Command System: Perishable If Not Practiced

Stephen Grainer February 17, 2013
Although the basic Incident Command System (ICS) is taught across emergency response disciplines, several shortcomings and constraints could lead to its downfall. Training for ICS is not a one-time occurrence, but should be an ongoing process of expanding knowledge, exercising skills, and passing on these abilities for the benefit of

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Article Out Loud – Mental Awareness to Enhance Preparedness

April 17, 2024
  Full article by Andrew (Andy) Altizer, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 17, 2024. In this featured article, an emergency manager with military experience points out that emergency managers, public health officials, and first responders often stress the importance of physical fitness, but sometimes neglect mental fitness.

Article Out Loud – Primary Care Investments to Increase Community Resilience

April 17, 2024
  Full article by Angie Im, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 17, 2024. In this featured article, a healthcare research and policy expert describes the importance of community health centers and their impact on community resilience. These medical lifelines for millions of Americans are facing financial and

Article Out Loud – The Missing Plague Vials

April 17, 2024
  Full article by Robert C. Hutchinson, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 17, 2024. In this featured article, an experienced federal agent shares a true story of missing bubonic plague vials, an airport bomb threat, and other suspicious activities that demonstrate continued national and homeland security vulnerabilities

Article Out Loud – The “R” Word

April 10, 2024
  Full article by George Schwartz, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 10, 2024. In this featured article, an associate professor at Immaculata University addresses the challenge of defining resilience and the need to go beyond hazard mitigation. With 2024 being the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “Year of Resilience,”

Article Out Loud – Dungeons and Disasters: Gamification of Public Health Responses

April 10, 2024
  Full article by Michael Etzel and Michael Prasad, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 10, 2024. In this featured article, two emergency managers describe how advanced technologies are offering new ways to train personnel, exercise public health responses like COVID-19, and prepare response agencies for many other

Article Out Loud – Interoperability During Mass Casualty Incidents

April 3, 2024
  Full article by Charles Guddemi and Catherine Feinman, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, April 3, 2024. In this featured article, the District of Columbia’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency’s statewide interoperability coordinator and the editor of Domestic Preparedness highlight the key takeaways from a 2024 interoperability

Article Out Loud – Emergency Management Goes to the Hill

March 27, 2024
  Full article by Kay C. Goss and Catherine L. Feinman, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 27, 2024. In this featured article, two attendees of a Senate briefing on “The State of Emergency Management” discuss the assistance needs of emergency managers working behind the scenes to ensure

Article Out Loud – The Evolution of Homeland Security Higher Education

March 27, 2024
  Full article by Heather Issvoran, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 27, 2024. In this featured article, the director of strategic communications for the Center for Homeland Defense and Security describes how homeland security education expanded after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to ensure that
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Domestic Preparedness

2883 Highway 71 E
P.O. Box 285
Del Valle, TX 78617-9998

Editorial Statement

Founded in 1998, Domestic Preparedness continues to be a pioneering thought leader in the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery space. The multidisciplinary editorial focus helps professionals acquire critical information to develop collaborative, real-world solutions. With relevant, multidisciplinary, whole-community intelligence from the front lines, practitioners can learn from diverse perspectives. The authoritative, practitioner-centered, multimedia information platform disseminates intelligence the way busy management-level public- and private-sector professionals want to learn. This is the trusted source for content written by practitioners, for practitioners, with relevant, real-world best practices.

DomesticPreparedness.com, the Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Weekly Brief include facts, views, opinions, and recommendations of individuals and organizations deemed of interest. The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M University System do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of, or otherwise endorse, these views, facts, opinions or recommendations.
©2024 Texas Division of Emergency Management

Domestic Preparedness

2883 Highway 71E

P.O. Box 285

Del Valle, TX 78617-9998

Editorial Statement

Founded in 1998, Domestic Preparedness continues to be a pioneering thought leader in the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery space. The multidisciplinary editorial focus helps professionals acquire critical information to develop collaborative, real-world solutions. With relevant, multidisciplinary, whole-community intelligence from the front lines, practitioners can learn from diverse perspectives. The authoritative, practitioner-centered, multimedia information platform disseminates intelligence the way busy management-level public- and private-sector professionals want to learn. This is the trusted source for content written by practitioners, for practitioners, with relevant, real-world best practices.

DomesticPreparedness.com, the Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Weekly Brief include facts, views, opinions, and recommendations of individuals and organizations deemed of interest. The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M University System do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of, or otherwise endorse, these views, facts, opinions or recommendations.
©2024 Texas Division of Emergency Management
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