Science & Technology Archives

Building Codes Support Disaster Preparedness & Resilience

Karl Fippinger August 11, 2021

Building codes and standards have long been a silent partner in the health, safety, and welfare of communities and are becoming increasingly more important in society. Today’s emergency managers and community leaders face a multitude of risks including extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornados, straight-line winds, flooding, drought, and

Red Teaming for Disaster Preparedness

Kole (KC) Campbell July 28, 2021

Many companies and government offices were unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and sustained lockdowns, despite years of warnings and guidance from experts and the federal government. This lack of preparedness cost companies dearly, from delays in setting up work from home software to supply chain disruptions that could have been

Bringing Back the Preparedness Mindset

Catherine L. Feinman July 28, 2021

Since 1998, DomPrep authors and readers have touted the need to prepare for disasters. There is a consensus among preparedness, response, and resilience professionals that forethought is the key to community resilience following a disaster. The desire to prepare is demonstrated through action: innumerable studies and best practices have been

Telecommunication Overload – The 2021 Edition

Erik Westgard July 21, 2021

“Telecommunication overload” is a commonly used term that is a regular feature of various emergency scenarios. However, one fact needs to be remembered. Although some copper carrier network pieces are still in place in the United States, nearly all new investment is going into fiber backbones and updated wireless services.

Start or Restart VOADs/COADs During the Preparedness Phase

Michael Prasad July 14, 2021

Volunteer and community organizations active in disaster (VOADs/COADs) operate best by using their four C’s: cooperation, coordination, collaboration, and communication. Emergency managers can build or strengthen this whole community capability in their own jurisdictions through public-private partnerships (PPPs), by performing the four E’s – empower, endow, educate, and entrust.

Situational Awareness for Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

Akshay Birla July 7, 2021

In an emergency response, multiple groups of stakeholders such as city, county, state, and federal agencies are brought together to solve a crisis or execute a mission. While groups of individuals from within an agency may have a shared understanding of their mission, organization, hierarchy, and norms of engagement, proper

The Other Life of Command Trucks

Erik Westgard June 23, 2021

For many years, large outdoor sporting events have requested government and nongovernment organization mobile command and communications trucks to support races. Although traditionally used by incident commanders, volunteer amateur radio groups have found various ways to collaborate during special events and use these resources in Minneapolis, Minnesota to support medical

Online & Social Media Risks – Protecting Children, Part 2

Michael Breslin and Robert Lowery Jr. June 16, 2021

The nation has experienced unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic given the requisite need for social distancing and isolation experienced from stay-at-home orders. Daily lives were transformed. For homebound children, this was disruptive and changed daily routines. While at home, children engaged in a variety of safe and supervised

Online & Social Media Risks – Protecting Children, Part 1

Michael Breslin and Robert Lowery Jr. June 9, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic brought child predators into people’s homes. In the critical areas of human trafficking and child exploitation, the risks to children increased due to criminals shifting their methods and techniques to online streaming services. Increased virtual learning and stay-home mandates forced children to transition from a classroom environment

Impact of Critical Biosecurity Reports – Uncertainty Remains

Robert C. Hutchinson May 26, 2021

Domestic Preparedness published an article in 2016 discussing the uncertain impact of several biosecurity reports on national planning and preparedness for biosecurity and pandemic threats. The article focused on the consistent and repeated warnings of the consequences for failing to plan and prepare for a multitude of biosecurity threats. The

Revisiting Face Masks Near the End of a Long Journey

David Mayfield May 19, 2021

On 11 March 2021, the world reached a dubious milestone – one year since the World Health Organization (WHO) first declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Soon after that declaration, a large portion of the world shut down. In the 12 months that followed, community stakeholders have become relatively well-versed in

Post-Hazard Event Airport Recovery

Jaskanwal P. S. Chhabra, Greg Brunelle, Youngsuk Kim, Junichi Sakai and Deepak Pant May 12, 2021

The role airports play in the world is critical. Even a minor disruption to their operations has immediate cascading impacts, which can be familiar to anyone who has experienced a delayed departure and the dreaded “Will I make my connection?” stress that follows. However, airport disruptions create far greater economic

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