A Holistic Strategy for Responders’ Well-Being

Camilo Olivieri
May 7, 2025

First responders and emergency managers face constant, high-pressure stress from trauma, long hours, and critical decisions. This often leads to chronic stress, increasing risks of heart disease, mental health issues, and substance abuse. Their ability to help others depends on prioritizing their own well-being through proactive self-care.

Most Recent

Back to the Basics: Navigating Crisis Leadership

Andrew Pence February 19, 2025

From historic catastrophes to today’s challenges, crises pose significant public threats. By returning to the basics and prioritizing deliberate preparation, organizational leaders can build greater resilience, enhance performance, and lead effectively when it matters most.

Imagining the U.S. Without Power: A Dual-World EMP Exercise

Charles (Chuck) L. Manto, K. Luke Reiner and Dave Hunt February 12, 2025

A dual-world tabletop exercise simulating an electromagnetic pulse event in Chicopee, Massachusetts, revealed startling discrepancies in outcomes between the city’s current preparedness and a moderate-preparedness simulation.

The image displays a detailed close-up of switchgear and transmission towers against a vivid sky, symbolizing energy infrastructure and power distribution.

Protecting Critical Infrastructure From Weaponized Drones

David Winks, Steve Chill, Frederick Ferrer, Michael J. "Apollo" Lovell, Mike Swearingen and Mary Lasky December 4, 2024

Electricity substations are traditionally only protected by chain link fences and signage warning of the dangers of high voltage. However, this still leaves property vulnerable, especially to weaponized drones attacking from above, a mode of terrorism being used more extensively across the world and at home.

Growing Foreign Threats to National Security, Part 2: Emergency Management Approaches and Choices

Glen Woodbury October 30, 2024

This is Part 2 of a two-part article that explores the nation-state threat and its implications for the emergency management community regarding the operations, resilience, resourcing, strategies, and policies necessary to better prepare for future events.

MILITARY Archives

The Key Bridge Collapse – Through the Lens of Community Lifelines

Michael Prasad July 17, 2024

The eight major elements of Community Lifelines use traffic-light-type color-coding to categorize the adverse impact status of a disaster. The article’s author has applied this

The Nexus Between Drug and Human Trafficking

Richard Schoeberl, Jeff Bollettieri and William (Bill) Loucks Jr. June 5, 2024

Transnational criminal organizations are using their experience in drug trafficking to utilize routes and operating procedures to take advantage of other criminal opportunities, such as

Mental Awareness to Enhance Preparedness

Andrew (Andy) Altizer April 17, 2024

Emergency managers, public health officials, and first responders often stress the importance of physical fitness, but what about mental fitness? Without focused mental agility in

The Evolution of Homeland Security Higher Education

Heather Issvoran March 27, 2024

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, homeland security education expanded to ensure that local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal agencies had the tools

Protecting Infrastructure – Cyber, Physical, and EMP Attacks

David Winks February 21, 2024

Imagine 3,500 spiders, each with their own style, getting together to create a giant web. That’s how this author describes the U.S. power grid and

Repeated Intelligence Failures – Not Connecting the Dots

Robert Leverone and Darren E. Price February 14, 2024

Gathering intelligence about potential threats is a daunting task that many agencies perform. When agencies do not effectively share intelligence, they may miss connecting the