In an attempt to respond effectively to crises and emergencies, one of the most important steps is the creation of a crisis communication strategy is preparing for the crisis and being ready for it ahead of time, regardless of what type of crisis it is. Planning for various scenarios can help you be ready to act when needed. Planning assists in charting a course for the possibility of a crisis. The process begins with reviewing where your communications plan is, and then id

In an attempt to respond effectively to crises and emergencies, one of the most important steps is the communication of information surrounding the event, and this is not always easy. In fact, it is downright difficult most of the time. Part of the difficulty surrounding communication is that based on the multiple variables at play, things change and the best way to connect also changes. While every situation is different and needs a different type of response depending on

The days of waiting for the news cycle to try to catch up to the fast-paced emergency response field are over. The recent explosion of social media has deeply transformed the way emergency management officials approach their work. Today’s emergency manager no longer has to hold a news conference to push out their message. They can now send information out immediately through services such as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. This does not mean that the traditional med

When you think about the effects of Hurricane Maria, the average person pictures strong winds, rain, surging oceans, and ruined lives. The main reason behind this is that the media highlighted these events, and innumerable news channels streamed the effects in real time 24 hours per day as hundreds of thousands of people looked for relief. The harsh reality of emergencies is that while these effects are devastating, the secondary, of ripple effect of a disaster this size li

There is on average, one school shooting a week in the United States. In November 2017, six people, including the shooter, died in a school shooting in Rancho Tehama, Calif. Three people, including the shooter, were killed in a shooting at Aztec High School in New Mexico.[1] Is there such a thing as the “Perfect Active-Shooter plan?” Depending on whom you talk to, I think that you would find many people answering in the affirmative. People choose their corners and refuse to

I was reading an article recently about how the Emergency Management field operates in our “Rules-based Culture.” I wondered if this was such a bad thing, or if it stunted the creativity and innovation that could save lives. A rules-based culture is one in which an organization attempts to govern and control decision making by implementing, and discouraging deviation from, an extensive framework of policies and procedures.[1] Who among us does not follow a set of SOP’s or o

When was the last time you toured a farm in your area? When was the last time that you sat down and talked to the manager of a large “Mega-farm” facility? Given the perceived lack of impact on our daily EM operations that results from animal health issues, the answer is probably never. Should emergency managers even care about these diseases? The answer to that question is, yes, they totally should. We will have to support the response to an animal health outbreak in the U