Critical Infrastructure Archives

Emergency Management Projects in a Quasi-Pandemic World

Sarah Keally August 18, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic put many projects on hold and stalled efforts to build the workforce and train the next generation. Now that agencies are revisiting pre-pandemic projects, the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management in Virginia offers a best practices approach for introducing internship programs and filling critical operational and

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Frontline Workers

Hannah Bennett August 4, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the lives of healthcare workers and first responders – impacts they are still feeling. As workers on the frontlines, these people took a harder hit than the rest of the American population when COVID-19 swept across the nation. Several studies have shown that the pandemic

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

Connecting: Benefits & Risks

Catherine L. Feinman June 23, 2021

To take a multidisciplinary, multijurisdictional approach to disaster preparedness and response, agencies and organizations must connect both in person and virtually. Mutual aid agreements enable agencies to share resources and develop a collaborative strategy for addressing emerging threats. Although predicted by experts, the threats that presented over the past year

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

Fixing America’s Healthcare Supply Chain

James M. Rush Sr. June 2, 2021

The buildup to World War II illustrated the negative effect that huge wartime demand for medical supplies, equipment, and pharmaceuticals had on public and private healthcare systems in the United States. After the war, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) began building and pre-positioning federally owned medical materiel in storage depots

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