Emergency Management – Measurements of Success
Mitch Saruwatari
December 21, 2011
As 2011 nears an end, emergency preparedness officials at healthcare organizations across the United States are looking with watchful eyes toward 2012, during which the metrics for determining the level
Social Media – The Path Ahead
Mary Lilley
December 21, 2011
Instead of fighting the inevitable, a growing number of forward-looking emergency managers and political leaders are using social media as a low-cost, immediately accessible, and surprisingly efficient way to keep the public at large informed – on a continuing basis – about impending disasters and the response, recovery, and mitigation operations that follow.
Incident Management Doctrine: Who Is In Charge?
Marko Bourne and Mary Anne McKown
December 21, 2011
Protection of the U.S. homeland requires superior and continuing performance by both thinkers and doers. The latter work is more dangerous and deservedly receives more publicity. The thinking part is more tedious, though, and continues with no end in sight. Thinkers now face another mountain to climb with the implementation of PPD-8 and redrafting of HSPD-5.
FINAL REPORT: Electronic Medical Records
Dennis Jones
December 20, 2011
Regardless of specialty, the number one priority for all emergency preparedness professionals is to
save lives. A victim’s chance of survival decreases with delays in transport and incomplete records or
medical history. This report focuses on patient tracking, new health IT infrastructures, challenges
faced by the healthcare industry, and the vehicles and platforms necessary to form an effective data
solution for the healthcare and emergency management industries.
Defining Emergency Management in the 21st Century
Anthony S. Mangeri
December 14, 2011
The profession of emergency management has come a long, long way from the streets of London to the gates of the White House, but the policing principles enunciated by Sir Robert Peel provide a strong foundation for President Barack Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive 8 on National Preparedness and its goal to “bring the nation together as a whole” to prepare for any and all disasters “that threaten U.S. security and resiliency.”
An Interview with The Honorable Tom Ridge
Aaron Sean Poynton
December 14, 2011
The former DHS Secretary provides his own nonpartisan insights on the current state of U.S. emergency preparedness, comments on many areas of progress – and some gaps still to be filled – and offers a number of helpful short- and long-term recommendations for the future.
Today and Tomorrow: Approaching the Mythical Tricorder
Christopher Wrenn
December 14, 2011
The detection and identification capabilities of today’s U.S. military and homeland-security units
are still short of Starfleet status. But they are getting light years closer, thanks in large part to
current and projected budget cutbacks that reward both versatility and creative thinking and punish
those who do not see “the whole elephant.”
The Future of EMS: Upward & Outward
Joseph Cahill
December 7, 2011
In the Old West, the town barber often served as the town doctor as well. The parallel today is far from exact, but the current generation of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) is rapidly learning new and more advanced skills. By using such technologically advanced medical systems and devices, the capabilities and responsibilities of EMTs have expanded exponentially and are likely to continue on the same upward trajectory for the foreseeable future.
The 2012 Public Health Preparedness Summit: Regroup, Refocus, Refresh
Jack Herrmann
December 7, 2011
New technologies and greater budgetary, political, and workplace challenges, so what else is new? That is the question that participants in next year’s Anaheim “Summit” will do their best to answer while also devising better and more imaginative ways to, as always, do more with less resources…and with fewer people.
Biosurveillance: Detecting the Next ‘Silent’ Attack
Lou Banks
December 7, 2011
As emergency managers and preparedness planners well know, the use of biological weapons against the United States, or any other nation, would probably be much longer lasting, and more devastating in its long-term consequences, than a nuclear attack. Which is why detection and prevention offer not only the best hope for “success” – however that flexible term is defined – but also, probably, the only hope.
