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Application of the Cynefin Framework to COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the spring of 2020, variables such as mistrust of government leaders, anti-maskers, and economic concerns complicated COVID-19 community response. The Cynefin framework is a sensemaking theory in the social sciences to create a framework for emergency managers in large-scale events.

Future-Proofing Infrastructure Supports Community Resilience

With communities around the globe feeling the effects of climate change, society must continue to prioritize initiatives that address its causes and impacts. For example, in mid-December 2021, 61 tornadoes formed in the central U.S. when such intense events are unusual, and Texas and Oklahoma saw a winter storm and freezing temperatures in February 2021. Additionally, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. experienced 20 major disasters in 2021 totaling $145 billion in damages and resulting in 688 deaths – ranking as the second-highest number of events, the third-highest cost, and the sixth highest deaths. Coupled with the continuation of high-powered storms with the rising costs of construction, labor, and materials, communities run the risk of entering an endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding.
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Essentials of a School-Based Crisis Response Plan

Predictable Surge: A Pilot in Providence

Collaboration between public entities and private companies is essential to prepare for disasters. However, current partnerships can be formal and cumbersome to the point of detriment, or impromptu and do little to achieve their goals. This unmet need to find appropriate partnership mechanisms could be addressed by the Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI)’s Predictable Surge framework, a model presented in Domestic Preparedness Journal in August 2019. It aims to inform an emergency manager’s understanding of the response ecosystem and productively engage potential private partners. This model has been further developed through a pilot with the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), located in Providence, Rhode Island, in the summer of 2021.

The Evolving Status of Emergency Management Organizations

The proliferation of climate change, political strife, and general societal divisiveness is changing the nature of the work of emergency managers. The (ongoing) COVID-19 global pandemic, devastating hurricane and wildfire seasons, tenuous political situations, and broad unrest impact local communities in significant ways. Emergency managers are those who officials trust to lead response and recovery to this growing list of emergencies and disasters. They facilitate multi-agency responses to complex incidents, often serving in silence while providing critical backbone services.
dead-chickens

Preparing the U.S. for an Outbreak of African Swine Fever

Illustration of woman and police officer sharing puzzle pieces and coming to a single idea

Law Enforcement Collaboration Within Multidisciplinary Teams

Children pat on the head rescue dog.

Editor’s Note – Special Units and Underutilized Resources

Podcast – Built to Serve: Jeffrey J. Wittig on TIFMAS, Teamwork, and Emergency Response

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Paper hands collecting gears, creating whole mechanismA Systems Thinking Approach to Improving Emergency… by William Chapman “PACE” planning helps organizations fail gracefully, but systems thinking reduces the likelihood of failure altogether. Combining both approaches helps organizations…
a large room with computers and monitors and computers on the waDisaster Stress Management in an Emergency Operations Center by Mary Schoenfeldt Disasters affect responders and community members, but they also bring trauma to those working inside emergency operations centers. Distance from…
A veteran serviceman walking through a bustling city street, inWhy Emergency Management Is a Good Career for… by Mathew Perrill For many service members, the transition from the military to a civilian workforce can be challenging. They have been trained…
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Trending

a large room with computers and monitors and computers on the waDisaster Stress Management in an Emergency Operations Center by Mary Schoenfeldt Disasters affect responders and community members, but they also bring trauma to those working inside emergency operations centers. Distance from…
A veteran serviceman walking through a bustling city street, inWhy Emergency Management Is a Good Career for… by Mathew Perrill For many service members, the transition from the military to a civilian workforce can be challenging. They have been trained…
Comms Strike Team - Yancey CountyBridging Communication Gaps: Lessons from Hurricane Helene by Greg Hauser Hurricanes in 2024 caused widespread damage to infrastructure, leading to a critical but often overlooked issue: isolation. Physical and technological…
Paper hands collecting gears, creating whole mechanismA Systems Thinking Approach to Improving Emergency… by William Chapman “PACE” planning helps organizations fail gracefully, but systems thinking reduces the likelihood of failure altogether. Combining both approaches helps organizations…
View all articles

Trending

Bridging Communication Gaps: Lessons from Hurricane Helene by Greg Hauser Hurricanes in 2024 caused widespread damage to infrastructure, leading to a critical but often overlooked issue: isolation. Physical and technological…
A Systems Thinking Approach to Improving Emergency… by William Chapman “PACE” planning helps organizations fail gracefully, but systems thinking reduces the likelihood of failure altogether. Combining both approaches helps organizations…
Disaster Stress Management in an Emergency Operations Center by Mary Schoenfeldt Disasters affect responders and community members, but they also bring trauma to those working inside emergency operations centers. Distance from…
Why Emergency Management Is a Good Career for… by Mathew Perrill For many service members, the transition from the military to a civilian workforce can be challenging. They have been trained…
View all articles

Domestic Preparedness Journal

june 2025

Rescue dog being pet by a group of children, Special Units: The Right Skills. The Right Time. The Right Teams.

Featured in this issue

  • Special Units and Underutilized Resources
  • Law Enforcement and Multidisciplinary Teams
  • Public Order Policing Units in Disasters
  • State Defense Forces in Emergency Response
  • Emergency Carcass Operations
  • Wildfire PREsponse: Closing the Gap With Mitigation
  • Scouts and the Value of Prepared Youth
  • Service Dogs: What First Responders Need to Know
  • Emergency Management for Transitioning Veterans
  • Podcast – Reframing Hurricane Response: Craig Fugate on Survivors as a First Line of Defense
  • Podcast – Built to Serve: Chief Jeffrey J. Wittig on TIFMAS, Teamwork, and Emergency Response
View Full Issue

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Domestic Preparedness

2883 Highway 71 E
P.O. Box 285
Del Valle, TX 78617-9998

Editorial Statement

Founded in 1998, Domestic Preparedness continues to be a pioneering thought leader in the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery space. The multidisciplinary editorial focus helps professionals acquire critical information to develop collaborative, real-world solutions. With relevant, multidisciplinary, whole-community intelligence from the front lines, practitioners can learn from diverse perspectives. The authoritative, practitioner-centered, multimedia information platform disseminates intelligence the way busy management-level public- and private-sector professionals want to learn. This is the trusted source for content written by practitioners, for practitioners, with relevant, real-world best practices.

DomesticPreparedness.com, the Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Weekly Brief include facts, views, opinions, and recommendations of individuals and organizations deemed of interest. The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M University System do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of, or otherwise endorse, these views, facts, opinions or recommendations.
©2025 Texas Division of Emergency Management

Domestic Preparedness

2883 Highway 71E

P.O. Box 285

Del Valle, TX 78617-9998

Editorial Statement

Founded in 1998, Domestic Preparedness continues to be a pioneering thought leader in the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery space. The multidisciplinary editorial focus helps professionals acquire critical information to develop collaborative, real-world solutions. With relevant, multidisciplinary, whole-community intelligence from the front lines, practitioners can learn from diverse perspectives. The authoritative, practitioner-centered, multimedia information platform disseminates intelligence the way busy management-level public- and private-sector professionals want to learn. This is the trusted source for content written by practitioners, for practitioners, with relevant, real-world best practices.

DomesticPreparedness.com, the Domestic Preparedness Journal and the Weekly Brief include facts, views, opinions, and recommendations of individuals and organizations deemed of interest. The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M University System do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of, or otherwise endorse, these views, facts, opinions or recommendations.
©2025 Texas Division of Emergency Management
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