Domestic Preparedness

Full article by Kay C. Goss and Catherine L. Feinman, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 27, 2024. In this featured article, two attendees of a Senate briefing on “The State of Emergency Management” discuss the assistance needs of emergency managers working behind the scenes to ensure the safety, security, and resilience of communities before, during, and after a disaster. Liste...

Full article by Heather Issvoran, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 27, 2024. In this featured article, the director of strategic communications for the Center for Homeland Defense and Security describes how homeland security education expanded after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to ensure that local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal agencies had the tools...

Full article by Joseph J. Leonard, Jr., an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 26, 2024. In this featured article, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander describes the transportation, supply chain, and other critical impacts that are likely from the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. Any such incident or event can easily disrupt the supply chain, whether local, regional, or internation...

Full article by Inés Bebea, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 20, 2024. In this featured article, the deputy press secretary for the New York City Emergency Management Department shares how Emergency Management Assistance Compacts are helping communities and building new skills. Some people enter the field directly from college, some as a second career, and others have circumst...

Full article by Kay C. Goss, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 20, 2024. In this featured article, a former Associate Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency describes some of the agency’s accomplishments as well as some challenges she and the agency encountered during her tenure. FEMA has spent decades preparing for and responding to disasters. Listen to expert ins...

Full article by Heather McGaffin, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 13, 2024. In this featured article, the director of The Office of Unified Communications in Washington, DC, provides a glimpse inside emergency communications centers and the strategic planning needed to ensure that someone is always there to answer calls for help. Listen to expert insights on 911 call centers...

Full article by Laurel J. Radow, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 13, 2024. In this featured article, a member of the  American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force  shares an operational checklist for communities that will experience a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Eclipse event planners may not have considered all the risk and safety concerns related to thei...

Full article by Desiree Baccus, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 6, 2024. In this featured article, a public relations committee member for the National Association for Amateur Radio describes how volunteers are transforming emergency preparedness with an inclusive, diverse movement of impactful community engagement. Talented operators nationwide prove that emergency managemen...

Full article by Kim Guevara, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, March 6, 2024. In this featured article, the founder and CEO of Mozaik Solutions applies the concept of Executive Function to crisis leadership roles. By understanding how the brain works and the role that executive function plays, crisis leaders can be better equipped to make tough decisions and lead effectively under th...

Full article by Margaret (Margie) Graves, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 28, 2024. In this featured article, a senior fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government describes the benefits and challenges as nation states race to harness the power of artificial intelligence and quantum computing. As many countries find new ways to leverage these technologies for...

Full article by Ernesto Ballesteros, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 28, 2024. In this featured article, a cybersecurity state coordinator for CISA explains how cybersecurity is a core business process that involves the entire organization or agency. The continuity of government and operations depends on a collaborative approach. Listen to an expert’s recommendations for m...

Full article by David Winks, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 21, 2024. In this featured article, a cyber defense expert describes the complexities of protecting the power grid from cyber, physical, and electromagnetic pulse attacks. Like a giant spider web, the grid connects power companies and resources with the customers who rely on those services in their daily lives. L...

Full article by Marek N. Posard and Jessica Jensen, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 21, 2024. In this featured article, a military sociologist and policy researcher at RAND Corporation explore how foreign governments can undermine domestic disaster response efforts. In August 2023, rumors on social media spread as fast as the wildfires the island of Maui was battling. That...

Full article by Gene Seroka, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 14, 2024. In this featured article, the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles shares the port's efforts to combat millions of cyber-intrusion threats each year. Listen to this expert’s experience with protecting cargo shipping ports, which are highly visible and vulnerable targets for cybercriminals.

Full article by Robert Leverone and Darren E. Price, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 14, 2024. In this featured article, two homeland security experts discuss how combating potential threats and avoiding intelligence failures involves identifying the signals and warnings in available information and connecting the dots. Listen to the authors’ key takeaways and recommendati...

Full article by Jeanne Benincasa Thorpe, an Article Out Loud from the  Domestic Preparedness Journal , February 7, 2023. From “Lord of the Flies” to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, significant consequences have been blamed on failures of imagination. In this featured article, a national security and resiliency expert encourages leaders to think outside the box to counter domestic risks. Avoid past...

Full article by Robert J. (Bob) Roller, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, February 7, 2024. In this featured article, a federal emergency planner explains how preparedness strategies have shifted over the years based on the threats that are most likely to affect communities. After the Cold War fears of the 1980s ended, attention shifted away from nation-state threats. However, we sho...

By Kole (KC) Campbell, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 31, 2024. In our featured article, experts dive deep into the sprawling world of commercial facilities that not only dominate the U.S. economy but also play an instrumental role in contributing trillions of dollars to the U.S. gross domestic product. These facilities are more than just brick and mortar; they are the bea...

By Michael R. Valiente, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 31, 2024. In our featured article, we explore how these key figures form the nucleus of community leadership, acting as a driving force for collaborative relationships with local stakeholders. Their roles extend far beyond the political spectrum, reaching into the very fabric of community resilience and security.

By Cedric Ling, Debashish Kar, Nur Yazdani, Eyosias Beneberu, Maria Koliou, and Yong Yoo, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 24, 2024. In this article, experts explore a crucial aspect of flood mitigation as homeowners make the bold choice to elevate their homes. But, there's a catch – the method matters. Follow along as the authors unravel the complexities of maintaining...

By Tara Goode, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 24, 2024. In this article, we focus on Grant County, Minnesota, where tough decisions become a necessity as threatening weather looms on the horizon. Join us as we explore the lessons learned from past severe storms and how this community is proactively building a foundation for better preparedness. Discover the strategies, cha...

By Michael Prasad, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 17, 2024. To meet a community’s mass care family reunification needs after a disaster, hospitals and other healthcare facilities must have plans and procedures in place for mass casualty incident response, which goes beyond patient care. Here are some recommendations for them to develop a collaborative strategic plan.

By Nathan DiPillo and Derek Kantar, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 17, 2024. Without transportation and communications, emergency response can move at an uncomfortably slow pace, enough so that life, property, and the environment may be unnecessarily compromised. The integrated transportation network must be protected from threats and other risks.

By Wayne P. Bergeron, An Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 10, 2024. Conferences are full of important and interesting sessions, but attendees do not always take away actionable knowledge or have long-term retention of the information. This article summarizes a crowd-sourced conversation with panelists, attendees, resilience experts, and Chat GPT.

By Eric Easton, An Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, January 10, 2024. From the alarm clock that wakes people in the morning, to the natural gas used to cook breakfast, to the refined petroleum products powering vehicles for daily commutes, the Energy Sector plays an integral role in daily life activities.