Domestic Preparedness

by ANDY ALTIZER, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal. When an injury causes a life-threatening bleed, minutes matter. There may not be enough time for first responders to arrive on the scene, so immediate responders are needed. Knowing how to respond to this type of injury and being able to stop the bleeding are skills that everyone should learn. This article explains why an...

By LYNDA ZAMBRANO, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, May 03, 2017. As in any community, a solid network of partnerships is needed to address the specific needs of its community members. Native American and Alaska Native populations span the nation, but face similar preparedness challenges. The National Tribal Emergency Management Council has been addressing resi...

By JOHN SAUNDERS, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, July 18, 2012. Blizzards, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, icebergs, and volcanic eruptions are just some of the natural hazards found across the unique Canadian terrain. Although knowing who is charge during an incident can be a challenge under the existing political structure, emergency managers continue to co...

by RANDALL W. HANIFEN, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal. From small fire companies covering large areas of rural land to large fire departments covering highly populated urban cities, suburban fire departments are tasked with a mixture of both. One firefighter who has spent his career in a suburban fire department shares the five key lessons he has learned throughout his...

By W. CRAIG CONKLIN, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, August 04, 2010. In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security released two new publications to help federal officials throughout the country tighten the physical security of the office buildings, warehouses, and hundreds of thousands of other taxpayer-funded federal facilities entrusted to their care. This 2...

By CAMERON W. SLOCUM & JAMES LEE WITT, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, November 10, 2010. This 2010 article describes how the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) used the lessons learned from Hurricanes Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008 to develop an effective response and rebuilding plan that not only has been used by UTMB itself to cope with future disa...

by ADAM TAGER, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal.  Each disaster a community faces must be effectively managed. By viewing each crisis as a project and each emergency manager as a project manager, communities will be better prepared to mitigate future threats, manage special events, and respond to emergencies and disasters. This article describes how traditional models con...

By GARY SIMPSON, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, August 22, 2007. Since this article was written in 2007, major developments have been made to bridge the communication gap for emergency response agencies. However, in times of crisis, the communications between neighboring jurisdictions can still be problematic. Advanced technology has solved the problems and c...

By JOSEPH CAHILL, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, March 08, 2006. The laws are in place but are often unenforceable. Transportation assets are available but are almost always overcommitted. Clear mandates from local, state, and federal decision-makers are obviously needed to restore order from the current chaos. This 2006 article describes the challenges assoc...

by ASHLEIGH HOLMES  , An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal.  When an emergency or disaster occurs, healthcare facilities require reliable communications for ensuring the safety and well-being of those in their care. The New York City Emergency Management Department has revamped its City’s emergency radio communications program to ensure that critical information can be exchan...

By VERNON HERRON & MICHAEL VESELY , An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, July 18, 2012. The New York shooting incident in the subway demonstrates how citizen awareness campaigns are working. Passengers helped stop the bleed of shooting victims. Eye witness reports pointed police in the right direction. Alert citizens noticed someone suspicious. And the shooter...

By CATHERINE L. FEINMAN  , An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, March 28, 2018. On April 12, 2022, a man in a gas mask began shooting passengers in a New York subway car. With millions of passengers traveling each day by rail and subway in the United States alone, the passenger rail industry and the communities they serve are faced with difficult safety and securit...

by RODNEY ANDREASEN , An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal.  Active shooters and other violent incidents occur all over the country – in urban and rural areas, in big cities and small towns, in large and small facilities. Many examples demonstrate the need to understand and plan for them and the significant consequences that could follow. This article empowers the reader to b...

by CHANDLER LOFLAND & RAYMOND WALKER, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal.  A cyberattack on water treatment plant in Florida significantly elevated sodium hydroxide levels for a brief period of time. A ransomware attack in May 2021 temporarily shut down the Colonial Pipeline. The Texas power grid is currently facing cybersecurity threats from Russia. These are just a fe...

By JORDAN SCOTT , An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal,  January 11, 2012. News travels fast, especially on social media. In 2012, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) was embracing social media to better prepare its state for earthquakes. Since then, CalOES has continued to advance its efforts to provide early warning notifications to...

By BARBARA REYNOLDS  , An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, March 28, 2007. Crises and catastrophes are and will continue to be among the eternal verities of human life. Coping with them successfully requires effective communications – clear, concise, confident, and comforting. Leaders in Sacramento were recently challenged with this task as they consoled the publi...

by SAMBAVI JANI, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal.  Experience required. Many jobs require wide-ranging qualifications and expertise to be able to apply and interview. However, people often ask, “How can I get the experience if I cannot get a job?” A great way to get “a foot in the door” is through internships, which can be vital in the emergency management field. Multifa...

By RESEARCH GROUP AT UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, October 12, 2016.   Recent active shooter events in multiple cities across the United States have raised concern in other communities with people wondering if their city is next. However, the phrase “It’s not if, but when” may distort how certain people perceive emergency preparedness...

By NATIONAL TRIBAL AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, February 14, 2018.  In September 2017, the National Tribal Amateur Radio Association (NTARA) – in conjunction with the Fresno Amateur Radio Emergency Services Group and Tulare County Amateur Radio Club – set up and operated Amateur Radio Special Event Station W7NTV during the Nationa...

by BRIAN MCGINLEY, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal. There are moments during a disaster that something needs to be purchased. Depending on the nature of the purchase, it could be something small, perhaps something that can be purchased with a company credit card. On the other hand, it could be a purchase for millions of dollars and, not only do procurement laws come into...

by RON CAIN, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal. It seems that every day over the past two years there are plenty of news stories covering the strain hospitals are facing in staffing shortages and the impacts from a global pandemic. Emergency medical services (EMS) are also dealing with their own similar issues across the nation. Many of these critical facilities and servic...

By STEPHEN GRAINER , An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, October 14, 2009.  The Department of Homeland Security  resumed the “next” series of its NIMS Incident Command System (ICS) training in August with the delivery of eight ICS position-specific Train-the-Trainer (T-t-T) programs in College Station, Texas, where the Texas Forest Service is headquartered – on th...

By RICHARD SCHOEBERL, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, September 19, 2012.   As events of the past week have shown, the 18-month upheaval that has devastated Syria continues to present a major risk that the Syrian government’s caches of CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive) materials might fall into the hands of looters, defectors,...

by NATHAN DIPILLO, An Article Out Loud from the Domestic Preparedness Journal. Several national critical functions and all 16 critical infrastructure sectors rely either directly or indirectly on functional and consistent position, navigation, and timing (PNT) signals. As such, fragility of weak and easily imitated global positioning system (GPS) signals could lead to catastrophic impacts on depen...

By OMAR BOURNE, An Article Out Loud Flashback from the Domestic Preparedness Journal, May 23, 2018.  New York City has various disaster preparedness teams that are specially equipped to manage many types of threats. One such team involves canines trained to perform search and rescue tasks. Canines have helped save lives at critical times following disasters such as 9/11, when finding survivors amo...