Domestic Preparedness

This is an article by Julia Masters, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, November 19, 2025.  Aging infrastructure, growing weather events, and rising demand from data centers are straining the nation’s electric grid. Learn how microgrids are emerging as an innovative way to strengthen power reliability and resilience for both routine and emergency operations.  Now to the featured artic...

This is an article by Brent Bennett and Cullen Neely, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, November 12, 2025. The rise of data centers is reshaping the risk landscape for the electric grid. Now, essential infrastructure supporting hospitals, communications, finance, and government, data centers are vulnerable to – and potential drivers of – cascading failures when grid reliability falte...

This is an article by Victoria Kluge and Rick Christ, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, November 12, 2025. Every jurisdiction faces the challenge of managing and prioritizing its preparedness efforts. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has developed an innovative formula designed to simplify that process. Learn how this flexible model, built to work with data visualizat...

In this episode of  Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast , host Nicolette Phillips has a conversation with Michael Neenan, CEO of Parsec Antennas, who shares how his team works to ensure responders stay connected in the most remote and demanding environments. This conversation was recorded on May 28, 2025, during the Texas Emergency Management Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. 

This is an article by Joshua Dise, an Article Out Loud fromDomestic Preparedness, November 5, 2025. Disaster recovery rarely centers on the materials that makerebuilding possible. Modern infrastructure depends on fragile, geopoliticallyconcentrated supply chains ill-suited for post-disaster demand. Learn how recovery must increasingly hinge not just onleadership and logistics, but on the ability t...

This is an article by Gordon Lohmeyer, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, November 5, 2025. The stored-energy field is growing rapidly, and battery energy storage systems are expected to continue strengthening the nation’s grid. However, these systems introduce new risks—hard-to-extinguish fires and chemical exposure that endangers first responders. Learn how essential awareness and s...

In this episode of Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast – Voices of Preparedness, host Teresa Farfan speaks with Gordon Lohmeyer from the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) about one of the fastest-growing challenges in emergency response: lithium-ion batteries. These powerful energy storage systems are revolutionizing how we live, drive, and power our world—from electric vehicles to...

This is an article by Judy Kruger and Bill DeLong, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 29, 2025.  Cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices could lead to manufacturing failures and compromise patient health and the healthcare infrastructure. Learn how manufacturers need to implement well-established cybersecurity principles, and regulators must enforce them to ensure the...

This is an article by Charles Gifford, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 22, 2025. Legacy 911 systems, which still serve large portions of the United States, rely on decades-old copper wire technology that cannot withstand today’s cyber threats. Learn how protecting this critical public safety infrastructure demands a coordinated effort to accelerate Next Generation 911 imple...

This is an article by Justin Snair, Sarah K. Miller, and Emma Erwin, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 22, 2025. Purpose-built AI can turn complex communication challenges into faster, smarter, and more reliable processes. Engaging research, technology, and practitioner insight into design processes makes evidence-based practices core features, not afterthoughts. Learn how on...

From hurricanes to wildfires, location data is changing how emergency managers plan and respond. Host Teresa Farfan talks with Esri’s Ryan Lanclos about how GIS and AI help officials see risks in real time, make informed decisions, and better support communities before and after disasters. 

This is an article by Nitin Natarajan, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 15, 2025.  Organizations often have isolated cybersecurity from emergency management, treating it as a narrow IT issue rather than part of an enterprise crisis strategy. Yet, as the line between cyber incidents and traditional emergencies blurs, cyber response must fully integrate into broader emergency...

This is an article by Aaron Clark-Ginsberg and Jessica Jensen, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 8, 2025. By improving speed, effectiveness, and efficiency, artificial intelligence offers vital support for emergency management’s resource-constrained, rapid decision-making needs. AI shapes everything from risk assessment and hazard planning to grant evaluation. Learn how AI ca...

This is an article by Elizabeth Cronin and Erik S. Gaull, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 8, 2025. Mass violence incidents, though statistically uncommon, have become more frequent in the United States in recent years and leave lasting effects on impacted communities, and no community is immune. Learn how making a victim-centered, trauma-informed mass violence incident plan...

In this podcast episode of Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast, host Teresa Farfan has a conversation with Bart Taylor, cybersecurity training manager at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), who shares the latest TEEX cybersecurity training and resources for government and private entities to strengthen preparedness and improve cyber incident response.

This is an article by Bradley A. Trefz, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 1, 2025.  Autonomous vehicles can face rare situations that they are not fully programmed to handle. Because their driving mistakes differ from those of humans, first responders must adjust their tactics accordingly.  Learn more about guidelines and procedures for autonomous vehicle-related incidents co...

This is an article by Joshua Dise and Nathan DiPillo, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, October 1, 2025.  Although one of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors, the food and agriculture sector has long trailed others in resilience. With globalized supply chains and vital ties to preparedness and stability, this lag is untenable.   Learn how disruptions — from cyberattacks t...

This is an article by Chris Hawley, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 24, 2024.  In the fast-moving world of emergency response, a few seconds can mean life or death. Responders count on tough training, cutting-edge tools, and solid knowledge of science and safety.   Learn how the roots of effective response are actually learned in kindergarten.  Now to the featured article...

This is an article by Judy Kruger and Paul Purcell, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 24, 2025.  Every community has unique strengths and resources. Trusted community members, local leaders, and volunteers can support existing community systems to amplify response and    recovery efforts.   Learn how enhanced communication through local volunteers builds trust and helps com...

This is an article by Michael Prasad, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 17, 2025. While some professionals believe that emergency management should revisit civil defense roles in emergency management, others support maintaining a separation between homeland defense and emergency management roles. Learn more about the counterpoint to the creation of a “Sixth Framework” for e...

In this podcast episode of Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast, host Nicolette Casey Phillips has a conversation with Kali Dawkins, principal manager solutions architect at Verizon, who shares how public/private collaboration can keep responders connected before, during, and after disaster. From hurricane recovery to planning for FIFA 2026, discover how Dawkins feels technology and trust build stro...

This is an article by Keith Mumaw, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 17, 2025. Driven by a sense of humanity, volunteers are invaluable to emergency efforts. But they are essential to emergency management in more ways than one. Learn how the hours they donate and the costs they absorb by covering their own expenses positively affect the bottom line of budget-strapped emerge...

This is an article by Bridgett Clark, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 17, 2025. Public safety professionals—including emergency communications specialists—face daily exposure to trauma, often without acknowledgment. However, the very systems built to safeguard the larger community frequently fail to safeguard their own. Through the example of telecommunicators, learn abou...

This is an article by Stephen Kastensmidt, Scott C. Lanham, and John T. “Tim” Briery, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 10, 2025. Core to homeland security are institutions such as active-duty military, the National Guard, FEMA, and local first responders. Complementing these core institutions, however, are three often underrecognized forces that provide consistent, often u...

This is an article by Mitchel Reed, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, September 10, 2025. Formed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the United Cajun Navy unites boat owners and other volunteers to aid during floods, hurricanes, and other disasters, bridging gaps in official response and recovery. A volunteer “technical industry liaison” partners with businesses to add technical capabil...