Hotwash

In our Season 3 finale, we bring resilience to the homes we live in, the infrastructure we rely on, and the systems that keep our communities functioning. Resilience starts with our homes. We explore how emerging technologies, modern building practices, and smarter infrastructure design can reduce risk today. From retrofitting aging homes to constructing climate‑ready neighborhoods, this episode b...

Emerging technologies—from AI‑enhanced hazard prediction to digital twins, robotics, and next‑generation communications—are rapidly transforming how emergency managers plan, respond, and recover. These tools offer unprecedented speed, precision, and situational awareness, but they also introduce new challenges around generalization, equity, governance, and the need for strong human oversight. As d...

We finish out this week with another Quick Rinse, which looks into the mostly-resolved hantavirus outbreak and the evolving ebola public health emergency in the DRC and Uganda. 

 The long-awaited FEMA Review Council’s report is here and the findings are eye-opening. It argues that the nation’s emergency management system requires a “complete structural transformation,” going so far as to say it is “time to close the book on FEMA,” even as it proposes a successor agency that retains FEMA’s core missions while shifting far more responsibility to states and tribes. It outlin...

Children’s disaster preparedness goes far beyond drills. It requires a layered approach that builds the knowledge, skills, and confidence kids need to stay safe when emergencies strike. Effective programs depend on well‑resourced, well‑prepared schools working hand‑in‑hand with families, local emergency management, public health, social services, and child‑focused NGOs to meet the unique needs of...

Disasters leave behind more than physical damage: they create deep psychological impacts for survivors, from acute stress and fear to long‑term challenges like PTSD and depression. First responders face their own mental health risks as repeated exposure to trauma, high‑pressure decisions, and stigma around seeking help take a cumulative toll. This episode explores how both groups experience and co...

Episode 6 explores why, in today’s disaster landscape, the most important resilience tool isn’t a go‑bag, but the relationships we build before crisis hits. We dive into the world of COADs and VOADs, the volunteer and community organizations that are often first on the scene and last to leave. Through real‑world examples and insights from research and reporting, this episode shows how neighbors, n...

Episode 5 unpacks how supply chain and logistics shape resilience long before a disaster ever strikes. We explore how everyday essentials—from food and medicine to fuel—depend on complex networks that can fail quickly under stress, and what individuals and communities can do to prepare for those disruptions. This episode shows that understanding the systems we rely on is a vital part of creating r...

In this episode, we venture into the world of continuity planning. From Cold War bunkers carved into mountains to modern virtual worksites, we explore one of emergency management’s most fundamental tasks: Continuity of Operations (COOP) Planning. What are some of the historical underpinnings of this endeavor? How has it evolved through the decades. And how does this fit with Continuity of Governme...

Episode 3 dives into the world of flooding, water quality, and the policies that shape how communities manage both. We sit down with Don Dorsey, a leading expert on stormwater systems, to unpack how infrastructure, regulation, and environmental realities intersect. This conversation reveals why stormwater management is one of the most important, and least understood, foundations of community resil...

Episode 2 takes our listeners across the country to explore how emergency management looks different depending on geography, population, and local government structure. Through conversations with Birch Barron in Eagle County, Colorado, Ian Hamilton in Santa Clara County, California, and Preeti Emrick in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, we unpack how hazards, resources, and community needs shape the...

Season 3 opens with a dive into the idea shaping every corner of emergency management today: resilience. In this kickoff episode, we unpack what resilience really means in 2026: how it lives at the intersection of climate change, infrastructure, public health, mental health, logistics, and policy. We explore why resilience isn’t just a buzzword but a survival strategy for communities facing more f...

In this special holiday episode, we explore resilience as one of the most meaningful gifts a community can give itself. We look at how preparedness programs for children build confidence and safety from an early age, break down how hazard mitigation protects lives while reducing long‑term costs, and highlight how continuity‑of‑operations planning keeps essential services running when disruptions o...

As we wrap up this season, we turn the spotlight inward with a hotwash—a structured reflection on what worked, what didn’t, and what we can do better next time. In emergency management, assessing and reassessing is not a weakness but a strength, and programmatic evaluations are the key to building resilience and sharpening response. Together, we revisit our themes, highlight our successes, acknowl...

After disaster strikes, one of the most important missions is debris removal, which is essential to ensuring first responders can access people in need and marks the first step in recovery.  This episode unpacks how everyday “blue sky” trash systems transform under crisis, why cleanup is so time‑intensive and expensive, and what’s at stake if it’s delayed. From hurricanes to wildfires, we explore...

 In this episode of Hotwash , special guest Megan Timmins joins us to explore the power of collaboration in emergency management—from securing presidential elections to coordinating across FEMA regions and healthcare coalitions. We trace how funding streams like UASI helped build cross-border capabilities after 9/11, and how new models of partnership are emerging to meet today’s challenges. Megan...

Monday, November 10, 2025, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. Though widely understood as one of the worst maritime disasters in history, it has gained unique cultural resonance after being immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Today we reflect on the history of the Mighty Fitz and its crew, the final voyag...

In this episode of Hotwash , we explore the legal and public health foundations of vaccine mandates through the lens of the landmark Supreme Court case Jacobson v. Massachusetts . We unpack how the Fourth Amendment intersects with public health authority, and why vaccination programs have long been considered a legitimate exercise of state power. From smallpox to COVID-19, we trace the balance bet...

In our final Halloween special, we sink our teeth into the viral origins of zombies—from fast-moving cinematic ghouls to real-world pathogens like rabies and cordyceps. We explore how zombie lore mirrors epidemiological principles and how public health campaigns, like the CDC’s zombie preparedness guide, use fiction to drive real-world readiness. It’s a chilling reminder that emergency planning is...

In our second Halloween special, we take flight into the world of bats—creatures both feared and essential. We explore how bats intersect with public health, emergency response, and environmental law. Join us for a quick rinse on the delicate balance between protecting ecosystems and preventing disease. 

In this first of three special Halloween Quick Rinse episodes, we journey into the eerie remains of Centralia, Pennsylvania—a town slowly consumed by an underground coal fire burning for over 60 years. Once home to thousands, Centralia now stands as a haunting reminder of how environmental disaster can outpace legal and public health solutions. Join us as we explore the limits of emergency law, th...

This episode explores how emergency powers in the United States have evolved over the past two decades, shaped by crises like 9/11 and COVID-19. We break down who can declare emergencies—from local officials to governors and the president—and how those powers interact, overlap, and sometimes clash. As the legal landscape shifts post-pandemic, we examine new reforms, court rulings, and the growing...

A powerful Nor’easter battered the Eastern Seaboard this week, while a devastating typhoon in Western Alaska displaced hundreds and left entire communities in crisis. This special update unpacks the science behind storm terminology and highlights the urgent challenges facing Alaska’s remote villages as winter approaches and federal recovery efforts stall.

This episode traces the arc of emergency authority from Roman dictators to Civil War suspensions of habeas corpus, frontier lawmen, and modern statutes like the National Emergencies Act and the Stafford Act. We discuss the amorphous term "emergency" and talk through how crises have repeatedly reshaped the balance between swift executive action and constitutional restraint into the 21st c...

In this Quick Rinse, we unpack the web of vaccine policies across the United States—from shifting mandates to inconsistent guidance. What began as a national public health effort has splintered into a patchwork of state-by-state rules, local ordinances, and political battles.