The U.S. emergency management system has met a number of increasingly difficult challenges in recent years, such as extended wildfire seasons, more intense storms, and of course an ongoing global pandemic. In fact, FEMA noted that “the number of annual disasters that [they] have managed has tripled in the past...
Trust for America’s Health has released its latest report in an annual series on public health emergency preparedness in America: Ready or Not 2022: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism. The report assesses and tracks the public health preparedness of all 50 states and the District of...
The State of California, via their website California for All, has released the new report, “California SMARTER: The Next Phase of California’s COVID-19 Response.” “SMARTER” stands for “Shots, Masks, Awareness, Readiness, Testing, Education and Rx (prescriptions and treatments).” The goals for each of these metrics are: Shots: Capacity to administer...
Winter Storm Uri hit Texas in February 2021 with devastating effects, leaving millions of residents across the state to deal with the severe cold without power, heat, or water for several days. In San Antonio, a Committee on Emergency Preparedness was established to investigate and report on how the storm’s...
On March 5, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the release of QuickRoute, a navigation application geared especially for first responders. Three years in the making, the highly anticipated app “addresses more challenges than a typical GPS application, including narrow lanes, inclement weather,...
The Atlantic Council of the United States, in response to the challenges faced by the nation in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, addresses the issues of national preparedness and resilience in their October 2020 publication, Effective Resilience and National Strategy: Lessons From the Pandemic and Requirements...
September is National Preparedness Month (NPM). Especially as the United States continues to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Ready Campaign’s goal of promoting family and community disaster planning is especially important this year. The theme of National Preparedness Month 2020 is “Disasters Don’t Wait. Make Your Plan Today.”...
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released COVID-19 Operational Guidance for the 2020 Hurricane Season. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all levels of government, this document aims to provide actionable guidance to state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) authorities to prepare for the hurricane season. Specifically, the guidance...
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has released its latest report in a series on public health emergency preparedness in America: Ready or Not 2020: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism. Pointing to a number of recent public health emergencies, the report emphasizes the importance of preparing for...
When a major disaster or emergency strikes, having an up-to-date emergency management plan in place is vital to helping emergency responders act quickly and effectively. In support of this goal, and its overarching strategic plan, this week the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the Fourth Edition of...
