Guide to Open-Access Materials in EM

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The Diva is torn about which side to take in the debate about textbooks or free-access digital resources.  As the editor of a textbook that took years of effort and dozens of experts to produce, she favors textbooks. [See: Emergency Management; the American Experience, 1900-2010] Yet, as the author of several blogs, she likes the ease and timeliness of sharing information in the digital format.

There are many high quality reports, documents, ebooks and the like available online. In that connection, The Diva has been writing this blog for more than 6 years, during which time about 2,000 postings have been published.  Recently, we compiled a substantial index (41 pp) of the postings, with annotations and direct URLs.

If you want to use digital resources in lieu of or to supplement textbooks, this index will get you off to a great start. This Roundup of Recent Resources in Emergency Management (2010-2015) is an excellent resource for consultants, academics, and students. Where else could you get this many digital resources in one place ?  This index can be yours immediately, if you donate $25. dollars or more to the blog. New: special rate of $10. for students.

Go to the Donate Now button in the upper right-hand column of the blog’s homepage.

FEMA Releases Updated National Planning Frameworks

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Details from FEMA:

Today, FEMA and its partners released the updated National Planning Frameworks for each mission area: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. The National Planning Frameworks, which are part of the National Preparedness System, set the strategy and doctrine for building, sustaining, and delivering the core capabilities identified in the National Preparedness Goal of building a secure and resilient nation.
The Frameworks present a paradigm shift in the way we approach preparedness through a risk-driven, capabilities-based approach. Historically, preparedness was considered a separate, distinct mission area; but now the Frameworks address national preparedness as a whole, through the core capabilities that compose the five mission areas.

National preparedness is a shared responsibility—everyone has a role to play to ensure that our nation can address its greatest risks. FEMA supports the mission of strengthening the security and resilience of the nation by working to improve the ability of all to manage incidents, events and emergencies. The Frameworks do this by creating a shared understanding about how we, as a nation, coordinate, share information, and work together to achieve our missions, as well as define our roles and responsibilities from the fire house to the White House.

Recognizing the need for an all-of-Nation approach to preparedness, and an open and transparent government, input was gathered from the public, stakeholders and all levels of government. FEMA received thousands of comments during the various review and comment periods. As a result, the Frameworks offer practical, real-life examples of things people are doing to keep our nation safe and resilient.

The updated National Planning Frameworks also incorporate critical edits from the National Preparedness Goal refresh, including updated core capabilities, lessons learned from real world events and continuing implementation of the National Preparedness System, including an increased emphasis on cyber threats, and updates on the roles and responsibilities of coordinating structures in each mission area. The updated Frameworks also align with new policies and directives, such as PPD-21, Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, and EO 13636, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.

FEMA is hosting a series of engagement webinars to highlight key changes to the Frameworks and to answer questions participants may have. All webinars are open to the whole community, including individuals and communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations and all governments.
For a copy of the document, summary of changes, and webinar registration information visit: http://www.fema.gov/national-planning-frameworks. For more information on national preparedness efforts, visit: http://www.fema.gov/national-preparedness.

See also the comments from readers that follow this announcement from FEMA.

Digital Libraries

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The Diva is a big fan of libraries and librarians!  For those new to the field of emergency management, here are 3 of the many excellent sources of information available to you. The Diva wants to be sure that newcomers are aware of these library resources:

  1. The Learning Center at FEMA’s National Emergency Training Center. At the recent Higher Education in Emergency Management Symposium, Librarian Ed Metz and other EMI staffers led a tour of the library and its resources. It is a great place, located on the EMI campus in Emmitsburg, MD and online too, at this URL.
  2. Natural Hazards Center Collection. This is a joint project of the USF Libraries Special & Digital Collections and The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Research Library. This is the direct URL. 
  3. The Disaster Research Center at the Univ. of Delaware. More information about the Quarantelli Research Collection is at this URL.  Librarian: Ms Pat Young.

Update on June 17. Thanks to Bill Cumming for this direct link to some of the essential Emergency Management Reference documents on this page of the FEMA website.

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EM Research Literature – Hardly Read or Used

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As a long-time researcher and writer in the EM field, the Diva noted with interest and chagrin this presentation titled  Utilization of Research Literature.  Although this research was done in one university program at one point in time, the results probably are an indicator of major changes and problems in higher education in EM today. And they are quite distressing to me.

The author is Dr. Deborah Persell of Arkansas State University, who presented her study results at the workshop preceding the 2016 Higher Education in Emergency Management Symposium this past week.  If you would like to talk to her about this study, her contact info is: dpersell@astate.edu.

The lack of interest in and utilization of research results in the EM field is not a new one. For example see: Knowing better and losing even more: the use of knowledge in hazards management (2001), written by Gilbert White, Robert Kates, and Ian Burton (all eminent and long-time researchers) in 2001. Given the emergence of the Internet and of online education in the EM field since 2001, major changes are likely to have occurred.

The Diva is very interested in this topic and would like to know if anyone else done a recent study or attempted to measure the utilization of EM literature and research?  She would like to hear about  some additional studies and experiences.

NFIP is Under Fire

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Lawmakers To FEMA: Flood Plan Overhaul Is ‘Too Little, Too Late’

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making sweeping reforms to the nation’s flood insurance program in the wake of a series of critical reports on NPR and the PBS series Frontline. But lawmakers say this isn’t enough when private insurance companies are profiting millions of dollars from a program that is already $23 billion in debt.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and other lawmakers say they are considering removing private companies from the National Flood Insurance Program.

“This is a federal program at the end of the day,” says Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., whose constituents were heavily affected by Superstorm Sandy. “It needs to fundamentally transform. And if it cannot do so on its own, then we have to consider legislatively whether we scrap the entire model.”

Residents Return to Fort McMurray

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Neither re-entry nor recovery are easy to do. See: Fort McMurray Fire: Road Blocks Lifted As Residents Allowed To Return To City. Some details:

Returning residents are being warned that it won’t be business as usual and to bring with them two weeks worth of food, water and prescription medication as crews continue to work to get basic services restored.

Crews have been working to get critical businesses such as banks, grocery stores and pharmacies running again. Supplies of some items may be limited in the beginning and the government says some things may need to be rationed.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley plans to be in Fort McMurray when the first evacuees return because she says the city will not be the same one they left. It’s not like, ‘OK, you’re home. See ya. Bye bye,”’ she said.