State Policy Report - Disaster Resilience: 2023 Session Recap This report identifies trends in state disaster resilience policy among legislation enacted in 2023. Legislative trends are presented by state and region and by 12 categories: Funding, Energy, Communications, Transportation, Safety and Security, Health and Medical, Food and Water, Housing, Hazardous Materials, Land Use, Governance, and Equity. The report discusses and contextualizes findings in greater … Continue reading “State Policy Report – Disaster Resilience: 2023 Session Recap” Learn More
State Policy Report - Disaster Resilience: 2022 Session Recap This report identifies trends in state disaster resilience policy among enacted legislation from the 2021-2022 legislative session. Legislative trends are presented by state and region and by 12 categories: Funding, Energy, Communications, Transportation, Safety and Security, Health and Medical, Food and Water, Housing, Hazardous Materials, Land Use, Governance, and Equity. The report discusses and contextualizes … Continue reading “State Policy Report – Disaster Resilience: 2022 Session Recap” Learn More
RCRC Issue Briefs: Why Children Should Be the #1 Disaster Priority The Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative (RCRC) Issue Briefs, in this document, are designed to be used by the RCRC communities and all other communities who are seeking to elevate children’s disaster resilience to the attention of local, state, and federal legislators or other decision-makers. These reports can also be used by legislators and decision–makers at … Continue reading “RCRC Issue Briefs: Why Children Should Be the #1 Disaster Priority” Learn More
Informes Temáticos RCRC: Porqué los Niños Deben Ser la Prioridad #1 en Desastres Los Informes Temáticos RCRC, en este documento, están diseñados para ser utilizados por las comunidades de la iniciativa RCRC y todas las otras comunidades que buscan elevar la resiliencia de los niños ante desastres a la atención de legisladores locales, estatales y federales u otros responsables de la toma de decisiones. Estos informes también pueden … Continue reading “Informes Temáticos RCRC: Porqué los Niños Deben Ser la Prioridad #1 en Desastres” Learn More
Initial Coronavirus Disease–2019 Closure Strategies Adopted by a Convenience Sample of US School Districts: Directions for Future Research School closures are an important strategy to mitigate the impacts of a pandemic. But an optimal approach to transitioning from in-person to distance learning approaches is lacking. We analyzed a convenience sample of public K-12 schools in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This initial snapshot provides some insights to … Continue reading “Initial Coronavirus Disease–2019 Closure Strategies Adopted by a Convenience Sample of US School Districts: Directions for Future Research” Learn More
Superstorm Sandy: Lessons for Optimizing Limited Training Resources for Local Impact Professional training development, whether for a classroom, work environment, or other setting, typically follows a validated instructional design model that includes an assessment of learner needs before the development of a training. This foundational principle is integrated into federal guidance documents for emergency preparedness training. That said, local preparedness resources are sometimes in misalignment with … Continue reading “Superstorm Sandy: Lessons for Optimizing Limited Training Resources for Local Impact” Learn More
Disaster Prepared: How Federal Funding in the United States Supports Health System and Public Health Readiness Federal funding for health and medical preparedness in the United States has created an important foundation for preparing the health and medical systems to respond to a wide range of hazards. A declining trend in funding for these preparedness activities threatens to undo the progress that has been made over the last decade, and reduce … Continue reading “Disaster Prepared: How Federal Funding in the United States Supports Health System and Public Health Readiness” Learn More
Part I: A Critical Examination of “The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence” Several years ago, Ward Wilson presented in this journal a wide-ranging challenge to what every generation of national security scholars and practitioners since the end of World War II has been taught about nuclear weapons. He asserted that nuclear deterrence amounts to far less than its proponents have claimed and provocatively suggested that nuclear deterrence … Continue reading “Part I: A Critical Examination of “The Myth of Nuclear Deterrence”” Learn More
Domestic Preparedness Cuts in the Current Federal Budget Threaten Infrastructure Gains and Public Health Preparedness Learn More
The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review: the Nexus of Biological Weapons Threats and U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy The U.S. government released its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) Report in 2010. The NPR Report is declaratory policy that warns adversaries and assures allies about how the U.S. would use nuclear weapons to defend the people, territories, and vital interests of the United States. The NPR Report reflects the current administration‘s beliefs that nuclear weapons … Continue reading “The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review: the Nexus of Biological Weapons Threats and U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy” Learn More
Domestic preparedness cuts in the current federal budget threaten infrastructure gains and public health preparedness Recent cuts in the federal budget have serious implications for the country’s preparedness and response standing. In mid-May, federal agencies released their final FY11 budgets. Much of the country’s funding for homeland security and public health preparedness resides in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budgets. Preparedness … Continue reading “Domestic preparedness cuts in the current federal budget threaten infrastructure gains and public health preparedness” Learn More
The American Preparedness Project: Executive Summary: Where the US Public Stands in 2011 on Terrorism, Security, and Disaster Preparedness Ten years after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, America is, in some aspects, a different country. Significant portions of the federal budget over the past decade have been spent on enhancing preparedness and security on the home front, and prosecuting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. As part of its American Preparedness Project, which … Continue reading “The American Preparedness Project: Executive Summary: Where the US Public Stands in 2011 on Terrorism, Security, and Disaster Preparedness” Learn More
The Stafford Act and Priorities for Reform During the past fifty years, federal disaster policy in the United States has been shaped by an ongoing conflict between proponents who favor federal intervention following a disaster and those who believe disaster response should be the responsibility of state and local governments and charity. This article explores the existing federal disaster policy landscape within … Continue reading “The Stafford Act and Priorities for Reform” Learn More
Lessons from Katrina – What Went Wrong, What Was Learned, Who’s Most Vulnerable If humans did not occupy the planet, disasters would never occur. Massive climatic events, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis would be regular occurrences, of course, and the earth would look like a dynamic cauldron of natural activity, changing the look and the balance of nature and natural events continuously and randomly. What morphs these natural … Continue reading “Lessons from Katrina – What Went Wrong, What Was Learned, Who’s Most Vulnerable” Learn More
Disaster Care for Persons With Psychiatric Disabilities: Recommendations for Policy Change There is growing concern that the management of persons with psychiatric disabilities after disaster has been inadequate. Unfortunately, the literature is extremely limited, and empirical evidence on the best practices for addressing the needs of persons with psychiatric disabilities after disasters is sparse. A literature search of articles published in 3 widely used databases revealed … Continue reading “Disaster Care for Persons With Psychiatric Disabilities: Recommendations for Policy Change” Learn More
National Preparedness Planning: The Historical Context and Current State of the U.S. Public's Readiness, 1940-2005 In the United States, national public preparedness efforts meant to ready individuals and families for disasters have been driven primarily by international threats, actual or anticipated. These include terrorism, war and the potential for global instability such as the millennium Y2K computer error. The national dialogue on public preparedness following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in … Continue reading “National Preparedness Planning: The Historical Context and Current State of the U.S. Public’s Readiness, 1940-2005” Learn More
Public Confidence in Government, Health Care System Continues to Drop as 5th Anniversary of 9/11 Approaches Survey respondents fear government is unprepared for terrorist attacks or natural disaster; health care system judged unable to respond to major crises or flu pandemic. Learn More
Homeland Preparedness for Major Terrorism in 2006: Not Yet Ready for Prime Time This year will represent a turning point for preparedness and homeland security in the United States. With Michael Chertoff firmly in place and making his own mark as the new Secretary of Homeland Security, the anticipated reauthorization of the federal bioterrorism bill and many other new perspectives and strategies on the table, changes are likely … Continue reading “Homeland Preparedness for Major Terrorism in 2006: Not Yet Ready for Prime Time” Learn More
Responding to an Emerging Humanitarian Crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi: Urgent Need for Health Care "Marshall Plan" It is now clear that massive challenges are facing the recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as the flooding of New Orleans. Evacuees from the hardest hit communities who are currently in extended shelter status, particularly those with limited economic means, may already formally fall under … Continue reading “Responding to an Emerging Humanitarian Crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi: Urgent Need for Health Care “Marshall Plan”” Learn More
Snapshot 2005: Where the American Public Stands on Terrorism and Preparedness Four Years after September 11 The National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) 2005 survey of the American public’s attitudes and views on terrorism, preparedness, and associated issues is the latest in a series of national surveys administered annually beginning in the months after September 11, 2001. The survey was completed in July 2005, just after the London Underground bombings and … Continue reading “Snapshot 2005: Where the American Public Stands on Terrorism and Preparedness Four Years after September 11” Learn More
Psychosocial Implications of Disaster or Terrorism on Children: A Guide for the Pediatrician During and after disasters, pediatricians can assist parents and community leaders not only by accommodating the unique needs of children but also by being cognizant of the psychological responses of children to reduce the possibility of long-term psychological morbidity. The effects of disaster on children are mediated by many factors including personal experience, parental reaction, … Continue reading “Psychosocial Implications of Disaster or Terrorism on Children: A Guide for the Pediatrician” Learn More
