Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

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  Incorporate Preparedness in School Curriculums

  Disaster preparedness should be taught as part of the school curriculum for children of all ages. I remember being taught about 911, "Stop, ...more »

  Disaster preparedness should be taught as part of the school curriculum for children of all ages. I remember being taught about 911, "Stop, Drop, and Roll" and "Only YOU can prevent Forest Fires" in grade school. My homework was to find my household fire extinguisher, check the batteries in the smoke detector, and create a fire escape plan with my parents. These lessons were incorporated in lessons on science and spatial reasoning (making a map of the house). There is so much money spent on curriculum design and yet preparedness is not taught in the classroom. Since FEMA HQ is right across the street from the Department of Education, why not develop that relationship to get developmentally-appropriate preparedness lessons to the teachers and the students?

  I would recommend building in flexibility so the states teach geographically-relevant preparedness tips - he all-Hazards "Drill Days" are a waste of time for teachers and students. If FEMA would make the commitment to education for a long-term program with the Dept of Ed, and let the program grow with teacher/student input, it could really help in future disasters. This could be is an incredibly effective connection from the government to the kids and thus to adults who may need a reminder to check those detector batteries and create evacuation plans.

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  Submitted by maggiemeyer26 2 months ago

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  U.S. National Grid as the Response Language of Location

  Through NIMS and ICS, the leadership of DHS and FEMA have directed the phased introduction of numerous operational standards designed to promote ...more »

  Through NIMS and ICS, the leadership of DHS and FEMA have directed the phased introduction of numerous operational standards designed to promote and facilitate interoperability for the Emergency Services Sector. Yet, to date, they are without voice when it comes to the single most important element of response – the ability to communicate “where”. As a result, we are geospatially adrift as a nation – every responder and emergency manager doing their own thing without thought about the implications of their actions.

  Long ago, the U.S. Armed Forces realized that effective delivery of mission required every part of a “response force” in an operational realm (air, land, sea) had to use the same language of location. Above all other possibilities, to include latitude-longitude, the base concept of the U.S. National Grid (Military Grid Reference System) was selected for land based operations. It’s now long past due that the executive leadership of DHS and FEMA do the same thing through a national policy directive.

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  Submitted by sdswazee 2 months ago

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  EM Coffee Break Training

  Similar to the USFA Coffee Break Training Program; a FEMA Coffee Break Training Program would foster an common awareness and understanding of ...more »

  Similar to the USFA Coffee Break Training Program; a FEMA Coffee Break Training Program would foster an common awareness and understanding of important emergency management and homeland security laws/regulations, principles, history, definitions, etc. This fast growing discipline it is essential to provide a common framework that all EM professionals can agree upon. The EM Coffee Break Training could provide this platform through weekly dessimination of one page lectures that would roughly take 5-10 minutes (long enough to finish a cup of coffee) to read. Each lesson could be reviewed individually or as a group and could provide supplemental information for further research or suggestions. Furthermore, a combination of lectures could be combined and the knowledge tested for CEU credits. This would provide busy professionals with another means of receiving points towards certifying or recertifying for credentials like the CEM.

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  Submitted by Nick Sloan 3 months ago

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  School issues

  In an emergency everyone turns to the schools, unfortunately most are not prepared, not trained, and emergency responders run up against rules ...more »

  In an emergency everyone turns to the schools, unfortunately most are not prepared, not trained, and emergency responders run up against rules that are frustrating at the least and life threatening at the worse.

  It would be nice if some how FEMA could offer the training because it won't be done at the school level, not because it isn't needed, but because of drastic budget cuts in education. When something happens the whole world (community) will turn to the school district and it won't be pretty in a majority of the communities across the nation.

  Educate the educators on

  Hostage/ shooter

  Mass casualties

  Event planning/ security/ etc.

  Sheltering

  Reunification/ Accountability (student, staff, visitors)

  Assessing Hazards/ Mitigation

  NIMS

  Tech security

  Creating a usable safety plan/ procedures

  Effective drills

  Who is trained, who has what resources, etc

  Who does what when, why, and how.

  In our district I'm working hard to get a usable flipchart finished, trained, and used by all staff. Additionally, creating a complete, usable safety manual that is also a mobile app for 1st responders, administrators, staff that isn't reliant upon Internet connectivity etc is in progress. Our schools can either be a tremendous asset or a weight around the necks of 1st responders- training is the key.

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  Submitted by hross 3 months ago

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  Let the locals do the thinking

  I have been involved with Emer. Mgt. for 20 years. I have managed 7 Presidential disasters and many more local emergencies. My biggest problem ...more »

  I have been involved with Emer. Mgt. for 20 years. I have managed 7 Presidential disasters and many more local emergencies. My biggest problem is FEMA/Homeland Security and the State. The federal and state government has placed a mountain of paperwork on my desk that restricts my ability to complete the real work within my community. A 10 minute piece of paperwork to report an exercise 20 years ago has escalated into the HSEEP monster with days of work and for what? Grant management was once a minor part of my day. I now spend weeks trying to complete forms and coordinate with the State to get approvals to release my funds. My biggest complaint is the lack of guidance. There are multiple formats of emergency plans in this country and in this day of NIMS I would think the Feds and States would agree on one format. ADA is a large issue but where is the guidance from the Fed or State? I can get money for exercises, but only if it has a terrorist flair. Excuse me, but we are stil having floods, tornados and earthquakes in this country. I am now required to participate in three exercises a year. I don't have time for that. I have over 400 school buildings to visit, I have over 100 Tier II sites to plan for, I have nursing homes begging for planning and exercises but I don't have the time. I think if FEMA would really like to know what is best for the country and the local programs they first need to consider what would help the locals by asking for our input before they issued another mandate. We know what is best for our community because we live here.

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  Submitted by peter.locke 3 months ago

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  Mobile Apps For FEMA Employees And The Public Utilizing GPS

  An app that utilizes GPS coordinates to aid in disaster response, send relevant emergency alerts to the user, and ability to locate loved ones ...more »

  An app that utilizes GPS coordinates to aid in disaster response, send relevant emergency alerts to the user, and ability to locate loved ones by last known location.

  For better description -

  http://goo.gl/Ujaz7 (FEMA - Challenge.gov)

  http://goo.gl/mod/4Gud (GSA - Making Mobile Dialogue - 3rd place)

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  13 comments

  Submitted by Coulter Johnson 2 months ago

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  "Be Prepared" campaign

  One of the things I heard from the leaders of FEMA was: the citizens need to be ready to help themselves. Not just that, but specifically stated: ...more »

  One of the things I heard from the leaders of FEMA was: the citizens need to be ready to help themselves. Not just that, but specifically stated: the federal government is not going to be there for you right away. Unfortunately, I only heard this for about a week before it was abandoned.

  You can spend all you want on CERTs, exercises, equipment, etc, etc.

  You can spend fractions of that money on an information campaign and have the citizenry help themselves.

  If you tell the people ahead of time, "be prepared to take care of yourself for..." then the chance of failure is lessened. Hurricane Katrina is a good example. The perception is that no one was there fast enough to help. Yet, devestating floods in Oregon/Washinton in 2008 that were just as bad were handled just fine with minimal on-the-ground FEMA operations. Why? Because there is a fundamental difference in "be prepared to help yourself".

  If the citizens aren't prepared, then the government will always fail. You'll always be too late in other people's eyes. You'll always be doing too little for someone.

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  Submitted by Community Member 3 months ago

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  EAS

  The EAS should include all cell phones.

  11 comments

  Submitted by dpass23 3 months ago

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  Utilize resources already in disaster zone..

  During Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart gave their employees approval days in advance to do "whatever they had to help the citizens". I think to help ...more »

  During Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart gave their employees approval days in advance to do "whatever they had to help the citizens". I think to help with disaster relief at any level, the government should partner up with larger community based retailers that are already in the areas. For example, Wal-Mart, they have stores everywhere, they helped pass out supplies to the victims of Katrina before the government even got there. But the thing is, they did it on their own. Wouldn't it be nice if FEMA had contact with various retailers near disasters and were able to call them and say, "Hey, we are going to need your help until we can get in there"? Wal-Mart was there, they supplied help, they had trucks with more supplies, yet were turned away because of contractual obligations with certain other companies. Are you kidding, turning away help because of a piece of paper? The Wal-Mart trucks were there 2 days before help arrived from the government. Two days! And that is a retail store. They were given the order to make whatever decisions necessary to help the citizens of New Orleans without having to get upper management approval. Wal-Mart is an expert in logistics, so they were doing what they do best. Not our government, we have to ask twenty people, then get it in writing, then deploy them, then, maybe people will get some help. Maybe some of our training needs to be based on how Wal-Mart reacts to disaster. Just a thought because I keep seeing the same issues with each disaster.

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  Submitted by felomalachi 2 months ago

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  Amateur Radio in Disaster Preparedness

  Place Amateur Radio stations in all hospitals, police stations and fire departments, and emergency shelters. Katrina should have taught the ...more »

  Place Amateur Radio stations in all hospitals, police stations and fire departments, and emergency shelters. Katrina should have taught the value of Amateur Radio. President Bush needed to get a message to Mayor Nagin in New Orleans. Amateur Radio was the only means of communications to get the message through.

  Everyone in the Preparedness field talks about doing this and doing that to be prepared, but no one pays a bit of attention to communications. It's like stepping on toes. "This is my territory, stay away!" "Oh, they're just EMS wannabes!", "Nah, we don't need them." Many Amateur Radio operators are former police and firemen. I've heard many comments that operators just want to be able to run red lights and speed. Not true. We obey all traffic laws going to and from an assignment.

  Amateur Radio has been saving lives and aiding federal, state and local governments for almost 100 years.

  Yes, I'm an Amateur Radio operator! I serve as a team leader in our county's RACES (now ACS) program at a local hospital.

  Talk with the people at the National Registry for Certified EmComm Volunteers. Perhaps begin an affiliation with them. Perfect for setting up a national clearinghouse for EmComm operators.

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  Submitted by henrykz 2 months ago

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  Bring Back Project Impact

  Bring Back Project Impact Former FEMA Director James Lee Witt created Project Impact in 1997 with the goal to create “disaster resilient communities”. ...more »

  Bring Back Project Impact

  Former FEMA Director James Lee Witt created Project Impact in 1997 with the goal to create “disaster resilient communities”. Overall the program was considered a resounding success; not only did it help communities become more disaster resilient, but it also was a success at “bringing people from diverse sectors of the community together to address mitigation issues”. Some say that the program was the reason that damage and injuries were minimal following the Seattle earthquake in early 2001. It was eliminated due to budget cuts in either 2001 or 2002.

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  Submitted by nickjadams 3 months ago

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  Utilizing 2-1-1 in Disasters

  I work for an NGO in Columbus, Ohio. One of the greatest skills we can bring to a disaster is assistance in Emergency Public Informaiton via ...more »

  I work for an NGO in Columbus, Ohio. One of the greatest skills we can bring to a disaster is assistance in Emergency Public Informaiton via our 24/7/365 Information and Referral line, 2-1-1. 2-1-1 is an easy, three digit number for citizens to call to get assistance with rent, utilities, food, etc. (during normal operations). During H1N1, we helped citizens schedule their appointments for vaccinations, during extreme heat in 2011, we helped local EMA develop GIS maps of "hot zones" based on zip code data we collect. 2-1-1's are ready to help and have the tools and infrastructure to make an impact.

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  Submitted by lfoster 2 months ago

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  Community Mapping to implement the Whole Community Concept

  In addition to mapping of risk and protective factors, this process makes the whole community more resilient by: a) Bringing the community together ...more »

  In addition to mapping of risk and protective factors, this process makes the whole community more resilient by:

  a) Bringing the community together to collectively plan, which increases the sense of ownership and responsibility on the disaster response and recovery activities

  b) Addressing issues that have been ignored for a long time

  c) Giving voice to the marginalized groups including those with access and functional needs

  d) Increasing awareness all the members of the community including elderly and children regarding disaster preparedness, response and recovery

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  Submitted by anjdayal 2 months ago

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  Corporate America Planning

  As the Emergency Manager for a fortune 25 company with over 400 active facilities to manage. It's difficult to find any formal Emergency Management ...more »

  As the Emergency Manager for a fortune 25 company with over 400 active facilities to manage. It's difficult to find any formal Emergency Management training that includes office buildings, clinics, data centers, etc. Most FEMA Independant Study Courses focus on local government Incident Command, response, and planning. Courses need to be developed to train this sector.

  Another component of private business is that it has the resources (i.e. logistics) that can be tapped into during a response. All they need is the proper training as to how they can partner with local government during a response to make that response better and more efficient.

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  Submitted by HMDSRN 3 months ago

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  24/7 Field Triage Preparedness

  The recognition & adoption of a standardized national illuminated color coded system for triaging MCI patients 24/7. Today different States & ...more »

  The recognition & adoption of a standardized national illuminated color coded system for triaging MCI patients 24/7. Today different States & organizations use different triage cards and tapes for triaging patients. The one thing they all have in common is not the language or format of the triage cards but it is the color given to each priority. If a national color code standard is adopted then no State or Agency would have to change their triage cards but in cases of National Disasters when first responders from different States come together, red is always first, yellow is always second, green is always third and black (blue light) is always last, we all speak the same language, via the colors. The illuminated component to the triage system is to address the lack of one today. Today support personnel run around with flashlight shining the light on cards or pieces of tape in the dark or under adverse conditions to find the priority patients. Imagine a rolled over bus on the highway at night while it is snowing. Why, when there is a better way? Use lights for night time or adverse condition scenarios. A study has shown if you use lights in triage you reduce patient collection times by over 30% and reduce patient collection errors from 4 errors down to 1 error. Our citizen's should be confident that our first responders are properly equipped and prepared to handle situations to the best of their abilities 24/7. Let’s make the patients and the responders lives easier especially during night time or adverse condition scenarios. Seconds count! Be 24/7 field triage prepared.

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  Submitted by jc 2 months ago

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  Preparedness and Sustainability Linkage

  Many sustainable practices pay dividends in a disaster. Bicycle transportation, gardening, water catchment, canning, solar power etc are all ...more »

  Many sustainable practices pay dividends in a disaster. Bicycle transportation, gardening, water catchment, canning, solar power etc are all examples of activities which make communities better places to live AND make communities more self-relient when infrastructure and critical supplies are halted. Connecting the dots under the banner of community "resilience" should be a focus of FEMA activity. If no disaster strikes, we are healthier and more connected . . . win win.

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  Submitted by ethan 3 months ago

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  Federal Disaster Management Externship program,

  At the 2011 International Association of Emergency Managers conference it was mentioned over and over to the students whether in group settings ...more »

  At the 2011 International Association of Emergency Managers conference it was mentioned over and over to the students whether in group settings or in one on one sessions that a large percentage of the existing Emergency Management leaders would be retiring beginning in the next 5 years. The question, we the students, no matter the level of education responded with is “How are we to gain experience in the field in the next five years while we wait our turn at the few existing emergency management positions?”

  Our (Shai Cooper & Marya Dominik) idea was that Federal Emergency Management Agency create a Federal Disaster Management Externship program, where for three, six or nine months a student rotates through Planning, Logistics, and other Offices as well as to any disaster events that occur during these months. The Externship candidates could also serve as On-Call Response and Recovery Employees, Disaster Assistance Employees and assist with Individuals with disabilities.

  The Externship candidate gets vital ‘deployment’ experience, the field teams get support, and in the end FEMA, State and local Emergency Management agency get trained members of the EM community who have both experience and education that so many agencies are looking for these days. The assumption is that the Externship candidate will have preliminary training before going so that they will be an asset not a hindrance.

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  Submitted by shai.cooper 3 months ago

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  Preliminary Damage Assessments by Smartphone

  FEMA should produce a smart phone application that allows the capture and upload of georeferenced text and photo's during a disaster. In this ...more »

  FEMA should produce a smart phone application that allows the capture and upload of georeferenced text and photo's during a disaster. In this way, everyone can send pictures of bridges collapsed or damaged with a gps derived position and texted description attached. Another app could be created for "Needing Rescue or Assistance", a 911 type function, which should be separate and managed differently..

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  Submitted by jcaffin 3 months ago

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  ICS / NIMS Training

  Whether by DHS or FEMA or the CDP, I think all involved need to re-think the limited training opportunities for ICS and NIMS training. They ...more »

  Whether by DHS or FEMA or the CDP, I think all involved need to re-think the limited training opportunities for ICS and NIMS training. They should begin offering more opportunities for ICS training so it may be given, and hopefully implemented, to more emergency responders in the event of a disaster. Ultimately there needs to be more people working on the same 'national-level' training system and thusly allowing better multijurisdictional interoperability during such large-scale incidents.

  The FEMA Mission is "to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.”

  By bringing more ICS training to the table, we are better able to accomplish this national mission!

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  Submitted by brandonc 3 months ago

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  Alert Systems

  Many cities have or belong to an Emergency Alert system. I did not see any alerts during your testing. Normally I am alerted via text message ...more »

  Many cities have or belong to an Emergency Alert system. I did not see any alerts during your testing. Normally I am alerted via text message and/or phone alert to my home phone. Nor did I see anything on facebook or twitter until the test was over and everyone was asking if it worked. I think we as a nation have to realize how to communicate with the public. Social Network sites are imperative, text messaging, local city/county/state Alert systems.

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  Submitted by sondra 3 months ago

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  ThinkTank is a good idea, Twitter medium is not

  I think FEMA needs a think tank, but the limitations of Twitter are a joke. Wrong medium for thoughtful input and exchanges.

  18 comments

  Submitted by cbrubin 3 months ago

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  Improving Plain Language Communication - Start w/ the FAAT List

  In the NIMS Alert from 12/06 (http://www.fema.gov/txt/emergency/nims/plain_lang.txt) the following is stated: "It is important that responders ...more »

  In the NIMS Alert from 12/06 (http://www.fema.gov/txt/emergency/nims/plain_lang.txt) the following is stated:

  "It is important that responders and incident managers use common terminology. There simply is little or no room for misunderstanding in an emergency situation.

  The use of plain language in emergency response is matter of public safety, especially the safety of first responders and those affected by the incident. It is critical that all local responders, as well as those coming into the impacted area from other jurisdictions and other states as well as the federal government, know and utilize commonly established operational structures, terminology, policies and procedures."

  So much is placed on "10-codes" in the plain language discussion, however FEMA produces their own 78 page document (FEMA P-524) called the FEMA Acronyms Abbreviations and Terms (FAAT) guide, and they even have an email faat@dhs.gov.

  Why is FEMA spending time "promoting plain language" yet at the exact same time documenting and promoting more than 6,200 acronyms - nearly 1 acronym per FEMA employee?

  If plain language is a part of the answer, then we need to find a way not to create more acronyms, but to reduce the number we're dealing with. Which ones are really obselete or irrelevant? We're not talking about changing a few entries in FAAT, but really tackling the core issues behind the need to create acronyms to describe items that could be described instead with plain language.

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  Submitted by emgis 2 months ago

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  CERT Training in Social Media Situational Awareness

  We are recommending that C.E.R.T teams and other segments of the Citizen Corps be trained in Social Media monitoring and response. Crisis-mapping ...more »

  We are recommending that C.E.R.T teams and other segments of the Citizen Corps be trained in Social Media monitoring and response.

  Crisis-mapping provides incremental intelligence to a broader audience allowing neighbors to assist neighbors in need. This can reduce the demand on traditional response organizations and even alleviate non-emergency calls in local channels that can already be overwhelmed. However, this very public bird’s eye view into local incidental needs can also trigger a flood of humanitarian aid if not handled properly. This can further tax already strained resources. Often the map initiators lack sufficient expertise to effectively manage incidents presented at the onset of disaster. Training teams in advance who are from the local area and transitioning these maps to the local community as soon as possible is key to effective crisis management.

  Generally speaking the C.E.R.T. community seems interested and potentially well positioned to train in support not only in crisismapping but in support of Emergency Management in monitoring social media. However, implementing a volunteer training program available to all Citizen Corps teams, instead of just C.E.R.T. may be the most effective way of fast tracking the rapid development of skilled volunteers. This approach fits within the NRF and can quickly train a large corps of volunteers who can support their local community. We're submitting the recommendation to Citizen Corps but also wanted feedback from the thinktank on this approach.

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  Submitted by CAT 3 months ago

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  72 Hour Emergency Kit Competitions for Youth

  Most American adults ignore the need to be their own first responders in time of major emergencies ........ government cannot do it all as we ...more »

  Most American adults ignore the need to be their own first responders in time of major emergencies ........ government cannot do it all as we know from prior disasters. We need to educate our youth about the need for 72 hour kits, and motivate them to create such kits in an effective way. Our youth can be a positive example for each other and for many adults. Our charity, NPI, proposes to start an annual, national 72 hour kit competition for youth-oriented 72 hour kits. Youth groups of not less than 10 each (Scouts, 4-H, FFA, & schools) would enter as a group with each team member testing their 72 hour kits, in a remote location, over a 48 hour period. Qualified judges would determine the top three groups based on quality of kits, and individual kit performance under simulated emergency situations. The annual prizes would be as follows: 1st = $20.000. 2nd = $10,000 and 3rd = $5,000. There may be really effective ways to get adults to create 72 hour, but they are yet to be

  discovered. What we have proposed is a way to get our youth involved in a big and positive way. As this kit competition grows, we anticipate local and state competitions to qualify for the national 72 hour kit competition for youth.

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  Submitted by David Nuttle 2 months ago

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  Hazard Reporting - All-Hazards Feedback

  USGS has a website for "Did you feel it" to allow people to report on earthquakes that were felt - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/. ...more »

  USGS has a website for "Did you feel it" to allow people to report on earthquakes that were felt - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/. A similar type of approach from other hazard partners would be helpful (NWS, USGS, NOAA, etc).

  We know of NOAA's "Turn Around Don't Drown" message, but having a way to report data in a standard way, identifying your location, answering basic questions, etc would be helpful.

  This same information is not only helpful / useful for responders to help see reports of what is going on, but it helps those in the scientific community create better "hazard maps" in order to help anticipate future events and predict potential impact.

  There needs to be a way to connect all of these dots, but by coordinating with the appropriate community that needs to be the lead. Just as USGS is the lead for earthquakes and volcanoes, NWS / NOAA needs to be the lead for weather related events, etc. This will help to promote trusted relationships with the community that is best designed for that effort.

  As emergency managers, we don't need to manage that information (don't have the time and other things should be taking up our time, not this), but knowing it is taken care of by someone else frees us up to focus on what we need to focus on.

  The results of this information also need to be available like the data is from USGS. This helps the research community outside of government interact with the data as well so it doesn't get stuck in a file w/o being used by others.

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  7 comments

  Submitted by emgis 3 months ago

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