Emergency Management Once Removed

Walls or Bridges? By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed News about the COVID-19’s rising infection and mortality count is available 24/7. Overwhelming video evidence of police violence and all-too-frequent indifference of the justice system to police misconduct is both inescapable and nauseating. Despite incontrovertible evidence of a pandemic crisis or the existence of frequently unchecked racially biased policing, some stubbornly doubt what is reliably reported from our streets and our hospitals. Ignorance of uncomfortable truths is exploited by unscrupulous, unethical politicians, journalists, and some activists, all professing moral purity. Racism does not slink away because we have ignored its [...]

“Paranoia Strikes Deep”* in 2020 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The attention to a response to a major crisis can obscure a potentially more dangerous underlying threat. The COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a national public health issue, which must be resolved before the national economy can be resuscitated and “normal” life can resume. But the reactions to the pandemic and the protective measures responsible government officials have taken has ripped the band aid off an even more diabolical threat to the stability of our country. A few of our fellow citizens seem to have concluded that [...]

Readers: Occasionally I review previously posts to avoid repeating myself (unless I want to!). The 2016 piece that I wrote entitled “Reconciliation versus Resistance”: Which will Win” seems relevant in 2020. What do you think? Jim Reconciliation versus Resistance: Which will Win? By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed, November, 2016 After this year’s national election, a sizable portion of our population will feel devastated and perhaps even betrayed. When Kennedy defeated Nixon in 1960 (my earliest clear recollection) and in the years since, if your candidate lost there was always the realization that the sun would still rise, the [...]

The Wisdom of Yogi By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll probably wind up somewhere else” - Yogi Berra What will “recovery” from the coronavirus pandemic look like? Do we know? While it is unfair to expect those responding to the current crisis to think much farther ahead than their next reporting cycle, preparations for long-term recovery will be even more important to the long - term health of our society. These are some of the sectors of society that will merit special attention (and reserve capacity?) Supply Chains • How [...]

It’s Dusk in America By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Consider this: “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged.” William O Douglas Everything in our nation may seem “normal”. The Super Bowl happened. Pitchers and catchers will report for spring training. March Madness will arrive on schedule. Still, as the furor over impeachment fades in the background, there are emergency management and homeland security issues that can’t be ignored. The conflagration in Australia is just one more illustration of the threat climate change poses [...]

Government’s Trust Deficit: A Possible Antidote By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed It’s always challenging to affirm to Congress that public funds invested to improve individual and family preparedness are effective. I know, I’ve tried. Legislators have choices in authorizing and appropriating federal dollars. They are right to ask if emergency management is reaching its target populations with an effective preparedness message. Assurances emergency managers might provide Congress about the effectiveness of our programs are limited by government’s own narrow focus in assessing our nation’s readiness. One frequently missed opportunity is the failure to include citizens in exercises aimed [...]

The Problem with Disaster Exercises By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Emergency managers don’t conduct disaster exercises to show off, but to learn, then apply what we learned. That’s often made more difficult than it has to be. Factors that impede an exercise The senior elected official bails out” – sending a surrogate (ok, maybe something “important” comes up). Far too often, the absence is prompted by the fear that the “boss” might look indecisive, or inept in dealing with the scenario. That absence sends a message to other officials that they, too, can find something to “come up” [...]

Something I Learned in Grad School By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Attention emergency managers: aside from the noteworthy announcement that I learned anything in school, there may be something in the following upon which you might reflect. As I completed my bachelor’s degree in English at what was at that time Western Washington State College, a variety of personal circumstances led to my entry into the master’s program in student personnel administration, under the auspices of WWSC’s Department of Education. Merely deciding to choose an M. Ed over a Master’s in English was less difficult than actually gaining [...]