HINT: The RSS feed works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari but a free extension is needed if browsing in Google Chrome.
Jim has spent 3 decades in emergency management, including 12 years at the local level as director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management and 8 and a half years as Washington State’s Emergency Management Division Director. Jim retired from state service in March 2013. Jim also served as President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) from January 2011 to October 2012. He is currently sole proprietor of “EM Northwest Consulting” based in Seattle.
Disclaimer
Information on this Blog is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not engaged in rendering professional advice or services. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with an professional adviser. Opinions expressed here represent the viewpoints of individuals authoring the blog and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Center of Excellence.
WTO riots and Y2K (1999) Podcast
What Now? – June 2021
What Now? By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed We must have an unflinching but hopeful and constructive post – COVID assessment. Can one prepare a useful and truthful COVID -19 after-action report to spur national planning for the next pandemic in our volatile political climate? How to minimize the impulse to reproach or [...]
Emergency Management’s Journey to Resilience – May 2021
Emergency Management’s Journey to Resilience: Using Our Words by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Where does the term “resilience” fit among these standard emergency management terms? Mitigation. Preparedness. Response. Recovery. Prevention (how did that get in here?). Finally, Resilience. Mitigation: efforts to minimize the negative consequences of a known hazard. Preparedness: a thoughtful [...]
A Year of COVID – April 2021
A Year of COVID: Looking Back, Looking Around, Looking Ahead By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed It has been more than a year since the pandemic turned life upside down for everybody. Emergency managers and homeland security professionals should soon begin to assess what went right, as well as identifying any missteps along [...]
A Retrievable Legacy for Disaster Mitigation – March 2021
A Retrievable Legacy for Disaster Mitigation By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed In 1997 James Lee Witt, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), established a pilot program to reduce the human and economic cost of disasters. The purpose: incentivize the government, private sector, and the public to collaborate on the identification and [...]
Trust – February 2021
Trust By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Well before the pandemic began exacting its horrific toll, “trust in government” was on a downward spiral. Last January, in “Government’s Trust Deficit: A Possible Antidote,” I suggested a program of community-centric disaster exercises that could be used to prepare the public for a disaster. The [...]
The Whole World Was Watching – January 2021
The Whole World Was Watching – January 6, 2021 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Some of us also have been watching what I hope was the last act in a dangerous display of violence fueled by years of dishonesty, threats, the vilification of fellow citizens, and finally an attempted coup. Do not [...]
“There is Too Much: Let Me Sum Up” – December 2020
“There is Too Much: Let Me Sum Up” - Emergency Management Once Removed 2020 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed January: “Government’s Trust Deficit: A Possible Antidote” proposed that emergency managers “devise exercises in which the public can participate, to “penetrate the divisive “white noise” that makes essential government messaging difficult to transmit [...]
In Other News… – November 2020
In Other News (Or Let’s Get Back to Governing) By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Nov 10, 2020: “Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler today delivered recommendations to create a statewide disaster resilience office to Gov. Jay Inslee, the Legislature and other state leaders, as recommended by the Disaster Resiliency Work Group. “ When I drifted into semi [...]
A Word to Emergency Managers About 2020
A Word to Emergency Managers About 2020 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Note to Readers: This commentary first appeared in the National Emergency Management Association’s (NEMA) October edition of Ready Nation: People. Since I had the privilege of serving as both a local and state emergency management director, it has been suggested [...]
About Us – October 2020
About Us By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Black slaves once were counted in the Census as 3/5 human beings, a “compromise” that inflated slave states’ population, boosting their representation in Congress (and the Electoral College). In 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes ascended to the Presidency after a disputed election largely because he agreed [...]
Happy 5th Year Anniversary of Jim Mullen’s blog, Emergency Management, Once Removed
By Kellie Hale At our 2015 Educators and Practitioners Summit, which celebrated the Center’s 10th year since its formation, Jim Mullen was one of our keynote speakers. I was amazed by Jim’s ability to tell a story. After the Forum, I knew I needed to get Jim to be our blogger. With his over [...]
“Whither Emergency Management?” – September 2020
“Whither Emergency Management?” Emergency Management, Once Removed By Jim Mullen Prompted by a series of racially charged incidents involving the use of force by police, the Seattle City Council is intent on reducing or “redirecting” SPD’s budget resources. Among the Mayor’s counter - proposals is the transfer of the all-civilian Office of Emergency Management [...]
“In the Wrong Hands” – August 2020
"In the Wrong Hands" By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed It is long past time to restructure or eliminate the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Reservations expressed at its inception about the potential abuses of power that such an agency might commit were ignored. Post 9/11, such concerns were subsumed by decision [...]
Walls or Bridges? – July 2020
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 [...]
Paranoia Strikes Deep – June 2020
“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” [...]