Definition: “Resilience – The Capacity to Bend Without Breaking”

2023-05-25T18:23:13+00:00

My favorite English professor at Western Washington, Arthur Hicks, taught Shakespeare. He administered daily, graded 10-minute snap exams on some aspect of the previous day’s reading – if you did well, he would write on your paper “so far, good…but” and he would then point out additional insights (channeling Shakespeare, I presume) the student might have incorporated into the exam response. When I asked why he did that, he said there was always something more to learn, something more to uncover – “so far, good” was thus an exhortation to dig deeper, become even more proficient.

Definition: “Resilience – The Capacity to Bend Without Breaking”2023-05-25T18:23:13+00:00

Education = National Security

2022-12-15T18:55:36+00:00

Education = National Security By Jim Mullen Emergency Management Once Removed As a student financial aid director at a struggling private college in Illinois in the early 1970s, I had the responsibility of ensuring that students could finance their college educations without incurring loan obligations that would inhibit their personal and professional futures while assuring that the institution itself survived. Angst over student loan debt is not a new development. During the Cold War, improved access to higher education for all Americans became a national security issue. Soviet Union successes (launching “Sputnik” in 1957, Gagarin’s sub-orbital flight in 1961) persuaded [...]

Education = National Security2022-12-15T18:55:36+00:00

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to Teach

2022-10-20T19:50:31+00:00

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to  Teach by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed During the Great Depression, a young Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) interviewed for a teaching position in Texas. During his interview, when asked, “Is the world flat or round” – he replied, “I can teach it either way!” He was hired. It’s not easy for those that teach emergency management in the 21st Century. The integration of the four primary elements of emergency management - mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery already are tough but critical concepts for people immersed in day-to-day issues of government (or life) [...]

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to Teach2022-10-20T19:50:31+00:00

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.)

2022-09-13T20:01:33+00:00

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.) by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed In this era of increasingly dangerous weather events, among the most dangerous are those slow-moving storm systems that pause over an area for an extended period before moving on or dissipating. It’s prudent to be alert to the potential for devastation and tragic consequences from such storms. Years ago, emergency managers developed a partnership with the National Weather Service (NWS), encouraging scientists to provide the earliest possible worst-case weather scenarios that might occur to aid us in preparing the public. A different [...]

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.)2022-09-13T20:01:33+00:00

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future

2022-07-26T19:20:16+00:00

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The epidemic of mass shootings (defined as incidents where four or more persons are injured) in our country are emotionally draining tragedies for which thoughts and prayers are insufficient while rational solutions seem out of reach. Those who train and educate emergency managers and homeland security professionals pursuing certificates, degrees, or advanced education in emergency management must not avoid analyzing and discussing current, controversial public safety issues. But what we may or may not be teaching adults who are exploring the emergency management /homeland [...]

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future2022-07-26T19:20:16+00:00

Just in Time – June 2022

2022-06-21T23:14:27+00:00

Just in Time by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed For years, emergency managers have lamented the public’s tendency to delay the acquisition of essential supplies. Food and other daily necessities are typically not maintained beyond a brief time frame. That quick run to the store at 5pm is just one manifestation of this tendency. People put off preparing their wills as if they must see the end coming before they lock in the disposition of their assets. This is not a particularly new phenomenon. In fact, it’s a human reaction to put off for tomorrow what you could proactively [...]

Just in Time – June 20222022-06-21T23:14:27+00:00

Who Needs to be Educated About Emergency Management? Who doesn’t?

2022-06-21T22:13:38+00:00

Who Needs to be Educated About Emergency Management? Who doesn’t? By Jim Mullen Emergency managers often lack the political clout, or even the bureaucratic standing, to have much of an impact on policy decisions societies make. We’re there to try to mitigate, within our means, prepare the community and ourselves to the extent limited funds allow, coordinate a multi-disciplinary response, and manage (steer?) the process of recovery. And then we assess our performance and start over. Far too often, we fail to educate the public that mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery are their responsibilities too. For years, emergency managers landed [...]

Who Needs to be Educated About Emergency Management? Who doesn’t?2022-06-21T22:13:38+00:00

Recovery in Advance – May 2022

2022-06-21T23:14:04+00:00

Recovery in Advance by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Emergency Management Once Removed periodically has cited the need for a systematic recovery process to enable appropriate and comprehensive restoration of the social equilibrium following a major or catastrophic disaster.    No matter how much assistance pours in after the fact, and no matter how long the attention span of the nation fixates on a region’s issues, it ultimately will be the advance planning and actions of the “home team” that determines if recovery and restoration meet community expectations. With your indulgence, I shall once more make the case I first [...]

Recovery in Advance – May 20222022-06-21T23:14:04+00:00
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