Those reading this blog have probably already been exposed to all the international, national and state emergency management trends. We are provided all the latest information on new or updated federal initiatives, best practices, and industry standards. We are provided numerous grant opportunities intended to provide us with all the resources we need to meet the needs of our agencies and our communities. We are shown the latest of emerging technologies that will fill all of our emergency management needs, all of these making our emergency and disaster response forever more efficient and effective.
With everything we have before us, we as emergency managers should be able to proclaim that all of our agencies are at their optimum level of readiness, that our communities are at their highest level of resilience, and that our collective ability to recover from any disaster is at its finest, right? My guess is very few, if any of us, can agree with these statements. When it gets down to it, the challenges at the local level of emergency management often don't allow us the opportunity to incorporate any of these new trends, standards and technologies.
We have been told time and time again that disasters are local. Ironically, we very seldom hear about the realities of emergency management from someone at the local level. Things are different down there! A grant fund does not always provide a solution, a new technology does not always fix the problem, and the political and budgetary realities always outweigh everything else. At the local level we are increasingly forced to do more with less, which for many of us awakens our fighting spirit, while for others it only reinforces a sense of defeat.
Join me as I share with you my adventures, challenges, successes and ultimate journey as an emergency manager in a small city. Share with me as we navigate together through the ever changing world of emergency management. If you have questions or comments for me, share them, I would love to hear from you. I truly believe together we are stronger.
Send me an email: localem@gmail.com.
