The historical challenges facing emergency management and homeland security

Authors

  • David A. McEntire, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2007.0011

Keywords:

Disaster policy, emergency management, homeland security, challenges, and future opportunities

Abstract

This article discusses thirteen challenges facing emergency management and homeland security. These include the tension between national security and the all-hazards approach, apathy, the disconnect between development and disasters, the subsidization of risk, the paper plan syndrome, a reactive approach, a firstresponder orientation, limited budgets, insufficient personnel, heavy work loads, political appointees, poor management, and politics. The article concludes with a discussion and recommendations for the future.

Author Biography

David A. McEntire, PhD

Emergency Administration and Planning, Department of Public Administration, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas.

References

Blanchard W: Blanchard’s dirty bakers dozen. Presentation at the Annual FEMA Higher Education Conference, June 6, 2001, Emmitsburg, Maryland. Available at http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/blanchard.doc.

Mileti D: The evolution of U.S. emergency management. Presentation at the Annual FEMA Higher Education Conference, Emmitsburg, Maryland, June 8, 2006. Available at http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/emfuture/Future%20of%20EM%20-%20The%20Evolution%20of%20U.s.%20EM%20-%20Mileti.doc. See also Berry B. Is it prudent to eliminate emergency management? Asheville Citizen-Times, September 24, 2006.

Auf der Heide E: Disaster Response: Principles of Preparation and Coordination. St. Louis, MO: Mosely, 1989.

McEntire DA: The need for a holistic theoretical approach: An examination from the El Niño disasters in Peru. Disaster Prev Manag. 2002; 11(2): 128-140.

Black CG: Subsidizing disaster. Brief Analysis 525. National Center for Policy Analysis. September 7, 2005. Available at http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba525/

Broder JM: In plans to evacuate U.S. cities, chance for havoc. New York Times. September 25, 2005. See also Weintraub D: California’s disaster preparedness nowhere near adequate, audit finds. Sacramento Bee. September 22, 2006.

Rood J: FEMA’s Decline: An Agency’s Slow Slide From Grace. All Hands Community. September 28, 2005. Available at http://all-hands.net/article2268.html.

McGreevy P: City panel calls for more staff for disaster preparedness department. L.A. Times. September 26, 2006.

Waldron BJ: A weakness in our system. USA Today. October 3, 2005.

Sylves R: The politics and administration of presidential disaster declarations: The california floods of winter 1995. Quick Response Report no. 86. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1996. Available at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/research/qr/qr86.html.

Published

07/01/2007

How to Cite

McEntire, PhD, D. A. “The Historical Challenges Facing Emergency Management and Homeland Security”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 5, no. 4, July 2007, pp. 17-22, doi:10.5055/jem.2007.0011.

Issue

Section

Articles