Questions and Answers of Introduction to Emergency Management

Name the various classifications of nongovernmental organizations, and describe each.
What are the four common characteristics shared by the NGOs?
How does the U.S. government provide assistance to disaster-affected nations?
Name one international financial institution, and describe how it assists in the aftermath of an international disaster.
Visit the UN Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) website at http://ochaonline.un.org/humanitarianappeal/ . Navigate into the appropriate hyperlinks. Make a list of each emergency, and determine what
Visit the Interaction website at www.interaction.org . Select a member organization from their member list, and go to that organization's website. Investigate what that organization does in response
What are the five groups that must be fully engaged in the nation's war on terrorism?
What is the goal of emergency management in regards to the terrorism threat?
How much money did the federal government spend in the response to and recovery from the September 11 attacks?
What did the two September 11–related after-action reports say about the capabilities of first responders?
What has been the most significant result of the September 11 attacks for state and local emergency managers?
What were the names of the original five DHS Directorates? Which of these still exist today?
Why did Secretary Chertoff release the Six-Point Agenda? What was the purpose of the Agenda?
What did the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act do?
Other than DHS, what federal agencies provide terrorism-based funding for first responders?
What was the purpose of the 911 Commission? What did the Commission find?
How did the states respond to the terrorist threat?
How did Hurricane Katrina affect terrorism preparedness in the United States?
Visit the website for your state homeland security office. Where in government is this office? What grants and other assistance does it provide to local governments and citizens of the state? Is this
What are the potential benefits to, FEMA as an organization within DHS?
Do you think that all phases of emergency management should be given equal weight in terms of resources, or should one function be a higher priority, and why?
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing emergency management at the federal, state, or local level?
Do you feel that the DHS inspector general report gives you sufficient and unbiased information on both sides of this argument? Could you make an informed decision based on this report, or do you
Do you agree with the findings of the 911 Commission, or do you think that their findings go too far? Explain your answer.
Since its creation, the Homeland Security Advisory System has been raised to Orange eight times, and to Red one time. During these periods of elevated status, there were no attacks. Do you think that
Do you think that the Department of Homeland Security can ever have a true risk-based allhazards focus, or will its focus always be terrorism? Explain your answer.
Do you feel that the recommendations of the Arlington County report are relevant to small communities, or do they apply only to large metropolitan areas? Explain your answer.
Can you think of any positive or negative aspects of disaster-driven evolutionary changes in the United States’ emergency management system? What about for changes that occur in the absence of
What do you think could have been done in the years preceding hurricane Katrina to better prepare the states to deal with this kind of event? Do you think that this event was so large that only a
It is possible to assign Modified Mercalli Intensity values to historical earthquakes, but Richter magnitudes cannot be retroactively assigned. Why do you think this is true? Which of these scales is
Are you aware of the hazards faced by your community, including those that may only happen once every few decades (and therefore may not have occurred in your lifetime)?
Have any of your community's natural hazards resulted in a major disaster requiring state or federal assistance?
Do any natural hazards affect your community routinely? If so, what actions has the community taken to mitigate these recurrent hazards? Have these actions been successful in reducing the
Are there any natural hazards that you or your community can ignore because your geographic location precludes you from risk? What are those hazards, and why can you ignore them?
What technological hazards affect your community? What are the sources of those hazards?
Society accepts certain technological hazards because they enjoy the benefits associated with the action or process that causes the hazard. For instance, nuclear power plants produce inexpensive
Select a hazard that affects you or your community. Describe the characteristics of the hazard (how it would affect you or the community, including strong winds, ground shaking, etc.). Assess the
What aspects of a community's geographic profile influence the hazards they face (e.g., proximity to a coast, slope of terrain)? What human practices influence these hazards (e.g., damming of rivers,
What mitigation measures are best suited to address the hazards you face as an individual?
What mitigation measures are best suited to address the hazards faced by your community?
Do you feel that more should be done to address your community's hazards? If so, what could or should be done?
Should mitigation funding from the federal government be tied to individual disasters like it is with the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, or should it be independent of disasters altogether like
What are the advantages of having a hazard-specific grant program such as the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP)? Are there any disadvantages?
Why is evacuation planning so difficult? What kinds of things can go wrong during an actual evacuation? What do you think can be done to minimize these potential setbacks?
Why do you think the ODP focuses its preparedness efforts on terrorism? Should preparedness activities funded by ODP be all-hazards? Why or why not?
Why is the commitment of the executive and senior managers so important to having an effective communications capability? What parties must be involved in providing timely and accurate information to
As a private, nongovernmental organization, is the primary concern of the media their publicity ratings, or helping the public with disasters?
Does the media have a responsibility to warn the public about disasters?
Should members of the media be required to have training in emergency management?Why or why not?
How has social media changed reporting by the media on disasters? How has social media changed the way information has been collected and analyzed by the government, the private sector, and voluntary
Should there be more strict guidelines about what events the president can declare a disaster?Why or why not?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the National Response Plan?
Would disaster response be more efficient if the federal government had the authority to assume power over any disaster response, regardless of the ability of local response agencies? Why or why not?
Do you think that, FEMA's individual grant programs provide enough assistance to individuals and families that are affected by disasters?
Should federal assistance programs be available to all disaster victims regardless of their income or net worth? Why or why not?
Why is the recovery period often called a “risk-reduction window of opportunity”? What kinds of risk-reduction measures are easier to perform during recovery than other times, and why are they
Do problems associated with equality in distribution of relief occur only in developing countries, or can they occur in any country? Can you find any examples of times when there has been inequality
Why is it imperative that relief is linked with development? Do you think that disaster relief makes recipient nations more dependent or more independent? Explain your answer.
Is the United Nations the organization best suited to coordinate the response to international disasters? Why or why not? If not, who do you believe should be tasked with coordination?
Should nongovernmental organizations be required to adhere to the UN or another governmental coordination system that is in place during the response to international disasters? Why or why not?
What are the major risks for an NGO that refuses to participate in the coordination mechanism in place in the disaster-affected country or region? What does it gain and what does it lose by choosing
The Posse Comitatus Act limits the involvement of the U.S. military in domestic operations, but not international disasters. Do you believe that the U.S. military would be better equipped than DHS to
What aspects of the military make it so effective overseas?
Why do you think OFDA is a component of the U.S. Department of State and not the DHS?
Should the IFIs be concerned with disaster management, or do you think that they should let UNOCHA and the other UN agencies handle all disaster-related concerns? Explain your answer.
What is the risk of allowing a disaster-affected country to reprogram a regular development loan, such as one that covers the construction of a new hospital, to be used for disaster relief? Under
Explain what is involved in developing academic support for a profession.
Many laws define liability and immunity. Describe the Stafford Act and the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.
You are writing a job description for the director of FEMA. What experience and credentials do you want the director of FEMA to have and why?
You are writing a job description for the emergency manager of Chattanooga, TN. It is a mid-size city and is close to the Sequoyah nuclear plant. What experience and credentials do you want the
You are presenting information on academic programs to a group of emergency managers. You are asked by one of the audience members why it took so many years for universities and colleges to offer
You have been asked to speak to prospective emergency managers. What skills do you describe as important to emergency managers?
You are presenting information on academic programs to a group of emergency managers. You are asked by one of the audience members when hazard mitigation started to become recognized as important.
You are writing a report about the legal responsibilities of an emergency manager. What do you include in the report?
Define signal value.
Explain why there is a conflict between the goals of economic development and private property rights.
List two important professional challenges confronting emergency managers.
Explain the duties that professors must perform in addition to the service activities they perform for emergency management agencies.
Why is climate change especially important for emergency managers?
Explain how natural disturbances can be healthy events that lead to a better use of land.
How do you prepare for a terrorist threat?
Why is cooperation not easy between emergency managers and disaster researchers?
Name and explain the two objectives that pre-impact recovery planning accomplishes.
What are some examples of technology that aid in emergency management?
If wildfires burned hundreds of acres in California, destroying many homes, how would you explain the environmental benefits to the homeowners?
Why is standardization important?
You are asked to make a presentation about the new opportunities in emergency management education. What would you say in your presentation?
If you were recruiting new employees at a job fair, what qualities in the applicant would you look for?
You are rolling out a new software and database system in your office that will coordinate and track relief and response efforts. What are some of the challenges in transitioning to this new system?
Define megadisaster.
Explain the effects of the population growth.
Explain what could happen if the needs of developing countries are not met.
Explain what is meant by rising income inequity.
Explain some uses of emergency management information technology.
Name websites that are helpful to mitigate hazards.
Define Emergency Alert System.
List three reasons for adopting new information technology.
Explain how property owners in disaster prone areas are being subsidized by the rest of the taxpayers.
Explain how a diverse population makes disaster recovery challenging.
What can Americans learn from the disasters world-wide that should be implemented into our emergency response preparedness?

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