Natural and man-made disasters have gained attention at all levels of policy-making in recent years. Emergency management tasks are inherently complex and unpredictable, and often require coordination among multiple organizations across different levels and locations. Effectively managing various knowledge areas and the organizations involved has become a critical emergency management success factor. However, there is a general lack of understanding about how to describe and assess the complex nature of emergency management tasks and how knowledge integration can help managers improve emergency management task performance. The purpose of this exploratory research was first, to understand how emergency management operations are impacted by tasks that are complex and inter-organizational and second, to investigate how knowledge integration as a particular knowledge management strategy can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency tasks. Three types of specific knowledge were considered: context-specific, technology-specific, and context-and-technology-specific. The research setting was the Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the study was based on the survey responses from the participants in past EOC activations related to their emergency tasks and knowledge areas. The data included task attributes related to complexity, knowledge area, knowledge integration, specificity of knowledge, and task performance. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regressions and path analyses, to (1) examine the relationships between task complexity, knowledge integration, and performance, (2) the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance, and (3) the mediating role of knowledge integration. As per theory-based propositions, the results indicated that overall component complexity and interactive complexity tend to have a negative effect on task performance. But surprisingly, procedural rigidity tended to have a positive effect on performance in emergency management tasks. Also as per our expectation, knowledge integration had a positive relationship with task performance. Interestingly, the moderating effects of each type of specific knowledge on the relationship between task complexity and performance were varied and the extent of mediation of knowledge integration depended on the dimension of task complexity.

In the past few years, the study of critical infrastructures and the interdependencies amongst them in the context of an emergency situation has become a priority for many countries, including Canada. Governments, universities, and private companies all over the world are spending vast amounts of money and effort trying to better understand how infrastructures and humans react in the time stages before, during, and after a disruptive event. Analyzing complex systems such as those formed by infrastructure networks and decision makers is not a simple task and requires a multidisciplinary holistic approach. The field of research in infrastructure interdependencies is fairly new, and lies in the intersection of areas of knowledge such as emergency management, geography, simulation modeling, planning, and safety engineering. Analyzing interdependencies between infrastructure networks is not only a complex problem in terms of its formalization, but also in terms of the intricacy required to test and validate that formalization. Furthermore, identifying and having access to the data necessary to validate the formal system is probably an even more complicated issue to resolve. It is, however, only through the study of these interdependencies that certain failures or weaknesses in the systems can be discovered; weaknesses that could not be studied through the analysis of a single isolated system. Not only is it a challenging task to analyze the interconnections between infrastructure systems, but studying these at moments of stress, when the interdependencies become dynamic, is even more difficult. In this thesis I explore the intersection between three main themes: Critical infrastructure interdependencies, Emergency Management, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Furthermore, I analyze the different types of interdependencies between infrastructure systems, I describe some of the challenges that have to be dealt with when modeling interdependencies, and I explore the possibility of modeling and visualizing some of these interdependencies by constructing an Infrastructure Geographical Information System of the UBC campus. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This study examined how comprehensively the Bolin and Trainer (1978) model of recovery reflects the recovery process of individuals and households. A review of the literature since 1978 suggested that various revisions and additions were warranted, but additional research was needed to examine these elements collectively. Rubin and Rubin’s (2012) Responsive Interviewing Model was employed to collect and analyze data related to the recovery process of individuals impacted by Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy to determine whether an updated model was appropriate. Interviews with twenty-one respondents representing non-governmental organizations involved in Sandy-related recovery efforts revealed the need for a revised model reflecting key aspects of the original model, revisions suggested by the literature, and a new addition based on the data collected through this study. A Revised Bolin and Trainer Model of Individual and Household Recovery was suggested and implications for the discipline and practice of emergency management discussed.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.C.I.T.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jul. 26, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

CHDS State/Local / This thesis tests the proposition that training New York State Court Officers to be first responders will add needed resources to the emergency response capabilities of the court system and state and local homeland security. New York State Court Officers have been exposed to a number of terrorists' attacks, including the latest at the World Trade Center in September 2001. In the National Strategy for Homeland Security, it notes that even best-prepared states do not have an adequate amount of resources to respond to terrorist threats. The New York State Courts can add 3,700 new certified first responders an event that occurs in what is arguably the most likely target jurisdiction. The thesis shows that the added value of these officers on a state and local level would be extremely valuable. In light of this identified need for additional trained first responders, this thesis test the proposition that training these officers to become certified first responders will enhance and improve the number of available resources to respond to terrorist incidents. / First Deputy Chief, New York State (NYS) Courts

Recent domestic emergencies such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 proved to many Americans that disaster preparedness, response and recovery are vital to America's national security. These tragic events raised doubts about the federal government's preparedness and competence to rapidly respond to crises, and increased political and public pressure to improve federal response capabilities, including the possibility of widening the U.S. military's role in homeland security and disaster response. However, before widening its role, the U.S. military must take on the initiative to evaluate and improve upon the military's current roles and mechanisms for providing effective and timely domestic incident management. Closer evaluation of the existing provisions and procedures for providing domestic military assistance is critical to this initiative and is desperately needed. This thesis examines one of the DoD's current provisions for providing immediate disaster response and assistance-the DoD's Immediate Response Authority (IRA). This thesis evaluates the IRA provision's role and capability to provide disaster assistance when first responders are wiped out or otherwise incapable of providing effective initial disaster response. Most would agree a "smarter" DoD role is more valuable than a larger one. This thesis explores various means to make the IRA provision "smarter" to help maximize resources and improve immediate military disaster response and assistance. This thesis also strives to determine where the DoD's IRA provision fits in relation to other federal and military response mechanisms and established national strategy and policy. The research identifies current barriers to the IRA provision's effectiveness, such as strategic guidance, oversight, and training, and also provides recommendations to help eliminate these barriers to eventually improve the overall effectiveness of this valuable resource for city, state, and federal first responders.

CHDS State/Local / Hurricane Katrina highlighted serious deficiencies in America's national approach to emergency management of Incidents of National Significance (IoNS). Although Homeland Security Presidential Directive Five identifies a broad, unified effort to respond to domestic incidents, barriers to the achievement of this goal exist in our culture, policies and processes. When viewing our national response from the perspective of network theory and knowledge management, specific gaps are identified in doctrine, organizational composition and technological capability. An agenda for change to the National Response Plan and National Incident Management System should integrate the strengths of the network design and address the critical role that knowledge plays in shaping response efforts at all levels. A comprehensive strategy to change the culture and approach of our response community includes streamlining organizational roles of the Unified Command and local Emergency Operations Centers, expanding the Unified Command to include the private sector and NGOs as equal partners, implementing a Knowledge Management Annex to the National Response Plan and deploying a mesh network communications system as part of the proactive federal response. / Commander, U.S. Coast Guard

Using traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), which is typically reserved for understanding how indigenous societies function successfully, and applying this to developed countries' ideas of disaster planning and response, emergency planners, public officials, and lay-persons can gain an understanding of their environment. Stories, history, education, and The waterborne evacuation of Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001 provides a backdrop with which to test the tenets of TEK in a developed nation setting. This dissertation has found that TEK was effective when used by a developed nation and should be integrated into the current disaster system in the US.