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.

Crustaceans have been used extensively as models for studying the nervous system. Members of the Order Decapoda, particularly the larger species such as lobsters and crayfish, have large segmented abdomens that are positioned by tonic flexor and extensor muscles. Importantly, the innervation of these tonic muscles is known in some detail. Each abdominal segment in crayfish is innervated bilaterally by three sets of nerves. The anterior pair of nerves in each ganglion controls the swimmeret appendages and sensory supply. The middle pair of nerves innervates the tonic extensor muscles and the regional sensory supply. The superficial branch of the most posterior pair of nerves in each ganglion is exclusively motor and supplies the tonic flexor muscles of that segment. The extension and flexion motor nerves contain six motor neurons, each of which is different in axonal diameter and thus produces impulses of different amplitude. Motor programs controlling each muscle can be characterized by the identifiable motor neurons that are activated. Early work in this field discovered that specific central interneurons control the abdominal positioning motor neurons. These interneurons were first referred to as "command neurons" and later as "command elements." Stimulation of an appropriate command element causes a complex, widespread output involving dozens of motor neurons. The output can be patterned even though the stimulus to the command element is of constant interval. The command elements are identifiable cells. When a stimulus is repeated in a command element, from either the same individual or from different individuals, the output is substantially the same. This outcome depends upon several factors. First, the command elements are not only identifiable, but they make many synapses with other neurons, and the synapses are substantially invariant. There are separate flexion-producing and extension-producing command elements. Abdominal flexion-producing command elements excite other flexion elements and inhibit extensor command elements. The extension producing elements do the opposite. These interactions insure that interneurons of a particular class (flexion- or extension-producing) synaptically recruit perhaps twenty others of similar output, and that command elements promoting the opposing movements are inhibited. This strong reciprocity and the recruitment of similar command elements give a powerful motor program that appears to mimic behavior.

The U.S. government is responsible for protecting the country's energy and technology infrastructure. Critics argue the United States has failed to prepare, protect and respond to incidents involving the national electric grid leaving communities vulnerable to prolonged power outages. Protection of investor owned utilities' critical infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber and physical harm from the absence of criminalizing the intrusion of private sector computer networks, the lack of cybersecurity threats in emergency management, and the absence of cyber-intelligent leadership supports this argument. The purpose of this study was to introduce an electric grid protection theoretical concept, while identifying whether cybersecurity law and emergency management, amongst the investor-owned utility community, has an optimized relationship for protecting the national electric grid from harm. Easton's political system input/output model, Sommestad's cybersecurity theory, and Mitroff's crisis management theory provided the theoretical foundations for this study. The study utilized a mixed method research design that incorporated a Likert collection survey and combined quantitative chi-square and qualitative analysis. The key findings identified that cybersecurity law and the use of emergency management in the electric grid protection theory were not optimized to protect the national electric grid from harm. The recommendations of this study included the optimization of the theory elements through educational outreach and amending administrative cybersecurity law to improve the protection of the national electric grid and positively impacting social change by safeguarding the delivery of reliable electric energy to the millions of Americans who depend upon it.

Försvarsmaktens organisation har ett behov av ständig förändring för att kunna hantera de yttre och inre påverkansfaktorer som följer av det säkerhetspolitiska läget, samhällsutvecklingen och den teknologiska utvecklingen. Vi har genom en hermeneutisk kvalitativ studie undersökt hur organisationen förändrats genom implementeringen av ett flerbefälssystem. Vi har försökt att identifiera de drivkrafter som har legat bakom förändringarna och förstå de beslut som har fattats. Våra primärkällor har utgjorts av människor i organisationen; befattningshavare med olika roller, på olika nivåer och med olika bakgrund. Våra sekundärkällor har framförallt bestått av officiella dokument och skrivelser som organisationen nyttjat under implementeringen.Vi har analyserat inhämtad data mot flera olika organisationsteorier och kommit fram till att den långa sekventiella implementeringen haft olika fokus i olika sekvenser. Utmaningen för Försvarsmakten har varit att skapa balans mellan organisationens strukturella och individens mänskliga behov samt att kommunicera argument och incitament för organisations-förändringen. Maktpersoner i organisationen har löpande påverkat processen och systemdesignen har självmuterat från initial konfiguration till den beskrivning som finns idag.Försvarsmaktens strukturella slutinförande av Trebefälssystemet har orsakat suboptimering av implementeringen i dess sista sekvens, och motverkat möjligheterna för främst specialist-officersskrået att utvecklas mot en egen profession; skrået är fortsatt styvmoderligt behandlat av organisationen, och det finns en risk för en utveckling mot segregation och oönskade kulturer. Ytterst har detta haft en negativ effekt på den operativa förmågan.Överbefälhavarens beslut om slutligt införande var ett nödvändigt beslut för att forma den struktur som borde ha intagits för många år sedan, dock hade organisationens behov bättre kunnat omhändertas om även individens behov hade tillgodosetts.Försvarsmakten har nu ett enda system där samtligt befäl är inordnade, men arbetet är inte slutfört. Det finns fortfarande en del problemområden att ta tag i, men samtidigt också gyllene chanser att fortsätta utvecklingen av systemet för att nå än större effekt än det har idag. / The Swedish Armed Forces has a need for constant change in order to be able to handle the external and internal influencing factors that result from the changing security policy situation, societal development and technological development. Through a hermeneutic qualitative study, we have investigated how the organization has changed through the implementation of a multi-command system. We have tried to identify the driving forces behind the changes and understand the decisions made. Our primary sources have been people in the organization; personnel with different roles, at different levels and with different backgrounds. Our secondary sources have mainly consisted of official documents that the organization used during the implementation.We have analysed the collected data against several different organizational theories and concluded that the long sequential implementation had different focuses in different sequences. The challenge for the Armed Forces has been to create a balance between the organizations structural and the individual's human needs, and to communicate reasons and incentives for organizational change. People with power in the organization have continuously influenced the process, and the system design has self-mutated from the initial configuration to the description that exists today.The Armed Forces' structural finalization of the multi-command system has caused sub-optimization of the implementation in its final sequence, and thwarted the opportunities for mainly the specialist officer corps to develop towards a profession of its own; the category is still treated step motherly by the organization, and there is a risk of a development towards segregation and unwanted cultures. Ultimately, this has had a negative effect on The Armed Forces operational capability.The Chief of Defence decision on final implementation was necessary to shape the structure that should have been in place many years ago. However, the needs of the organization would have been better served if also the needs of the individual had been met.The Armed Forces today have a single system including all commanders on all levels, but the work is not complete. There are still some problem areas to tackle, but there are also excellent opportunities to continue the development of the system to reach an even greater effect than it has today.

Adopted in 2003, the National Incident Management System is the nation’s first standardized management system unifying the actions of all levels of governments during a large-scale emergency response. It sets the standard for interagency coordination and communication in the event of an emergency. This professional report seeks to produce a working, NIMS-compliant emergency communication plan for the City of Austin, Texas. The report begins with an explanation of NIMS, focusing on the national protocols for interagency communication and public information. It then presents a case study of emergency communications in practice, examining two firestorms in San Diego County, California that occurred four years apart – prior to and after the County’s implementation of NIMS communications protocols. The report synthesizes best practices in emergency communications – from both NIMS research and the San Diego case study – to create the City of Austin Public Information and Emergency Communication Plan, an operational guide that fully utilizes the tools and organizational structure of all City departments, including the City’s Communications and Public Information Office. / text

A primary role of the Incident Command System is to learn from past incidents, as illustrated by its origins in the wildland firefighting community. Successful emergency response operations under the Incident Command System has prompted its nationwide spread, this promulgation critically relies on the system’s capability to stabilize and continuously improve various aspects of emergency response through effective organizational learning. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential to apply fundamental principles of the Toyota Production System (Lean manufacturing) to improve learning effectiveness within the Incident Command System. An in-depth review of literature and training documents regarding both systems revealed common goals and functional similarities, including the importance of continuous improvement. While these similarities point to the validity of applying Lean principles to the Incident Command System, a focus on the systematic learning function of the Incident Command System culminated in the discovery of gaps in approaches proposed by the Incident Command System framework. As a result, recommendations are made for adjustments in systematic problem solving to adapt Lean principles of root cause analysis and emphasis on standardization of successful countermeasures to benefit the system. Future recommendations are also proposed based on the author’s understanding of the system.

Organized cybercrime has no borders in cyberspace. This paper suggests a state-of-the-art architected solution for a global Automated cross-border mutual legal assistance system within Digital Forensic (AUTOMLA). The Enterprise framework with technical viewpoint enables international collaboration between sovereign countries Fusion Centers. The evaluation concludes a user interface built in React, middleware Apollo with schema support linked to graph database Neo4j. GraphQL is the preferred application protocol over REST. Fusion Centers API is deployed as federated gateways, and business functions are implemented as PaaS serverless services.  Its intuitive modeling Forensics in graphs, semantic networks enables causality and inference. All suggested elements in AUTOMLA are forming an internationally agreed collaborative platform; the solution for fast cross-border crime investigations. AUTOMLA deployed on the Internet is a subject for threats. Risks are mitigated in design guided by security frameworks. The recommended development method is agile, distributed in between autonomous teams.

CHDS State/Local / Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Threatened with the loss of federal funding for Homeland Security and emergency management preparedness programs, state and local entities must implement the National Response Plan and the National Incident Management System, which includes the Incident Command System, Unified Command, and the Multiagency Coordination System. Although mandated by Congress and implemented by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, underdeveloped areas of Indian country and small towns, especially farming and ranching communities and agriculturally-based counties are likely to find that they do not have the capacity to fully implement these mandated federal response programs. A theoretical terrorist-induced multistate Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak is used to examine the impact of implementing newly established federally mandated response management programs on rural and tribal communities in agrarian states. Recovering from such an agroterrorism bioattack would require a coordinated multi-disciplinary response that is heavily dependent on local, tribal, state, and private sector personnel. However, because the United States has not experienced an outbreak of FMD since 1929, many of the skills required to quickly diagnose and respond may no longer exist. This thesis identifies potential methods for obtaining and deploying the FMD virus in a coordinated bioattack on the U.S. economy. / Director, Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services