**April 7, 2008 FEMA EM Hi-Ed Program Report**

**(1) Emergency Management Higher Education Conference, June 2-5, 2008
Notes:**

*Note 1:* *Emergency Management Graduate Student Research Reports
Breakout Session*:

Have accepted from North Dakota State University three proposals for
additions to the EM Grad Student Research Reports Breakout Session
during the conference. The Grad Students, their topics and abstracts are
noted below:

Alex Cole-Corde \-- Social Distancing in Pandemic Influenza Planning:
Meeting the Needs of Vulnerable Populations  

 

> During the initial stages of an influenza *epidemic*, influenza
> vaccines will not be readily available or accessible to the general
> public; non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) will used at the
> Federal, State, Tribal, and community levels to mitigate viral
> delivery mechanisms through person to person contact. The primary NPI
> to be utilized will be \'social distancing\'.  The United States will
> effectively cease "normal" operations when a *pandemic* influenza
> outbreak occurs (with the exception of critical infrastructure, key
> resources, and essential services). States, cities, and communities
> will be obligated to close nonessential businesses, services, and
> public gathering places, cancel public gathering community events, and
> limit (or cancel) nonessential social services. People with the
> greater physical, financial, and psychological resources will have
> better resiliency to social distancing measures than vulnerable
> populations. Researchers performing gap analyses of community pandemic
> influenza planning efforts have the opportunity to identify and assess
> strengths and weaknesses of these efforts and provide solution-driven
> recommendations that will address planning deficiencies and propose
> mitigatory actions to minimize the negative effects of social
> distancing on vulnerable populations.  

 

Vicki Miller \-- Emergency Management Assistance Compact Strategic Plan

 

> In June 2007, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO)
> issued a report, "Enhancing EMAC's Collaborative and Administrative
> Capacity Should Improve National Disaster Response" which identified
> four goals set forth in the 2006 Five Year Strategic Plan for the
> Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).  The GAO Report
> identified the lack of "qualified measures or targets for its many
> goals and objectives" for activities within the strategic plan. The
> report suggested the addition of "milestones for these activities or
> any performance measures for assessing whether these activities are in
> fact having their intended impact."  In response to the GAO Report,
> the EMAC Committee revised the Strategic Plan: 2007 -- 2012 and
> identified objectives and tasks for each goal.  
>
>  
>
> The EMAC National Committee accepted my proposal to conduct research
> and revise the EMAC Strategic Plan to include performance measures for
> the goals as identified in the EMAC Strategic Plan: 2007 -- 2012.  The
> performance measures will identify output, efficiency, customer
> service, quality and outcome for each strategic goal.  A survey tool
> using these performance measures will be developed and distributed to
> the 52 states and territory EMAC coordinators to evaluate past EMAC
> response efforts to disasters.  The cumulative research data will be
> qualified and submitted in a report to the Executive EMAC Committee. 
> This research data will enable the EMAC Executive Committee to
> evaluate their past performance, develop milestones for their
> Strategic Plan and make any necessary revisions to the EMAC Operations
> Manual.

 

Misti Mowery \-- Changing Culture: Educating, Engaging and Empowering
Youth Preparedness

 

> The presentation will explore the mechanisms by which a culture of
> preparedness can be cultivated via the education, engagement and
> empowerment of youth.  Millions of dollars are spent annually trying
> to reach individuals and businesses to convince them to better prepare
> for hazards, with only a minimal return.  Many changes in culture
> have been facilitated through, and grown out of , the public education
> system.  Concepts taught early that are reiterated and built upon
> throughout a child\'s educational experience can create a new
> generation of adults that have already integrated hazard knowledge and
> preparedness behavior into their knowledge base, much like other core
> subjects such as reading, science, math and history.   Additionally,
> we know from other successful education-based initiatives that have
> changed culture that youth have a reformative effect on their
> households as well, creating a ripple effect that speeds as well as
> reinforces culture change.  To date, the focus on educating, engaging
> and empowering youth in preparedness efforts has been haphazard. 
> While there have been some successes, these success stories have not
> generated the wholesale integration of hazard and preparedness
> education into the public school system.  I explore utilizing proven
> successful models in the public school system to create the culture of
> preparedness that has long eluded us.

*Note 2:* Have arranged with George Haddow, George Washington
University, his serving as the moderator for the National Incident
Management System Breakout Session.

**(2) Email Backlog** -- 637 in the am, 523 pm.

**The End**

 B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM\
Higher Education Project Manager\
Emergency Management Institute\
National Emergency Training Center\
Federal Emergency Management Agency\
Department of Homeland Security\
16825 S. Seton, K-011\
Emmitsburg, MD 21727\
<http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu>

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