Domestic Preparedness and Homeland Security Audio Interviews

On 22 April 2013, DomesticPreparedness.com hosted an Executive Briefing at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Keynote speaker Major General Stephen Reeves, USA (Ret.), started the discussion, and was followed by subject matter experts - each of whom focused on various key components of biodefense - the threats, the costs, and the priorities. These high-level presentations address the scientific, medical, and government policies required to fully comprehend today's biothreat challenges.

The DomPrep Action Plan report includes key talking points for building and sustaining a resilient nation. On 13 November 2012, Admiral Thad Allen, USCG (Ret.) - a former Coast Guard Commandant - and other practitioners from across the nation gathered to discuss ways of bolstering collaboration, sustaining collaborative networks, supporting sub-state regionalization efforts, and enabling frameworks to assist public-private initiatives. Discussions such as this DomPrep Executive Briefing are a necessary step in building and sustaining regional resilience.

By following the training and preparedness efforts practiced in Israel, the United States can move toward a cohesive national strategized approach to provide line officers the ability to look beyond the single incident before them. However, individual responders also must take the initiative needed to develop and advance their own capabilities and training in order to apply those skills in extreme situations.

There is no room for error during a radiological event. For that reason, information must be readily available and as accurate as possible. Listen to subject matter experts from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as they discuss the types of resources available and how communities are working together to provide the best programs for dealing with radiological hazards.

Each day, events occur that engage personnel from multiple disciplines who are each tasked with the common goal of protecting the nation from all hazards threats. Even though laboratorians, police officers, firefighters, and hazmat technicians wear different uniforms, they all share the common goal of protecting the public and thus have similar concerns. Listen to APHL's discussion on the collaborating efforts between first responders and laboratorians.

In the 21st century, combatting terrorism could be as simple as seeing something and saying something. Suspicious activity may signify terrorist activity, but that can only be determined if the right information gets into the right hands. Listen to W. Ross Ashley's audio roundtable discussion on the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (NSI), which presents a key business process for protecting the nation against future terrorist threats.

Illegal drugs and their second- and third-order effects present what could arguably be the most dangerous and clear existential threat to the American people - more than any other horrific, catastrophic threat. With the ability to touch every citizen, reach every family, and affect every household, no one is completely immune, protected, insulated, or isolated from the effects of this scourge on society.

In the early 1800s, the New Madrid Seismic Zone, centered in the southeast corner of Missouri, was the site of the largest earthquake in U.S. history. The question is not if another quake will occur in that area, but when will it happen. Listen to Kay Goss's roundtable discussion on National Level Exercise 2011, which will address this pressing concern and help the nation be better prepared for the next "big one."

The ambitious, entertaining, and stunningly innovative series ends with the volunteers' "Exodus" - "Escape" would be an equally accurate description - to a new and seemingly better world 150 miles or so south, a bit further inland, and apparently blessed with a greater abundance of the resources needed for human survival.

The ten volunteers continue their efforts to create a new civilization despite attempts by the Marauders seeking to steal the basic essentials found in the abandoned warehouse. The greatest challenges facing the volunteers, though, are their own fears and uncertainties.

No one knew exactly what happened, or how much damage their world had suffered. But they all knew that life would never again be the same. They were few in number, but they had somehow survived. By joining together they might continue to survive. But how, and for how long?

How does the department manage, and reconcile, the complex and politically difficult task of identification security with privacy needs, site-access requirements, and the National Incident Management System process?

The new DHS "All Hazards" leader shares his views on the funding and operations of Incident Management Assistance Teams, Emergency Operations Centers, and other components of today's "forward leaning" Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The political dividing line is scrupulously followed, but the Department of Defense plays a key role, particularly in health care, in U.S. homeland-security plans and operations.

His views on the post-Katrina reorganization mandated by Congress, his directorate's working relationships with other FEMA branches, and the challenge of coping with both "notice" and "no-notice" disasters and emergencies.