Assessing and Managing Environmental Risk: Connecting Local Government Management with Emergency Management

Abstract

Ensuring that a community is prepared to deal with a disaster is among the many tasks public managers are charged with addressing. Disaster preparedness and response requires adherence to standard planning practices, yet disasters are typically unpredictable. Dealing with disasters, therefore, requires a blend of traditional management skills and improvisation. Furthermore, like other aspects of administrative leadership, the top administrator must blend initiation and responsiveness in interactions with elected officials and a careful delineation of responsibility in handling actual emergencies. This article discusses how local administrators assess risk and balance preparedness needs within a universe of daily operational needs. Managing environmental risk is also explored from a political and legal context.

Social media in emergency management: Twitter as a tool for communicating risks to the public

“…Channels of timely, actionable and reliable information are of vital importance, especially in situations that involve high fear and uncertainty (Horsley and Barker 2002;Ansell et al 2010). For information flows and high transparency to be established during emergencies, an open and flexible approach to communications is required (Harrald 2006;Somers and Svara 2009). However, lack of time, limited resources, inter-organisational barriers and coordination difficulties commonly hinder organisations' ability to meet the challenge (Hale 2005;Ansell et al 2010).…”

Coerced Confusion? Local Emergency Policy Implementation After September 11

“…Preparedness and mitigation efforts are crucial for CEM as well as homeland security related functions, even though they do not necessarily involve the same strategies. However, several scholars claim that federal policies incorrectly define these functions as identical for any hazard (Esinger 2004;McEntire 2004;Haddow 2005;Schneider 2005;Waugh 2006;Birkland 2009;Somers and Svara 2009;Jensen 2010;McKay 2010;Jensen 2011). While homeland security related tasks involve several traditional CEM methods such as training, communication, and planning, not all activities related to homeland security are the responsibility of, or related to, local emergency management operations.…”

Expanding the Universe of Multi‐Organizational Arrangements: Contingent Coordination and the Deepwater Horizon Transportation Challenges

“…These challenges are often most felt at the local level. As federal response protocol is frequently pushed down in the form of interorganizational directives, the disconnect between federal policy and local implementation frequently creates additional challenges on top of the coordinated organizational response (Roberts ; Somers and Svara ).…”