Emergency Management is at a Crossroads Here’s What Needs to Change

Photo by Oliver Roos on Unsplash

By Todd T. De Voe, CEM

As a career emergency manager, I’ve responded to wildfires, hurricanes, cyberattacks, and mass casualty events. I’ve sat in emergency operations centers during the worst moments in people’s lives. But what worries me most today isn’t the next big storm or earthquake — it’s the growing political and policy dysfunction threatening our ability to prepare for and respond to disasters.

Emergency management is at a crossroads. We are often being asked to do more — climate adaptation, cybersecurity coordination, even combating disinformation — with less. Our field remains underfunded, misunderstood, and increasingly politicized. To meet today’s growing threats, we need serious reforms. Here are five urgent political and policy challenges we must confront — and what can be done about them.