Emergency Management: Is It The Hero or the Villian?

By Todd T. De Voe

The profession of emergency management is evolving. We are moving away from the lights and sirens of public safety and expanding the idea of what emergency management ought to be. 

When we talk about Emergency Management, what are we talking about? What does this emergency management system look like to the public we serve? Emergency management is changing, and it is time we challenge the current leaders in the profession to grow. 

Emergency Management:  Is It The Hero or the Villian?

Photo by Michael Held on Unsplash

Is Disaster Recovery Separate But Equal? 

We have two systems of disaster response—one that serves people with an economic advantage and the socially vulnerable. It can also be divided into serving the urban vs. rural as well. However, that is a discussion for a different time. 

The individuals and families considered socially vulnerable frequently have little choice in deciding where they live and are often disproportionately concentrated in areas at high risk of adverse environmental impacts. They usually have fewer economic resources to prepare for and manage extreme weather, including insurance against loss. They may have chronic physical and mental health conditions that affect their mobility and resilience or lack access to

Today, let's explore 

In the urban setting, we distrust government officials with the vulnerable population. This distrust comes from negative interactions between individuals and government agencies. In some cases, when they have called for help, it resulted in arrests and incarceration, most glaringly, where residents often must seek emergency for behavioral health crises. 

Communities where children experience zero-tolerance schooling, including disruptive school arrests, suspensions, or expulsions, exacerbating behaviors that are managed differently in more wealthy neighborhoods. 

Compare the wealthy areas to communities where housing, economic, and family issues are met with temporary shelters, child welfare interventions, predatory lenders, and programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which deepen dependency and restrict social and economic mobility.

Emergency Management:  Is It The Hero or the Villian?

Emergency management at all levels of government is a safety net of last resort. It is never a positive experience when the emergency operations plan (EOP) needs to be implemented. 

Most emergency plans have contingencies to suspend some civil rights when needed. For instance, jurisdictions may suspend the freedom of movement for safety reasons. The suspension of some civil rights becomes residents' predominant experiences with the government, and it can veer into a sort of soft authoritarianism. 

David Yang, professor of economics at Harvard, writes, "However when societies are faced with major crises, the trade-offs between individual civil liberties and societal well-being become acute and inevitable. On the one hand, the State's ability to weather the crises often hinges on mobilizing resources and imposing restrictions. On the other hand, as Friedrich Hayek puts it, "'Emergencies' have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded." Crises may become the excuse for permanent erosion of civil liberties and even a backsliding of civil democracies." 

In some disaster-prone areas that are always catching fire, the fire department is constantly swooping in, suspending everyday property rights and civil liberties in favor of a kind of heavy-handed law. 

It's necessary to put out the fires and save lives. However, the safety net can feel like a fishing net in anything but the smallest doses. 

Some have argued that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo abused the State's emergency powers at the start of the pandemic in 2020. His decisions were making their way through the court system before he resigned from office. 

The Supreme Court has since weighed in on the subject, "an emergency may not call into life a power which has never lived," but "emergency may afford a reason for the exertion of a living power already enjoyed." In other words, by declaring a national or State emergency, neither the federal government nor state governments can grant themselves any new power. Instead, the emergency declaration allows governments to unlock powers that usually lie dormant.

We are seeing the principles of emergency management being used to help rebuild war-torn nations and combat the effects of climate change. However, before we talk about the future, we need to explore the past. 

Emergency management professionals around the world are helping build disaster-resistant communities. This is in conjunction with better public policy, public-private relationships, and building better relationships with members of the community.   

The Struggle for Security and Freedom: A History of Emergency Management 

Since the Nation's founding, the United States has been looking at ways to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and human-caused disasters. I would imagine that the rest of the world has similar experiences to keep their citizens safe.

Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." His quote fits this conversation since Franklin is thought to be the father of the fire department.  

The first public safety prevention law was in 1631 in Boston that banned public smoking after the great Boston conflagration the same year. Community fire protection systems were the first concern of colonial Americans. Ben Franklin founded the first volunteer fire company, the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1736. Soon after, other communities followed.  

In 1631, in addition to the smoking ban, Boston also stood up the first police force. New York followed suit in 1647 to help with social disturbances that came with the growing city. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, policing changed. What started as watchmen developed into a paramilitary command structure. In the early 1900s, the reformers used police to establish political and social control over a population racked by crime, neighborhood violence, and ethnic and economic rivalries. 

The Introduction of Emergency Management

So at this point, you may be asking yourself, so what, what does the history of public safety have to do with reforming emergency management? Please stick with me for a little longer; you will see how this relates. 

We have been moving to a national role in responding to natural and human-caused disasters throughout our history. In the 1800s, we had a civil war that we needed to rebuild from, fires that burned down cities, and floods that killed thousands. In the 1900s, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and the pandemic of 1918 devastated the population centers. 

When Franklin Roosevelt became President in 1933, he faced many challenges, but the environmental disaster known as the dust bowl was the first task he addressed using the federal government's power. FDR and his Farm Security Administration combined scientific research, community engagement, business incentives, and proven environmental policies, including soil and water conservation programs. We can argue that this was the first time emergency powers addressed a natural disaster. 

The United States Enters World War II

On September 8, 1939, FDR signed executive order 8629 to establish the Office of Emergency Management. This order was a way to organize the possibility of a war with the civilian manufacturing machine. "to increase production for the national defense through mobilization of material resources and the industrial facilities of the Nation..."

In December of 1941, the United States entered the war. FDR appointed Fiorello La Guardia as head of the Office of Civilian Defense Corps within the Office of Emergency Management.

The Cold War to Today

Here is the quick history of how we got to FEMA...

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered the Cold War. In 1958, the Civilian Defence Corps was transformed into the Civil and Defense Mobilization Office. The civil defense functions of the office were transferred to the Department of Defense's Office of Civil Defense from August 1, 1961. With its remaining functions, the office was re-designated as the Office of Emergency Planning from September 22, 1961. It eventually was renamed the Office of Emergency Preparedness from October 21, 1968, and abolished on July 1, 1973. The organization was renamed the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency on May 5, 1972, and was abolished on July 20, 1979, pursuant to Executive Order 12148. Its duties were given to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The FEMA administrator reports directly to the DHS Secretary. The administrator also has a direct line of access to the U.S. President during periods of disaster response.

Now Why We Need to Change

The field of emergency management has been directly related to either public safety or the military since its inception. FEMA stood alone as an independent agency for a few years at the federal level. Then after 9/11, FEMA was swept back under a larger organization with a mission of enforcement. 

Emergency Management leadership is changing. The old Collateral Duty or retired public safety guy trying to figure out what emergency management is no longer acceptable, 

We are seeing a shift to a professional body of dedicated emergency managers, who are way more in tune with the profession. They better understand the community's needs and the people we serve than ever before. 

Emergency management leaders need to understand land use, budgets, project management, and environmental issues; emergency management is more involved and comprehensive. 

I have had the pleasure of serving as an emergency manager, and now as an academic, I teach at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Applied Research and Development, and at Coastline College, 

It is amazing how the next generation of emergency managers are already making a difference.  

They are pushing the boundaries of emergency management and what the professions should be. They are committed to using emergency management principles to work on social issues like climate change, homelessness and clean water issues.  

Emergency Managers are now working at all levels of government, including courts, corrections, schools, public health, and special districts.

Emergency management is not just about public agencies either. We see the position filled in private organizations and corporations, such as Titan Health and Safety Technologies, Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Uber, Airbnb, Facebook (Now called Meta). 

Whether we call it Business Continuity or Crisis Management, it all works around emergency management principles. EMs are helping organizations keep their people and clients safe. Having plans gives companies peace of mind, and in turn, they focus on their craft or specialties. 

As I stated at the beginning of this conversation, the profession of emergency management is evolving.  In New York City, a high school is developing emergency managers today. Institutions of higher education are adding emergency management programs to their catalog. FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) has helped develop core competencies and a code of ethics. 

Today, we see an academic body supporting emergency management theory and practitioners. As we move to the future, we must learn from our past. It is up to us to ensure that our profession evolves to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

References: 

Gump, Akin. “Covid-19: Emergency Powers and Constitutional Limits.” JD Supra, 25 Mar. 2020, https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/covid-19-emergency-powers-and-97080/.

Kef Sesay, Amin. “COVID-19: EMERGENCY POWERS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS.” The Calabash Newspaper, 29 May 2020, https://thecalabashnewspaper.com/covid-19-emergency-powers-and-constitutional-limits/.

Yang, David. “Visualizing Climate and Loss.” Center for History and Economics, Harvard, 3 Nov. 2020, https://histecon.fas.harvard.edu/climate-loss/civil_liberties/index.html.