Emergency Managers are not the “Switzerland” of Disasters
Switzerland’s current policy of neutrality means it doesn’t take part in armed conflicts and doesn’t support any warring party. Why do some think of Emergency Management as being neutral?
Switzerland’s current policy of neutrality means it doesn’t take part in armed conflicts and doesn’t support any warring party. As a neutral country it also acts as diplomatic go-between when states partially or fully break off relations.
Certainly, one would never consider Emergency Managers to be siding with enemies of the state (foreign or domestic, don’t forget that last part!); and of course, we do not have any role in national security nor neutral diplomacy amongst other nations, as Switzerland historically has held. But we do have a role in taking sides and being for humanity. And this can include being “against” other governmental entities and authorities when they act in bad form or faith: what I would characterize as one aspect of the internal/insider threat. And that does not mean we are in an “internal affairs” or a “professional standards unit” role, but rather than we place everyone’s life safety above all other priorities in the whole disaster cycle phases (before, during, and after).
What that also means for Emergency Managers is we have a duty of care to the entire responder workforce, as well as to the public. From that duty of care to the public, and as I noted before I believe it exists throughout the disaster cycle – we help the public prepare, protect, and prevent for life safety threats and hazards: and that includes protecting against other parts of government, too – such as schools.
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I recently added my two cents to a LinkedIn post online that Brandi Hunter made, regarding someone else’s Facebook post (and subsequent online series of posts across both sides of the political spectrum). This by the way is the new wave of EM PIO work: two-way conversations on social media (See AWR-329 from the NDPTC). I have been following Brandi on LinkedIn since 2020, as the founder of the Aspiring Emergency Managers Online (AEMO) LinkedIn group (look for AEMO member Isamar Garcia’s “Inspiring the Aspiring” column on the EMN soon!). My impression of Brandi only got stronger upon learning from her own posts that she had beaten cancer, but lost part of her leg in the battle. So, when she posted about a teacher excluding an elementary school child from a holiday sing-a-long (videoed, and with parents in full view as the audience), for me it was like watching a disaster happen right in front of me.
Since 2010, I have been an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities, access, and functional needs, in disasters. In our EM acronym-filled world, we still try to use some “people first” language, so you will find me writing ‘people with DAFN’ – and btw I’m open to a more inclusive catch-phrase if needed. I mean no offense to any group, in fact I am trying to be inclusive of all people who find themselves on the socially vulnerable population side of emergency management. My background includes having been a member of state and county-level disability advocacy groups in New Jersey, representing both the American Red Cross and the State of New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families. I work regularly with the disability integration folks at FEMA Region 2, through my continued volunteering with the Red Cross as a liaison officer for Emergency Support Function #6 – Mass Care. And as some of you may know, I am also the chair of the International Association of Emergency Managers – USA’s Children and Disaster group. I believe I have earned an emergency management perspective on people with DAFN, as well as being able to opine on children impacted by disasters. And when it comes to children with disabilities impacted by disasters – well, that’s a really big deal to me.
And yes, just as one home fire is a disaster to that one impacted family; one emotionally and mentally neglected child by a school official is a disaster, in my opinion. And a long-lasting one.
Back to the LinkedIn post from Brandi.
She rightly posted “What does exclusion look like?”.
One Facebook post became one blog post by someone else, which then became amplified by the Internet over and over again until it made its way to Brandi’s post in my LinkedIn feed – that’s one way open-source intelligence (OSINT) travels today. As an emergency manager, this is also a form of Emergency Management Intelligence (EMINT). And as emergency managers, we get to do more than finger point at someone else (and to be clear - I am not saying that was what Brandi was doing), on the contrary, I’m saying I too have the ability to do more and be helpful myself to this incident.
In fact, I believe I have an obligation to do so, too. What did I do? I took a breath and gathered my thoughts. I did about a 15-minute Google search on the video, checked Snopes, and other websites. I curated emergency management intelligence. While I could not find any other corroborating material online, I went with my gut (and candidly what we all should do ethically - and not just emergency managers – when it comes to children and disasters) and reported this as a potential violation of the ADA section 504, to the U.S. Department of Education. They have an online form. It’s about 12 clicks online. Easy-peasy. Plus, I inquired if this was a potential case of child abuse (in New Jersey, it might have been – unfortunately in New Hampshire, their state-level child protective services agency does not have jurisdiction over schools). In New Jersey, everyone has a legal obligation to report suspected child abuse, not just parents/caregivers and licensed professionals.
Is child abuse a disaster? Applicable to emergency management? Should I just mind my own business and keep this EMINT to myself? I would argue yes, yes and absolutely no way. In my opinion, there’s a special circle in hell for those who abuse people with DAFN, and one even hotter for people who abuse children with DAFN. I choose to be an upstander – even against others in positions of authority within my own organization or the governments of others – rather than just a bystander. This is no different than the whistleblower in a corporation uncovering safety violations, the homeland security analyst who reports increased DVE activity online ahead of the Electoral College count at the U.S. Capitol, or a Red Cross volunteer who helps families in need by noting out loud the failure of government to provide shelter to people displaced from a burst water pipe in their apartment building when their landlord fails to show up that day and help them (this really happened on Christmas day 2022 – when EMINT was not shared between one branch of government to another – the failure of government to act humanely en masse, is an insider threat, too).
EMINT Needs its own home in the Incident Command System
From an independent impartial emergency management intelligence perspective (which I have been taking in the voluminous paragraphs above), I will further make the argument that EMINT belongs above and separate from Law Enforcement Intelligence and Investigation missions (LEO I&I). For unified or incident command where law enforcement is the lead Incident Command, the LEO I&I may be part of the overall EMINT branch/section (and will probably just end up Investigation-oriented). For all other incidents, a LEO I&I would be a unit under Operations (or even a Strike Team/Task Force within a LEO Unit under Operations). And EMINT is a two-way street – a top-level Intelligence Branch is responsible for reporting and assisting investigations and any other LEO I&I work, just as much as collecting and distributing EMINT to all applicable branches/sections, including to and from LEO I&I.
Ironically, I live in New Jersey - one of the two states in the U.S. where the State Emergency Management Agency is part of the State Police (Michigan is the other one) and here I am advocating for a split away from law enforcement for Emergency Management Intelligence. The status quo in New Jersey has some very distinct benefits for EMINT, in the convoluted current state of Intelligence sharing between federal and SLTT authorities we have in the U.S. now: our Fusion Center for Homeland Security threats and hazards is in the same building as our State Emergency Operations Center – state police officers moving up through the ranks, may rotate between these two branches for their day-to-day operations. And many former troopers become staff at our Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness (which some may argue today are the real curators for EMINT in New Jersey and they report directly to the Governor). They also maintain a continuous presence at our state’s Fusion Center.
One of the key aspects we are working on at the CEMIR is to integrate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the mix for EMINT. There are a number of barriers in the Intelligence Community now - as it relates to civil rights of U.S. citizens, constitutional rights to free speech, etc. – which all need to be researched and hashed out when moving EMINT out of law enforcement (and potentially national security/homeland security) and into Emergency Management. I am a member of the Disaster Researchers for Justice, as well. The promise of a full-spectrum of integration of EMINT at the federal level may have been one possible benefit from incorporating FEMA into DHS back in 2001; but as far as I have seen, this level of interagency collaboration and coordination has never materialized. If we can establish EMINT as a working full cycle aspect in the same way as logistics and planning perform today, any changes in FEMA or any other country’s national emergency management constructs turn out, will not impact the way Emergency Managers can be more humane by increasing our own wisdom through EMINT – and using it for good.
A follow-up story in the local media in New Hampshire on this story: https://www.caledonianrecord.com/news/local/christmas-carolers-spread-hope-love-to-local-girl/article_43bc7282-a97d-5a7d-9097-093e35b1bfa6.html