Volume 13, Issue 1

Reliably managing homeland security risks requires an understanding of which risks are more concerning than others. This paper applies a validated risk ranking methodology, the Deliberative Method for Ranking Risks, to the homeland security domain. This method provides a structured approach to elicit risk rankings from participants based on deliberative consideration of science-based risk assessments. Steps in this effort include first identifying the set of attributes that must be covered when describing terrorism and disaster hazards in a comprehensive manner, then developing concise summaries of existing knowledge of a broad set of homeland security hazards. Using these materials, the study elicits relative concerns about the hazards that are being considered. The relative concerns about hazards provide a starting point for prioritizing solutions for reducing risks to homeland security. The consistency and agreement of the rankings, as well as the individual satisfaction with the process and results, suggest that the Deliberative Method for Ranking Risks can be appropriately applied in the homeland security domain. The rankings themselves reflected greater concern over natural disasters than terrorist events. This research suggests that deliberative risk ranking methods could provide a valid and reliable description of individuals’ concerns about homeland security risks to inform strategic planning.

Research into modeling of the quantification and prioritization of resources used in the recovery of lifeline critical infrastructure following disruptive incidents, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, has shown several factors to be important. Among these are population density and infrastructure density, event effects on infrastructure, and existence of an emergency response plan. The social sciences literature has a long history of correlating the population density and infrastructure density at a national scale, at a country-to-country level, mainly focused on transportation networks. This effort examines whether these correlations can be repeated at smaller geographic scales, for a variety of infrastructure types, so as to be able to use population data as a proxy for infrastructure data where infrastructure data is either incomplete or insufficiently granular. Using the best data available, this effort shows that strong correlations between infrastructure density for multiple types of infrastructure (e.g. miles of roads, hospital beds, miles of electric power transmission lines, and number of petroleum terminals) and population density do exist at known geographic boundaries (e.g. counties, service area boundaries) with exceptions that are explainable within the social sciences literature. The correlations identified provide a useful basis for ongoing research into the larger resource utilization problem.

The successful implementation of a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) emergency response plan aimed at risk reduction varies by jurisdiction. Rural communities often face challenges in HAZMAT planning and training due to lower economic vitality that is often a result of fewer economic resources, a lack of knowledge of HAZMAT risk/response training, and data collection limitations. In order to identify opportunities and constraints in HAZMAT planning in rural communities, this paper presents a case study of HAZMAT transportation in North Central in Idaho. Researchers collected and analyzed HAZMAT transportation data to provide a basis for planning and implementation of mitigation measures that help reduce the risks of HAZMAT in rural areas. An interview with the Director of the board of Regional Emergency Managers was conducted to determine the utility of the study for local HAZMAT planning. This study also informs responders about the types of HAZMAT that are transported throughout the region. This information can be used to develop hazard-specific preparedness activities particular to the region, such as training, equipment selection and future grant opportunities. This study also contributes to the limited body of literature that examines challenges rural communities face in HAZMAT risk assessments and risk reduction response planning.

Cyber security tends to only address the technical aspects of the information systems. The lack of considerations for environmental long-range implications of failed cyber security planning and measures, especially in the protection of critical infrastructure and industrial control systems, have created ecological risks that are to a high degree unaddressed. This study compares dam safety arrangements in the United States and Sweden. Dam safety in the United States is highly regulated in many states, but inconsistent over the nation. In Sweden dam safety is managed by self-regulation. The study investigates the weaknesses and strengths in these regulatory and institutional arrangements from a cyber security perspective. If ecological and environmental concerns were a part of the risk evaluation and risk mitigation processes for cyber security, the hazard could be limited. Successful environmentally-linked cyber defense mitigates the risk for significant damage to domestic freshwater, aquatic and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems, and protects ecosystem function.

In a relatively new initiative, homeland security and other emergency management officials use wireless cell technology to communicate Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages to an increasingly mobile public. Severe weather warnings represent one type of WEA message that the public can receive on their cell phone. So far, officials have limited WEA messages to 90 characters of text and therefore have excluded information-rich weather graphics like warning polygons and radar images. The question remains if this lean messaging strategy effectively communicates the risk and severity of the storm. In the current study, the researchers created prototype WEA tornado warning messages equivalent to both popular mobile weather apps on the market and the National Weather Service’s iNWS service to compare to typical WEA text-only warnings. The study therefore investigates WEA weather warning message effectiveness across one of four conditions: (1) WEA (text-only) alert; (2) WEA text+NWS warning polygon; (3) WEA text+radar image; and (4) WEA text+warning polygon+radar image. Participants were told they were driving through an unknown region of the US. The researchers asked participants to assess the perceived risk, perceived severity, and likelihood to contact a loved one for each message. The results indicate the decisions did not differ as a function of warning type. Also, the participants’ times to make the three decisions were equivalent across all four types of messages.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the self-reported preparedness levels of a rural population in the US before and after an exposure to preparedness education materials from the Ready Campaign and the Texas “Ready or Not?” Campaign. Design and Methods: A before-and-after design was used for the study of people who attended a Medical Outreach held in rural east Texas. Results: Participants were significantly more prepared for an emergency after the educational program ( M =17.1; SD =6.43) than before the educational program ( M =13.21; SD =6.33; t (41)=–4.28; p <0.001; 95% CI [–5.74 to –2.06]; ES r =0.57). Conclusions: Increases in the incidences of disasters have significantly affected the attention given disaster planning and preparedness measures, yet preparedness efforts in the US have not achieved preparedness goals. It is vital that emergency preparedness education measures be assessed for effectiveness so that evidence-based approaches to conducting them can be utilized. The improvement in preparedness among participants supports providing preparedness education at public health events similar to the one in East Texas.

For almost 15 years, social media have been regularly used during emergencies. One of the most recent, and instructive, examples of its widespread use during a large scale scenario in Europe were the 2013 European floods. Public reporting during the event indicated, and our analysis confirms, that Twitter, Facebook (FB), Google Maps and other services were frequently used by affected citizen and volunteers to coordinate help activities among themselves. We conducted a qualitative analysis of selected emergent volunteer communities in Germany on FB and Twitter among others, and subsequently conducted interviews with FB group founders and activists. Our aim was to analyze the use of social media during this particular event, especially by digital volunteers. Our study illustrates the relevance of social media for German citizens in cases of disaster, focusing especially on the role of the moderator. Our specific emphasis was the embedding of social media in the organizing work done by said volunteers, emphasizing both the patterns of social media use and the challenges that result. We show that different social media were used in different ways: Twitter was used in the main for status updates while FB-pages were mostly intended to provide an overview. FB-groups also coordinated a multitude of activities.

Fire departments nationwide seek to decrease their turnout times to emergencies. Turnout time is the time from which a dispatcher alerts a fire unit of an emergency to when the unit leaves the fire station. As such, it is an integral component of emergency response time. The National Fire Protection Association has set a 60 second standard for effective turnout. We examine how station design of dormitory location and the time of day of the emergency affect turnout times. Previous research indicates that the location of a station’s dormitory is major component of turnout time. Moving beyond descriptive statistics, we present a causal model and interactive hypothesis. Contrary to previous research, we hypothesize that the effect of station design is conditional upon the time of emergency – that above-the-garage dormitories have longer turnout times during the graveyard shift. We find that station design, per se, does not affect turnout time. We find that the effect of station design on turnout time is conditional upon the time of day of the emergency. Above-the-garage dormitories experience 10.7% longer turnout times, but during the graveyard shift. Across all station designs, the graveyard shift increases turnout times between 50.8% and 58.9%.

This paper takes an anthropological approach to understanding the governance of seaport security in Canada; it uses cultural theory and the concepts of regulation and integration as key determinants in understanding how organizations respond to risk. This paper draws on data from 29 semi-structured interviews with transportation specialists, including owners, operators, managers and regulators. Nine of the interview subjects came from seaports, in particular. The interviews occurred between 2011 and 2013. We argue that Canadian seaports exist in an area of confusing multi-level governance; they are immovable, are expected to be competitive and serve a number of (at times competing) public and private sector interests. These institutional arrangements have resulted in a security environment that is heavily regulated, but the community itself is not well integrated. Interview subjects raise concerns about the ports’ ability to respond to security threats. The paper then uses cultural theory to examine alternative governance arrangements enhancing, for example, community, competition or regulation. While most options to improve security will likely reduce the competitiveness of the seaports, it would help to instill more confidence among port staff and enhance organizational learning.