On July 12, a civilian-operated drone forced firefighters battling a 35-acre wildfire in Southern California to ground supporting air tankers. This was the fourth such incident in a month where a drone disrupted firefighting efforts in California. These civilian-operated drones pose significant dangers for firefighting operations.

However, the use of drones by the fire service holds many potential benefits. “Drones would be a generous increase in our capabilities regarding communication, safety, and command and control,” said Captain Peter Jensen, a 26-year wildland firefighter with the Ventura County Fire Department in California. Learn more about how unmanned aerial systems (UAS) could assist firefighters fight wildfires.

The speed at which technology has advanced in recent years is mind blowing, but many public safety agencies struggle to understand available technology. The bottom line is that technology is not going away. Leaders and administrators must seek to understand how technology works, how it can be applied, and, most importantly, how it can help further their mission of protecting and serving the public.

In the month of July, In Public Safety will feature articles written by American Military University faculty members about the benefits and challenges of technology in public safety agencies.

Protests in modern society are very different from even a decade ago. Emergency planners and public safety leaders must understand that protests are not always locally driven and they must take an interpretative role to assess and protect protesters who have legitimate concerns from those with intent to insight riots. Striking this balance, as evidenced by the Baltimore riots, is not an easy task.

Read more about the June meeting of the Baltimore City Local Emergency Planning Committee, who met for the first time following the riots and civil unrest. Learn more about the chain of events that led up to the riots, which damaged or destroyed more than 300 stores, and the lessons learned from the city’s unified response to this widespread civil unrest.

If you are new to the field of emergency and disaster management and want to understand what an emergency management program is, take some time and get involved in an Emergency Management Standard program (EMAP) assessment. AMU EDM professor Daniel Hahn is also the Plans Section Chief for the Santa Rosa County Florida, Division of Emergency Management. Learn more about his experience going through the EMAP assessment and the benefits of conducting an in-depth evaluation of the program.

By Anthony Mangeri

Emergency managers must be able to effectively inform the public during times of crisis. Learn how emergency managers develop relationships and build trust and credibility with media outlets before an incident or disaster.

The occurrence of emergency vehicle accidents is surprisingly high, with well over 10,000 incidents a year in the United States. Preventing such accidents should be a high priority for fire chiefs and department leaders. Bill Jenaway, who was a fire chief for 25 of his 45-year fire service career, discusses best practices for developing a comprehensive fleet development and safety program and strategies for purchasing new vehicles.

After responding to a traumatic call, EMTs may think they’re fine, but PTSD can strike several months after an event. Here are signs of PTSD and how family and friends can help.

On April 25, a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake ripped through the heart of central Nepal. The resulting devastation crippled the region, razing entire villages and cities. As with any natural disaster, the main challenge for search and rescue teams is safely locating and rescuing people who have been injured, trapped in debris, or cut off from urbanized areas. However, a series of aftershocks coupled with Nepal’s mountainous landscape and poor infrastructure made it extremely difficult for rescue teams to reach impacted areas. Read more about how unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, can be extremely beneficial to rescue operations and why U.S. public safety agencies should be pushing for federal regulations to allow them to use drones for disaster response.

It has been five years since an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico failed causing one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The emergency and disaster response to this spill had to be both immediate and sustained as the uncapped oil well, owned by BP, released an estimated 4.2 million barrels of oil for 87 straight days.

In this this podcast, Dr. Chris Reynolds, who was an EDM liaison with the U.S. Coast Guard and worked closely with the clean-up crews, provides insight about the lessons learned and the impacts on future disaster preparedness planning.