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Disaster Preparedness

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Because natural and manmade disasters can occur at any time, individuals, communities, and governments must be prepared. RAND has developed guidelines for individual preparedness in response to terrorist attacks; evaluated, modeled, and enhanced preparedness policy options for government officials at all levels; and recommended actions that communities should take to prepare for bioterrorist attacks, pandemic flu outbreaks, and other large-scale emergencies.

Q&A
Keeping America Safe in an Age of Danger: Q&A with Andrew Hoehn and Thom Shanker
In their new book, Andrew Hoehn and Thom Shanker argue that America has entered an age of danger that may come to rival anything in its history. They explain why the national security system needs an overhaul as we face a growing array of threats, from cyber attacks to climate change.
Jun 26, 2023
Essay
An Early Warning System for Landslides Protects Sitka, Alaska
A 2015 landslide that killed three people in Sitka, Alaska, changed how residents looked at the steep hills all around them. The community worked with researchers to develop a warning system to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Mar 14, 2023

Explore Emergency Preparedness

Blog
'Israel's 9/11,' Promoting the 988 Hotline, the Future of Space: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on why the Oct. 7 attack wasn't Israel's 9/11, humanity's future approach to space, the pressing need to ensure more people know about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and more.
Nov 17, 2023
Commentary
How Do We Stop Relying on 911 to Handle Mental Health Crises?
Almost half of Americans are afraid that 911 is not a safe option to call for someone undergoing a behavioral health problem—and with good reason. Broader advertising and outreach about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is necessary. People simply can't call what they don't know about.
Nov 15, 2023
Report
Improving Instructor Hiring and Development at the Emergency Management Institute
The Emergency Management Institute is revising how it secures qualified, effective instructors. Researchers analyzed how instructors are hired and developed, pinpointed strengths and challenges, and identified best practices.
Nov 15, 2023
Journal Article
A Qualitative Investigation of Preparedness for the Launch of 988: Implications for the Continuum of Emergency Mental Health Care
On July 16, 2022, the 988 mental health crisis hotline launched nationwide. We conducted 15 qualitative interviews with state and local mental health program directors representing 10 states to explore planning for 988.
Oct 25, 2023
Journal Article
National Travel Distances for Emergency Care
The paper examines the travel time/distance between a patient’s actual home address and the ED they visited and how these distances/times vary by hospital and patient characteristics using geocoded data from 50 hospital-based EDs from across the US.
Oct 4, 2023
Journal Article
Exploring Which Patients Use Their Closest Emergency Departments Using Geocoded Data
Each year, roughly 20% of U.S. adults visit an emergency department (ED). Examining ED use, Fewer than half of patients visited the closest ED. Patients who chose a farther ED sought higher-rated hospitals and reported more favorable experiences.
Sep 18, 2023
Commentary
It's Time to Take Societal Resilience Seriously
To build the societal resilience required to respond effectively to everything from climate-related emergencies to pandemics, to intentional state-on-state attacks, and disinformation, a joint approach is needed, not only across government, but across wider society.
Sep 15, 2023
Tool
Strategies to Mitigate the Risks to National Critical Functions Generated by Climate Change
This interactive tool presents climate adaptation strategies identified for each National Critical Function that are capable of mitigating the risks posed by various climate drivers—drought, extreme cold or heat, flooding, sea-level rise, severe storm systems, tropical cyclones and hurricanes, and wildfires.
Sep 13, 2023
Report
The Emergency Management Institute at 70: From Civil Defense to Emergency Management in an Education and Training Institution
This report traces the 70-year history of the Emergency Management Institute from the founding of its predecessor in 1951 to the present. The story of these organizations’ development can inform current strategy about the institute’s future.
Sep 7, 2023
Report
How Do We Know Whether Federal Disaster Programs Are Equitable?
Some U.S. communities, such as low-income or minority communities, are disproportionately affected by natural disasters. This report presents an initial methodology for how the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program can assess its social equity performance in its activities aimed at reducing damage and easing recovery with predisaster actions.
Jul 25, 2023
Commentary
How Do We Make Early Warning and Early Action for Food Security More Effective?
Although food security early warning early action (FS-EWEA) has a track record of reducing food insecurity, it is designed for rural settings, and effective action remains elusive. Extending FS-EWEA to the millions living in fragile urban contexts requires answering four critical questions.
Jul 17, 2023
Journal Article
National Preparedness for 988: The New Mental Health Emergency Hotline in the United States
A national survey of health directors examined 988 preparedness. Counties with majority Hispanic/Latinx individuals were less likely to report adequate preparedness, highlighting components of the crisis care system that require greater investments.
Jul 14, 2023
Journal Article
Disparities in Perinatal and Emergency Care Receipt Among Women With Perinatal Opioid Use Disorder in Medicaid, 2007 to 2012
This study aimed to better understand receipt of perinatal and emergency care among women with perinatal opioid use disorder (OUD) and explore variation by race/ethnicity.
Jul 14, 2023
Commentary
The Problem of Surge Capacity
The vulnerability of supply chains to routine disruptions has been widely discussed and documented, but meeting such challenges can be even more difficult during unexpected surges in demand caused by wars, public health crises, or other emergencies. The creation of option contracts that would kick in during surges is one promising solution.
Jul 10, 2023
Commentary
Climate Security Is National Security
Mitigating the effects of climate change will require a whole-of-government approach and a redefinition of national security to embrace a more panoramic set of risks. Government officials are saying lots of the right things. But is it being done, and done quickly enough?
Jun 30, 2023
Tool
Monitoring and Surveillance of Behavioral Health in the Context of Public Health Emergencies: A Toolkit for Public Health Officials
This toolkit shows how existing data sources (such as unemployment insurance claims, 2-1-1 hotline calls, calls to Poison Control Centers, prescription drug fills, and others) can be used for behavioral health surveillance.
Jun 28, 2023
Journal Article
Trends in 2-1-1 Calls During Public Health Emergencies, Overall and By Gender: Hurricane Irma and COVID-19 in Broward County, Florida
The study examined how changes in 2-1-1 call volume after two public health emergencies in Broward County, Florida, varied by emergency type and whether variations differed by gender and over time.
Jun 22, 2023
Multimedia
Tailoring Disaster and Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery to the Needs of Older Adults and Disabled Americans
An overview of testimony by Mahshid Abir presented before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging on June 15, 2023.
Jun 15, 2023
Testimony
Addressing the Needs of Older Adults and People with Disabilities During Disasters
Disasters and public health emergencies disproportionately affect older adults and people with disabilities—especially those with complex medical conditions. Best practices and policies are needed that consider the specific challenges to preparedness, response, and recovery related to these populations.
Jun 15, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Emergency Preparedness

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

James Ryseff

Technical Analyst

James Ryseff is a senior technical policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. He leverages his prior experience as a software engineer at Microsoft, Google, and other companies in the private sector to apply his technical skills to public policy problems. His work focuses how technologies and…
Annette Prieto

Technical Analyst

Annette Prieto is a technical analyst at the RAND Corporation. Her scope of expertise ranges from global health security and biodefense strategy to CBRN terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Prieto's latest research covers a broad range of policy and security-related issues including…

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