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Center Scholar Publishes

George Youngs, professor of emergency management has co-authored an article with D. K. Yoon, former NDSU assistant professor and Daiko Abe, a graduate student in the Department of Emergency Management. Yoon recently returned to South Korea to begin a new disaster and risk management degree program at Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST). The article, “Examining factors contributing to the development of FEMA-Approved Hazard Mitigation Plans,” was published in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires local governments to secure approval from FEMA for their multi-hazard mitigation plans if the local governments wish to be eligible for mitigation funding, but a significant number of local governments still do not have approved plans. The Yoon, Youngs, Abbe article analyzes data from multiple, nation-wide data sets and examines the relative role of staff resources, financial resources, and disaster experience in predicting whether local governments have FEMA-Approved Multi-Hazard Mitigation plans.

Title: "The Incident Command System: A Conceptual Model for Testing" invited contribution for special issue of Journal of Crises and Contingencies Management
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:

This paper reviews the empirical work and disaster literature related to ICS, discusses its implications for the use and usefulness of ICS, and develops an inductive conceptual model for testing through future research based on the factors that the literature suggests may be relevant. The paper concludes by suggesting the benefits to practice and theory that stand to be gained through further development and testing of the model presented in the paper and closes with some important considerations for future research on ICS.

Title: "Reflections on NIMS" invited book chapter for peer-reviewed, editted volume Issues in Disaster Science and Management
Project Collaborators: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D. and Tim Sevinson

Abstract:

Jessica Jensen, representing an academic view, reviews the research related to NIMS and its implications for practice; and, Tim Sevinson, representing a practitioner view, presents the status of NIMS in emergency management practice. Both Jensen and Sevinson provide a blended academic-practitioner viewe that discusses the future of NIMS as an organizing mechanism for emergency management in the United States.

Title: "Basic Components of Quality for Emergency Management Plans"
Project Collaborators: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D., Sarah Bundy, M.S., and Emmanual Nojang, M.S.

Abstract:

One of the key tasks associated with emergency manager positions is facilitation of the process of developing various types of plans. Yet, despite the prominence of the task within the emerging profession, very little emergency management literature is available to inform training in the field or education within emergency management higher education programs regarding how emergency management professionals, directly impact the quality of plans, how a quality process is best conducted, what the basic components of all plans regardless of type should include, and what the basic hallmarks of plan quality are for all types of plans. Through a synthesis of the planning literature and an interpretation and application of it in an emergency management context, this article addresses one of these gaps in the literature--the basic hallmarks of plan quality for all types of plans. 

Title: "The Landscape of 9/11 Public Opinion Anniversary Research: Methodological Features, Data Quality, and Implications for Public Policy Formation"
Project Lead: Daniel J. Klenow, Ph.D.

Abstract:

Daniel J. Klenow, Ph.D., Co-Director of the Center for Disaster Studies and Emergency Management, along with Center colleagues Jessica Jensen, Ph.D., and George Youngs, Ph.D. has initiated a research project designed to review the state of knowledge about public and professional attitudes towards preparedness, safety, and related issues based on public opinion polls conducted in 2011, the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11  World Trade Center Terrorist attack.  

Title: "What the Emergency Management Community Needs to Know to Better Collaborate with Voluntary Agencies"
Project Collaborators: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D., Samantha Montano, and Mike Bittner

Abstract:

The role of voluntary agencies in disasters is both expansive and expanding. And government at all levels increasingly rely on the services provided by voluntary agencies. This article analyzes the nonprofit literature related to the nature of nonprofit organizations in terms of its implications for coordination, collaboration, cooperation, and communication related to disasters with the public sector.

Title: "The Incident Command System: A Critique of the Literature" submitted to Disasters.
Project Collaborators: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D. and Steven Thompson, M.S.

Abstract:

Given the foundational and fundamental role ICS ought to play in on-scene response efforts across the United States, it is important that we explore what we know about the system and how we know it. Thus, this study was conducted to explore two research questions: 1) How has research explored ICS use and usefulness?; and,  2) Of what quality is the existing ICS research? To investigate these questions, an analysis of the scant, but growing, research literature directly related to ICS was conducted. This article reports the findings of the analysis related to the research questions, theoretical frameworks, methods, results, and conclusions of the existing research literature. The goal of this study is to explore the implications of the research that has been conducted for the state of our knowledge about the system and the direction of future research.

Title: "Existing Disaster Recovery Theory"
Project Collaborators: Sarah Bundy, M.S. and Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:

Based on a review of the literature, the existing body of disaster recovery theory is presented and analyzed. Bundy and Jensen discuss the theory and literature students of emergency management need to know to be effective participants in and leaders of recovery in the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors.

Title: "The Emergency Managers Role in Disaster Recovery" forthcoming in the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
Comprehensive emergency management (CEM) has been the ideal approach for U. S. emergency management for over three decades.  This approach emphasizes the importance of emergency management involvement in activities related to four functional areas (i.e., preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery).  Yet, there is reason to believe that at least one major phase—recovery—is still neglected (Rubin 2009).  The goal of the recovery process is to return all stakeholder groups to “…self-sufficient entit[ies] within generally accepted social, economic, and political standards of its regional and national contexts” in the aftermath of hazard events (Alesch 2009, p. 36).  If one accepts the CEM approach and this definition, then it is clear that emergency management’s job is not done until recovery is done, and if emergency management does not support and guide recovery, others will. Leaving out recovery while paying lip service to CEM would not be a mere oversight on the part of emergency management, it would be a critical short-coming.

Recovery’s subordinate status is clear in the literature on emergency management—much more attention is paid to the other phases (Rubin 2009)—but the relative status of recovery in the work lives of practicing emergency managers has not been documented.  The present study reports the results of interviewing 54 county level emergency managers from eleven states about their perceived role in recovery.  The presentation of results and discussion affirm the subordinate status of recovery within CEM. The findings also suggest the need to place much more emphasis on recovery in the training and education of emergency managers; the need to better define the role of emergency managers relative to other professional groups interested in recovery (e.g., planners); and, the need for more research in this functional area of emergency management. 

Title: "Explaining NIMS Implementation in United States Counties" forthcoming in Disasters.
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:

This article explains the perceived implementation behavior of counties in the United States with respect to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The system represents a massive and historic policy mandate designed to restructure, standardize, and thereby unify the efforts of a wide variety of emergency management entities. Specifically, this study examined variables identified in the NIMS and policy literature that might influence the behavioral intentions and actual behavior of counties. This study found that three key factors limit or promote both how counties intend to implement NIMS and how they actually implement the system—policy characteristics related to NIMS, implementer views, and a measure of local capacity. One additional variable, inter-organizational characteristics, was found to influence only actual behavior. This study’s findings suggest that the purpose underlying NIMS may not be fulfilled; and, confirm what disaster research has long suggested—the potential for standardization in emergency management is limited.

Title: "Preparedness: A Principled Approach to Return on Investment (Version 1.0)"
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:

Preparedness: A Principled Approach to Return on Investment (Version 1.0) presents a principle-based process to developing measures of return on investment for preparedness grant programs and also suggests a cohesive framework of outcomes that can be used to develop meaningful measures. Preparedness, applies this framework to the EMPG Program to illustrate how the framework can be used to drive objectives and measures and provides samples in Appendix A.

The paper makes the case in the document that we ought to measure what is relevant and to be relevant the measurement process and measures ought to be grounded in the Principles of Emergency Management (2007).Preparedness suggests that it is possible to do what has not been done previously—rely on principles of the field which, when applied and measured, indicate the relationship of our investments to overall preparedness. Title: "Emergency Management Performance Grant Funds: Returns on Investment at the Local Level"
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Available at www.iaem.com/documents/IAEM.EMPG.ROI.Survey.Report3.5.12.pdf

Abstract:
The report illustrates how EMPG funds supported emergency management activities to bring about coordination, collaboration and integration within local level and tribal jurisdictions in the United States in 2011.

Title: "The Current NIMS Implementation Behavior of United States Counties"
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Published Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

Abstract:
This study described and explained the current implementation behavior of counties in the United States with respect to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Data were collected in two phases: 1) an internet survey was sent to a national random sample of county emergency managers and 2) a mail survey was sent to emergency managers in the sample that had not completed the internet survey. When data collection ceased, 355 randomly selected county emergency managers had participated in the study providing a nationally generalizable study. It was discovered that NIMS may be limited in its usefulness as the foundation for our nationwide emergency management system as well as its potential for use in large-scale disaster situations because of the wide variation in the manner in which NIMS is currently being implemented in counties across the United States.

Title: "Volunteer Fire Departments Perceptions of ICS and NIMS"
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Published Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

Abstract:
Reports the findings from a mail survey designed to explore perceptions of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) that was sent to volunteer fire fighters and department chiefs in Spring of 2008. The data demonstrated that both ICS and NIMS were not well perceived among responding volunteer fire chiefs and volunteer fire fighters in North Dakota. Rather than indicating issues with the ICS or NIMS systems themselves, respondents’ comments revealed concerns with the systems to be rooted in their status as volunteers and their residence in rural areas.

Title: "State Associations of Emergency Management Briefing Book" (2010) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
Provides one page briefs on state associations of emergency management. Information on state association membership, governance, activities, and benefits of membership is included.

Title: "The Form and Function of State Associations of Emergency Management" (2010) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers. 
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
On June 1, 2010, IAEM-USA asked state associations of emergency management to complete a survey designed to give IAEM-USA a general sense of the form and function of the associations. The survey was also viewed as a way to begin identifying ways IAEM-ISA might formalize relationships with state associations and/or support state association efforts. The survey, hosted by Survey Monkey, remained open for completion until the 16^th of July. When the survey closed, representatives from 29 out of the 43 state associations of emergency management had completed the survey for a completion rate of 67%. This very brief report summarizes the findings from the state association survey data.

Title: "Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Use and Value" (2010) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers, US Council
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
On February 17, 2010, the Government Affairs Committee of IAEM-USA asked our regional presidents and the state associations of local emergency managers to distribute a link to a survey hosted by Survey Monkey to members in their respective areas. The survey was designed to learn about the use and value of Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds and the continuing impact of the economic downturn on local emergency management programs. When data collection ceased on March 3, 2010, 314 emergency managers representing 30 states had completed the survey. Most of those who completed surveys were employed full-time (76 percent) as county emergency managers (84 percent). An additional 3 percent represented village or town jurisdictions and 13 percent represented city jurisdictions. A majority (55 percent) of emergency managers represented jurisdictions with a population of less than 50,000; while, 18 percent represented jurisdictions with populations between 50,000 and 99,999, and 27 percent represented jurisdictions with a population of more than 100,000. This year marks the third consecutive year the survey has been conducted; and, as in the past, our survey questions were intended to gather data about the use and value of EMPG funds. This year the survey also included a number of additional questions about EMPG funds to gain a better understanding of the EMPG funding process. The results of this survey provide some intriguing insights into EMPG funding as it relates to local emergency management in the United States.

Title: "Impact of the Economic Downturn on Local Emergency Management Program" (2010) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers, US Council
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D. 

Abstract:
On February 17, 2010, the Government Affairs Committee of IAEM-USA asked our regional presidents and the state associations of local emergency managers to distribute a link to a survey hosted by Survey Monkey to members in their respective areas. The survey was designed to learn about the use and value of Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds and the continuing impact of the economic downturn on local emergency management programs.  When data collection ceased on March 3, 2010, 314 emergency managers representing 30 states had completed the survey. Most of those who completed surveys were employed full-time (76 percent) as county emergency managers (84 percent). An additional 3 percent represented village or town jurisdictions and 13 percent represented city jurisdictions. A majority (55 percent) of emergency managers represented jurisdictions with a population of less than 50,000; while, 18 percent represented jurisdictions with populations between 50,000 and 99,999, and 27 percent represented jurisdictions with a population of more than 100,000.  The report summarize the findings from the survey questions related to the impact of the economic downturn on local emergency management programs.

Title: "NIMS in Rural America" (2009)
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Published International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters

Abstract:
Research was conducted on how rural emergency managers at the local level understand and employ the National Incident Management System in 2007. This article focuses on research findings from face-to-face interviews with county emergency managers in three states. The data revealed that the majority of emergency managers interviewed interpret NIMS in a generally positive manner; however, they do so with considerable qualification. Emergency managers recognized that their interpretation of NIMS plays a role in how they comply with and implement NIMS; however, it was discovered that it is not the emergency managers’ interpretation that determines compliance and implementation as much as it is factors related to local reality. The unique amalgamation of emergency manager interpretations and local reality produced large variation in NIMS compliance and implementation—no two emergency managers and no two counties were exactly alike. Therefore, though the federal government mandated its expectations and standards for emergency management through NIMS, both people and aspects of place dictate the mandate’s interpretation and implementation. Based on findings from the research, implications of findings for emergency management are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

Title: "Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Use and Value" (2009) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers, US Council
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
On April 29, 2009, the Government Affairs Committee of IAEM asked our regional presidents and state associations of local emergency managers to distribute a link to an internet survey to association members in their respective areas. The short 16-question survey solicited information in two areas related to local emergency management: 1) the role of Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds, and 2) the impact of the economic downturn. The survey, hosted by Survey Monkey, was accessible from April 29-May 6, 2009. In total, 348 individuals completed the survey. Selected demographic information and survey limitations are in the appendix at the end of this report. The EMPG Funding Summary Report presents the findings related to role of EMPG funds in local emergency management programs.

Title: "Impact of the Economic Downturn on Local Emergency Management Programs" (2009) on behalf of the International Association of Emergency Managers, US Council
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph. D.

Abstract:
 On April 29, 2009, the Government Affairs Committee of IAEM asked our regional presidents and the state associations of local emergency managers to distribute a link to an internet survey to association members in their respective areas. The short 16-question survey solicited information in two areas related to local emergency management: 1) the role of Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds, and 2) the impact of the economic downturn. The survey, hosted by Survey Monkey, was accessible from April 29-May 6, 2009. In total, 348 individuals completed the survey. Selected demographic information and survey limitations are in the appendix at the end of this report. The Economic Downturn Summary Report presents findings from the survey related to the current and projected impact of the economic downturn on local emergency management programs.

Title: "NIMS in Action: A Case Study of the System's Use and Utility" (2008)
Project Lead: Jessica Jensen, Ph.D.

Abstract:
Given the intent of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) mandate to alter local and state disaster operating procedures and nationally standardize disaster response across a wide array of agencies and organizations, it was important to study the degree to which its implementation has been successful. Specifically, the focus of this research project was to determine how NIMS was used in a disaster situation and to identify what factors affected the system’s usefulness. Quick Response Grant research was conducted in the aftermath of a tornado in late spring 2008. Data were gathered through interviews with state and local emergency management personnel, observation at the state and local Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the collection of local and state documentation relevant to the disaster response, and publicly available news media reports. The findings of the research are presented and the relevance of the findings for both the discipline and field of emergency management are discussed.

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