This is an article by Tim Long, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, August 5, 2026.

Hostile incidents that threaten the public have, in recent times, also been threatening responders. To protect response personnel, agencies must move beyond experience alone. Learn how to build a cycle of planning that strengthens coordination while protecting personnel before the next crisis strikes.

This is an article by Gary L. Sigrist Jr., an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, August 5, 2026.

School safety is not built by technology alone. The schools that are most successful at keeping firearms out of their buildings create a culture that recognizes concerns and takes action before there is a threat to campus. Learn how prevention can begin long before a crisis unfolds.

In this episode of Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast, host Nicolette Phillips is joined by Dr. Kevin T. Crouse, the chief information security officer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, to discuss the growing intersection of artificial intelligence, ethics, and the future of cybersecurity in emergency preparedness. Dr. Crouse stresses the importance of cybersecurity as a public safety function and recognizes the challenge of teaching people to use it ethically and responsibly. Learn how to embrace continual change and learning in an ever-evolving threat landscape. 

This is an article by Judy Kruger and Seán Sebastian, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, July 29, 2026. Artificial intelligence can help turn complex data into timely decisions and maintain operations, even during crises and staffing constraints. Learn about the downsides of excessive use for human performance and well-being even amid the benefits this automation can have on government agency operations. Now to the featured article.

This is an article by Justin Snair, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, July 29, 2026. Organizations can lose critical operational knowledge when experience after a disaster is reduced to documents that omit the reasoning behind key decisions. Before artificial intelligence can turn past lessons into better decisions, organizations must modernize their data. Learn how treating preparedness as a continuous operation builds cumulative knowledge to improve future responses. Now to the featured article.

In this episode of Domestic Preparedness: The Podcast, host Nicolette Phillips and editor-in-chief Cathy Feinman discuss with Kelly Adley, a former law enforcement officer and leader within FirstNet built by AT&T, how disaster communications resources support first responders. Drawing on experiences from events such as Hurricanes Laura and Helene, the Maui wildfires, and floods in Texas, he emphasizes that each disaster presents unique challenges that require flexibility. This discussion highlights FirstNet’s role in building partnerships and restoring connectivity when power grids and communication networks are impacted by natural hazards. 

This is an article by Joshua Dise, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, July 22, 2026. Industrial disasters rarely follow the orderly sequence described in emergency plans. They often begin during routine operations then grow through cascading failures while responders face changing hazards and limited information. Learn how emergency managers can prepare for conditions that are far more unstable than plans often assume. Now to the featured article.

This is an article by Victoria Kluge, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, July 22, 2026. Tabletop exercises confirm that a plan exists, but game-based exercises reveal whether an organization can execute when the plan begins to fail. Learn how game-based exercises can expose vulnerabilities before a real incident by exposing decision breakdowns that compliance-focused exercises leave hidden. Now to the featured article.

Transportation resilience depends as much on coordination as infrastructure. In this interview, Josh Rodriguez of AASHTO explains why effective preparedness begins long before a disaster occurs and how formal mutual aid transforms emergency response into a planned capability.

This is an article by Dan Smiley, an Article Out Loud from Domestic Preparedness, July 15, 2026.

As more maritime vessels adopt alternative fuels, the dedicated funding and response machinery of the U.S. maritime casualty response system, which was built around oil spills, leaves a dangerous gap. When an incident occurs, responders can find themselves without the funding mechanism or response architecture that an oil-fueled casualty would automatically trigger. Learn why this gap must close before an inevitable alternative fuel–driven emergency. Now to the featured article.