Center’s Blog
Use this page to stay up-to-date on COVID-19, homeland security emergency management, campus safety, job resources, career pathways, upcoming webinars, scholarships, Washington State news and more.
Women are Essential to Peace…
By Linda Crerar The United Nations has sponsored International Women’s Day since 1975. When adopting its resolution on the observance of International Women’s Day, the United Nations General Assembly cited the following reasons: “To recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights [...]
Women in Leadership Profile: Toya Moore
By Deb Moller When Toya Moore was a child, her family doctor provided care in a hospital setting. When she’d go for a check-up, she saw a sea of white people in white coats. One day, she saw something different – a black woman in a white [...]
Women in Leadership Profile: Elizabeth Klute
By Deb Moller Imagine a book of inspiring stories about women leading interesting lives. A teenage girl working as a wireman for the local electric company. A sheep shearer in New Zealand. A sailor living aboard a boat for seven years. A woman who taught Bill Gates [...]
A Retrievable Legacy for Disaster Mitigation – March 2021
A Retrievable Legacy for Disaster Mitigation By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed In 1997 James Lee Witt, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), established a pilot program to reduce the human and economic cost of disasters. The purpose: incentivize the government, private sector, and the public to [...]
Washington Disaster Resiliency Work Group
In the 2019 legislative session Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler proposed legislation to help our state prepare for and mitigate climate disasters. The Senate Bill 5106 was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee and created a workgroup represented by 27 organizations including legislators, state agencies, insurance companies, Tribal leaders, [...]
Japan Insights on Preparedness
By Nancy Aird March 3, 2011, marks the tenth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. Japan faced this experience with “BOSAI,” a science that can save your life. Nationally this cultural idea of preparedness /resiliency evolved from the EDO period experiences of [...]
Preparedness Workshop
In January, we marked the 321st anniversary of the last full-rip 9.0 Cascadia earthquake. In March, we note the 20th anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake. Even though we live in earthquake country, we aren’t ready for a significant event. Will we ever be? Is getting people to prepare an [...]
Resiliency and Climate Change: Both Go Hand-In-Hand
By Kellie Hale The world is continuing to see an increase in high temperatures, seasonal weather is shifting, with an increasing impact on weather events (e.g., snowstorms, floods, hurricanes, tornados, drought, etc.). The longer we put aside our need for climate change adaptation, the more difficult and expensive it [...]
Trust – February 2021
Trust By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Well before the pandemic began exacting its horrific toll, “trust in government” was on a downward spiral. Last January, in “Government’s Trust Deficit: A Possible Antidote,” I suggested a program of community-centric disaster exercises that could be used to prepare the [...]
The Mental and Emotional Toll COVID-19 has Impacted Our Frontline Health Care Workers
By Kellie Hale COVID-19 cases have not gone down, unfortunately, and continues to rise across the nation. Hospitals are continuing to be overwhelmed with patients. Our frontline health care workers are continuing to experience multiple stressors with little relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a constant fear amongst [...]
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Happy Birthday
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 91 years old this year. Born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He would grow up to be known for his leadership and contribution during the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. His father and mother brought on Dr. [...]
Looking Back While Looking Forward
By Linda Crerar, Director CoE-HSEM In 1969, I attended Shoreline Community College in Seattle, working on my Associate’s degree and intending to go into a health care profession. I had an opportunity to join a volunteer group at Harborview Medical Center in their Emergency Room, providing social work and [...]
Women in Leadership Profile: Brandi Hunter
Women in Leadership Profile: Brandi Hunter By Deb Moller Brandi Hunter knows that when you’re young, an impatience for too much talk and a preference for taking action can get you into more trouble than you expected. It certainly can make the people around you wonder, as you [...]
The Whole World Was Watching – January 2021
The Whole World Was Watching – January 6, 2021 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Some of us also have been watching what I hope was the last act in a dangerous display of violence fueled by years of dishonesty, threats, the vilification of fellow citizens, and finally [...]
20 Reasons Why We’re Proud of 2020
Confluence serves as an intersection where we share events, interests, and important information about our Center and the state’s all-hazard emergency management pathway programs.
Interview with Elyzabeth Estrada
For this month’s Confluence, we wanted to highlight tribal emergency managers. Our Education & Outreach Coordinator, Brandi Hunter, recommended we highlight Elyzabeth Estrada. Brandi said, “I met Elyzabeth on LinkedIn. She had joined Aspiring Emergency Managers Online and introduced herself to me, and said she would like to help [...]
Building Cultures of Preparedness With Tribes
Building Cultures of Preparedness With Tribes – An Overview In 1999, Governor Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire joined tribal chairs from throughout the state in signing an “Agreement to Institutionalize the Government-to-Government Relationship in Preparation for the New Millennium.” This agreement, between the State of Washington [...]
The Importance of Feeding America During COVID-19
Message from our New Advisory Board Member, Vincent Davis - The Importance of Feeding America During COVID-19 “In general, very few people are prepared for any kind of disaster including disability which doesn’t require a hurricane.” – Arthur Ashe As I go about the important work of feeding families [...]
Crisis, Risk, Emergency and Disaster (CRED) Communications
CRED Communications Flyer Course Description - Crisis, Risk, Emergency, and Disaster (CRED) Communications are distinct yet intrinsically related fields. This course will introduce all of this and examine them as distinct areas that should be viewed and handled differently. It is the aim of this course to explore [...]
“There is Too Much: Let Me Sum Up” – December 2020
“There is Too Much: Let Me Sum Up” - Emergency Management Once Removed 2020 By Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed January: “Government’s Trust Deficit: A Possible Antidote” proposed that emergency managers “devise exercises in which the public can participate, to “penetrate the divisive “white noise” that makes essential [...]
Press Release: December 10, 2020
Dec. 10, 2020 Congratulations to Curry Mayer - New Director of the Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Lakewood, WA - The Center of Excellence for Homeland Security Emergency Management (CoE-HSEM) would like to congratulate Curry Mayer for her appointment as Director of the Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM). [...]
Webinar: MLK Day in The Time of COVID-19
Webinar: MLK Day in The Time of COVID-19 MLK Day in the Time of COVID-19 Thursday, Dec. 3 1:00 p.m. ET Register Dr. King’s words challenge us to address the “fierce urgency of now.” As many individuals, families, and communities struggle with not only the effects of the coronavirus [...]
CoE-HSEM Honors its Rising Star Awards of 2020
Congratulations to This Year’s Rising Stars! - Brandi Hunter, Toya Moore, and Julie Jefferson Lakewood, WA - The Center of Excellence for Homeland Security Emergency Management (CoE-HSEM) has always been focused on student success, helping people change their lives' trajectory positively and who have demonstrated excellence in their professional [...]
Brandi Hunter – Rising Star 2020
Congratulations to This Year’s Rising Star! - Brandi Hunter Brandi Hunter Educational & Outreach Coordinator Center of Excellence – Homeland Security Emergency Management “Brandi Hunter is a standout star. As a recent graduate of the Homeland Security Emergency Management (HSEM) degree program at Pierce College, Brandi is a person [...]
Toya Moore – Rising Star 2020
Congratulations to This Year’s Rising Star! - Toya Moore Toya Moore, M.Ed., AHI, CHT, RMA, CCMA Director of Allied Health and CMA programs Seattle Colleges “Toya has done incredible work in her role as the Medical Assisting Program Director at Seattle Central College. She successfully transferred the program from [...]