Course Themes

Several threads run throughout the course and understanding them early on will help you frame your studies and integrate new information into your existing background of skills and knowledge.

Developing a Fund of Knowledge

Knowledge is power. Unless you understand the language of homeland security and how the mechanisms by which disasters and terrorist events pose a threat to society, you will not be able to develop strategies for prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Therefore, in addition to team problem-solving tasks, each individual student will perform activities that reinforce the fund of knowledge about the particular topic of each lesson.

Appreciating Historical Context

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Bioterrorism is not a new threat—in fact it has been used as a weapon since early in world history. As such, it is not a threat that is likely to completely disappear. Recent history provides examples such as the 9-11 terrorist attacks and the Hurricane Katrina disaster that you will review and analyze. Lessons learned from actual disasters and terrorist events are important in mitigating the effects of future occurrences.

Respecting the Road Map

No strategy is without weaknesses. But one must have a well-planned and coordinated strategy for emergency response and preparedness. The United States federal government has developed a “road map” or strategy for managing a response to a disaster or terrorist attack known as the National Response Framework. You will be expected to familiarize yourself with this document because you must understand and respect the fact that local emergency management is able to integrate its own disaster response operations with this overarching National Response Framework. At the same time, some of you are or will become leaders in the field of public health preparedness and will need to periodically review, critique, and modify existing plans to meet changing circumstances.