Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) FEMA Think Tank

Online games can make a better world and create a better disaster recovery system. Please watch this video below on a summary of how online games can help. http://blog.ted.com/2010/03/17/gaming_can_make/ Let us take wildfires for example. We need to detect then put out wildfires as soon as they begin. This link below has current technology to detect wildfires. http://opticalengineering.spiedigitallibrary.org/article.aspx?articleid=1183271 ...more »

In rural areas, served by volunteer fire departments, initial response time is important. Consider a test program that places 200-300 gallon water trailers in micro stations outside of a 5 mile radius from a vol fire department. Maybe a farmer would allow a small structure to be placed on his property that would house such an apparatus. A trailer that had a monitor/ or 1 inch booster line, and water could slow the spread ...more »

I was out in the middle of the desert this weekend and thought of an idea for Search and Rescue in remote areas without cell service. A small mobile cell phone site emulator that could be used in a helicopter, plane or drone flown over a search area. It doesn't need to connect to be cell phone network. It just needs to emulate a cell site for the person or people that they're trying to locate. If the lost party connects ...more »

Local communities and individual residents in general lack the skills, education and know-how to properly prepare themselves for emergencies and disasters. This can be attributed to many factors but the following three major factors will be discussed here. First, people in general have failed to be prepared for emergencies and disasters because they have not been made aware of the dangers and hazards that may affect their ...more »

As an elected official and a firefighter, I find it troubling that there is not a uniform standard for police and fire identification (ID cards). In times of disaster a police officer or firefighter can provide much needed assistance, but without a uniform standard for ID cards you could get anyone from a professional with technical rescue training to a wannabe that made his own id card. As some one in the field I would ...more »

One of the greatest challenges in expeditiously processing IHP grants for survivors is the wait time for them to send in documents that are then scanned and then attached to their file before further processing. Equip and train the various field staff (DSA, FEMA CORP, DRC Staff, State Staff) with the ability to scan a file or necessary documents directly into a survivor's application (NEMIS Registration) that will then ...more »

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...What is it about a nice smile or someone letting you in traffic? It makes your day! Is it Newton's Laws of Emotions? Can this video (link below) here be simply Newton's laws of emotions that for every action there is like but opposite reaction? http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/police-officer-stops-to-play-catch-with-boy-playing-alone-002435126.html?vp=1 ...more »

Many people submit ideas but there is no way of knowing if someone in authority is reading or following up. I would like to suggest that if an idea receives upward of 25 agrees then upper management give some feedback. This would encourage people to suggest ideas knowing that this site is worth more then just a chance to ventilate.

Reservists are considered a vital component of the resources available for FEMA disaster deployment. Many reservists actively obtain work while not deployed to a disaster. Once a disaster is declared and the deployment process initiates, those reservists have to give up that job as the company generally has nothing in its policies on how to hold federal civilian employee positions as they are not military reservists. ...more »

Out of all the input here on so many areas of management, etc. I am curious on any conclusive resolutions that members have given. I see the tabs of "In Review" "In Progress" and/or "Complete." All of which state 0. My idea is that FEMA not take their time and push through the red tape to either decide on these issues or pass. We could be posting forever on the "what ifs" and never know results. My idea is establish ...more »

A new customizable weather alert app that will show a live map of your location relative to the approaching storm and provide options to locate friends, family members and pets with GPS technology (imbedded in collars for pets and bracelets for children). It will indicate how much time you have to reach a safe location or what precautions to take if you are not near a safe area. It will also provide a list of suggested ...more »

After reading about how IT people will create more than one wall of protection to increase data security from cyber attack. They should do the same around buildings (schools, churches, malls, airports) as well. There could be one (figurative) wall completely at the outside of these buildings (i.e. parking lots.) They would build mini indoor "checkpoints" staffed with service dogs. These checkpoints would be "layer 1" ...more »

Barely 90 percent of the U.S. population has a proper plan in place for their emergency contacts. Many have become so complacent with the task. The general public has no idea how much time, every day, 911, police, hospitals, etc., spend trying to contact family or friends due to a loved one. I know because I spent years doing it and decided there is a better way and I have dedicated over two years, putting my plan into ...more »

I work for DHS and was part of the surge capacity. I think that FEMA should have full time employees on the northern border even if they are housed in another agency. They would be able to go and assess damage and help with disasters. The closest place is Albany and in the long run this would save on money. This person could work VT and Upstate new York hitting region 2 and 1. Traveling along the northern coast. They ...more »

using commercial and retired UAV aircraft to survey buildings that might contain survivors in a disaster scenario. Quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to enter potentially unstable buildings to look for potential trapped people and hazards without risking injury to personnel. These aircraft are easy to use and control, as well as being readily available. These devices can be outfitted with specialized ...more »

I have a free eBook supported by a change.org petition to check and balance money. One of the many national security reasons I cite for doing this is lapse of disaster relief in emergencies. It can be easily argued that leaving such efforts in the hands of organizations such as the Red Cross is ineffective when people need it most. While people struggle with money; they are not thinking about being prepared for life ...more »

There needs to be new ways to keep better security of our foreign interests around the world. We need new ways to comfort hurting hearts, affected by war. There ought to be a new push for the training and use of both therapy and watch dogs in the international settings. There ought to be new considerations of using more than one layer of walls and check points, as well. There are thousands of displaced families caused ...more »

Regarding Syria, if we're going to bomb and there's nothing we can do about it, the least we could do is have some emergency personnel on the ground who can ensure that any civilian casualties get proper medical treatment. Because there are going to be civilian casualties. Also, it would eliminate the possibility of the planes flying over and bombing the emergency response personnel, because they do that sometimes, ...more »

Many people have a hard time getting around to preparing for disasters for several reasons: They think it probably won't happen, they figure they can just McGyver there way through it, or thinking about it makes them too uncomfortable. We want to explore ways to get people to overcome their procrastination. For example, Anita and I sell disaster kits, and for every person you protect in your home, a child in a US ...more »

The sun is a fire ball which has no regular shape or size of its own. The inner part of the sun has water in it. When the water in it gets evaporated due to the pressure difference there is an explosion in the sun causing a supernova and many other new planets. The supernova has water droplets and many other stones. During the earth’s explosion from the sun the earth possess water and all its contents within it. When ...more »

I am a senior at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Virginia. I am currently in training as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for Chesterfield County Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Additionally, I am a certified healthcare provider, who has completed the skills for basic life support. When I enter college next fall, I wish to study in the healthcare field to work with disaster response teams in deliberate and ...more »

Cities ought to promote and install new "intranet" social media that will connect immediate neighbors? This "intranet" system would include basic home security, as well. City leaders would suggest 6-9 families on a block to pool their resources to purchase and schedule items that would make life a whole lot easier. There could be items like self-enclosed, driverless golf carts so neighbors take turns to buy groceries ...more »

Currently, IFMIS budget data can only be viewed in a .pdf or text format. By creating an MS Excel export feature, the data can be quickly managed by a budget analyst and passed on to supervisors with the easy additions of charts, graphs, etc. The speed at which "useable information" can then reach the hands of supervisors will be a great asset in disaster operations. As another option, the document foundation (Libre ...more »

Everyone has a cell phone and they can all live stream video to public officials. Our idea is to make a share in a free live staming app, to show public officials what is going on in the city. See www.safecity.nl I am from the Netherlands and I won an award with this idea in 2010 and in september this year it will be rolled out nationwide. Everyone can use a live streaming video app to share their videos with other ...more »

Trees, lots of trees, more green space, more wetlands

More space between houses, every house have a secure room