9/23/09 EMForum.org Background Page: Recommendations for an Effective National Mitigation Effort

Recommendations for an Effective National Mitigation Effort
National Emergency Management Association and Partner Organizations

James M. Mullen
Chair, NEMA Mitigation Committee
Director, Washington State Emergency Management Division

September 23, 2009

Contents:
Live Meeting Recording (WMV) This is a large file and requires Windows Media Player or Windows Media Components for QuickTime, or a similar product to view.
Transcript (HTML)
Transcript (MS Word)
Slides (Adobe PDF)
Ratings
Reviews
Rate/Review This Session

Related Websites:
Recommendations for an Effective National Mitigation Effort white paper
7/9/09 NEMA Press Release
7/10/09 Congressional Research Service report, FEMA's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program
Congressional Hazards Caucus Alliance

RATINGS
		20 Ratings Submitted
	0 (0%)	Academia 1 (5%)
	12 (60%)	Business 2 (10%)
	7 (35%)	Government 15 (75%)
	1 (5%)	Volunteers 2 (10%)
	0 (0%)	Other 0 (0%)

REVIEWS

"An interesting and valuable subject for EM Professional and the general public. Many people don't even know what the "Mitigation" word means. I agree with the idea that education is the key, especially in the area of citizens recognizing or evaluating their neighborhoods needs and asking their elected government representatives at all levels of government to propose legislation that will fund critical mitigation measures or projects within their neigborhood, cities, counties or states. I support the team as an Emergency Manager and citizen and hope they make a positive impact on educating all citizens on the many benefits mitigation may have in them. Many thanks to Jim!"
Jose L. De La Torre
US Army Corps of Engineers

"I found it very useful to hear state and local questions regarding strategy, and general questions about mitigation. It gives us another way to hear the NEMA members' concerns without leaving the office. I had difficulty hearing; however, that may be my computer system."
Cece Rosenberg
FEMA-HQ/MT

"Very goood presentation from Mr Mullen. Hope to have a chance to review the transcript so that I can pass on to fellow colleagues."
Bernard Ussher
NHMA

"The presenter could be heard quite well; however, it was hard to hear the moderator. I had it on as loud as possible."
Kathleen M. Lyons
FEMA

"It was clear and well-presented. I was hoping for more information about a broader definition of mitigation, however, and a discussion of how the phases of disaster management sometimes overlap."

"More mitigation Issues in the future. Thank you all!"

"Good presentation with excellent comments. We need to get the entire mitigation community on the same page as Jim stated and then educate our public officials."
Bob Kimmell
Arizona Division of Emergency Management

"Seemed to focus on gov't agencies and less on private business (CIKR in my instance)."
Dan Shellenberger
Kinder Morgan

"Reading the document did not reveal to me what actual, physical, system level (geek level) actions will be taken to effect mitigation strategies / policies across N complex systems e.g., the "System of Systems"."
Steve McGee
SAW Concepts LLC

JAMES M. MULLEN

Jim Mullen became the Washington State Director of the Emergency Management Division effective July 21, 2004. He has been an outspoken advocate of local and county emergency managers. Most recently, he directed the response to the snow and flood emergencies December 2008 and in January 2009 respectively. Both events were declared major disasters by President Bush. Innovation has characterized his tenure at Washington EMD: he has dramatically increased the public education outreach effort, which includes the highly praised Map Your Neighborhood Program initiative. A second innovation has been to increase the direct, two-way interaction between the public and private sector, with the promise of more in the future.

Mr. Mullen served as Director of Emergency Management for the City of Seattle for 12 years. Seattle Emergency Management received a number of national awards and other recognition during that period for community mitigation, community preparedness and disaster response planning. During his tenure he established a professional staff that was considered one of the most talented in the nation in terms of innovation and performance in nine presidentially declared disasters. The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) has recognized Mr. Mullen for his "outstanding contribution to Emergency Management" and as an "outstanding representative of our discipline".

Mr. Mullen is the current Chair of the National Emergency Management Association Mitigation Committee.