Insights for Managing Emergencies Series Introduction

Since completing a Master of Science in Emergency Services Administration at California State University, Long Beach while fighting forest fires around the country, I have been interested in theory and its potential to offer fresh insight into the planning, organization, and management of emergencies. Over the past several years, I have studied academic writings on design, systems, transition studies, management, and organization while searching for any insights that might be useful in managing emergencies to include emergency and incident management. So far, I have applied this exploration to conference talks, work with Save the Children, the creation of a forthcoming Introduction to Systems Thinking self-study course for the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Defense and Homeland Security, and a few a publications.

This series will provide a summarized reading of theory from academic sources that may not normally fall within the scope of the related literature and draw out key in…