Tag Archives: preparedness

Planning a Terrorist Attack

Planning a clandestine attack using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is not simple. First, in order to promote an attack, the target needs to be viewed to have violated some ideology, policy, or other deeply held belief (“Terrorism, definition and history of,” 2002). Usually, a symbol of the offense will be chosen as either a specific target, such as the case of the World Trade Center, or as a vehicle or vector for the attack, as in the case of the U.S. Postal Service anthrax attacks (“Biological terrorism,” 2002; Marshall, 2002; “Weapons of mass destruction,” 2002). The dollar is an international symbol of capitalism and the might of the United States. In the current climate, especially with the declining U.S. economy, I would expect the money supply, itself, to be a viable vector for disseminating some sort of substance capable of causing terror. A dollar bill has a circulating life of 42 months and changes hands, on average, twice a day, and by impregnating paper money with a chosen substance, a single dollar bill could potentially harm more than 2,500 people during its circulation (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving, n.d.).

Almost as important as the vehicle is the impregnating substance. Chemical and radiological substances would be too easy to eventually detect, and the amount dispersed on each dollar bill might not be enough to cause harm. A live biological agent suspended in an aqueous nutrient solution could easily coat a dollar bill without detection and easily transfer to hands, surfaces, and other bills. According to Winfield and Groisman (2003), Salmonella enterica might prove to be a hardy pathogen capable of existing in such a solution for months. S. enterica is responsible for typhoid fever in humans. Escherichia coli, though a highly pathenogenic mycobacterium, does not have the same persistance outside of a living host. Both S. enterica and E. coli have detrimental health effects, especially for those with deficient immune systems.

Delivery and dispersion of the weapon would be the next consideration. This would have to be accomplished using a number of distribution points, geographically distant, that transfer small denomination bills easily both in and out, such as gasoline stations, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and liquor stores. Using a website designed to track dollar bills (http://www.wheresgeorge.com), a single bill has been tracked in about two and a half years, as follows: Florida, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Arizona, Oregon, New York, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Another has been documented as travelling from Ohio to Michigan via Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Texas, and Utah in a mere 212 days. This is evidence that general dispersion techniques will work well if initially geographically distributed.

Additionally, as the Salmonella bills are being dispersed, I would encourage a technological attack on various credit card networks. If the hacking results in increased network downtime, the American citizenry would be encouraged to use paper money more often, potentiating the transfer of the Salmonella bills. As a final coup de grace, when the American populace finally begin to realize that the money supply, itself, is tainted, I would encourage conventional attacks on banking institutions to include random bombings, shootings, and threats of the same. This would further drive the message against the U.S. money supply and could crash the economy.

This plan was developed in about twenty minutes. The terrorists of the day have had decades to consider such plans, and I for one am glad that they tend to be grandiose. When the terrorists realize the simplicity required of causing terror in the U.S., we need to be very wary.

References

Biological terrorism. (2002). Encyclopedia of terrorism. Retrieved from http://sage-ereference.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/view/terrorism/n76.xml

Marshall, P. (2002, February 22). Policing the borders. CQ Researcher, 12, 145-168. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cqresearcher/

Terrorism, definition and history of. (2002). Encyclopedia of terrorism. Retrieved from http://sage-ereference.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/view/terrorism/n415.xml

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving. (n.d.). FAQ library. Retrieved from http://www.moneyfactory.gov/faqlibrary.html

Weapons of mass destruction. (2002). Encyclopedia of terrorism. Retrieved from http://sage-ereference.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/view/terrorism/n453.xml

Winfield, M. D. & Groisman, E. A. (2003). Role of Nonhost Environments in the Lifestyles of Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 69(7), 3687-3694. doi:10.1128/AEM.69.7.3687-3694.2003

Ethics and Decision Making During Critical Incidents

As a paramedic, I am faced with ethical decisions fairly frequently. As an example, I am usually the sole responding paramedic to an incident that might involve a number of seriously ill or injured patients (e.g. car accidents, fires, carbon monoxide). These incidents are challenging in that I have to choose which patient(s) will be treated at the higher level of care that I can provide versus the lower level of care that the basic life support units can provide. Typically, I base my decision merely on which patient is more ill or injured; however, many times I am faced with a number of critical patients and must decide based on ethical criteria, such as who would benefit more from my care in the long run, including the fact that adolescent and adult patients tend to fair better than elderly and infant patients (Broos, D’Hoore, Vanderschot, Rommens, & Stappaerts, 1993; Kypri, Chalmers, Langley, & Wrigh, 2000; McGwin, Melton, May, & Rue, 2000).

One of the problems with attempting to remain ethical while decisions during an emergency response is that the situational picture is almost never as clear as you need it. This is especially true as the scope and scale of the incident increases. As the magnitude of an incident grows, the incident command team become inundated with information, and it is common to be overwhelmed. We do, though, try our best to be just and fair in our determinations. We need to make our decisions based on the current information and not dwell on if they were right or wrong (Walsh et al., 2012), only if we could have approached the problem more effectively and efficiently, and this should be done only in the debriefing.

References

Broos, P. L. O., D’Hoore, A., Vanderschot, P., Rommens, P. M., & Stappaerts, K. H. (1993). Multiple trauma in elderly patients. Factors influencing outcome: importance of aggressive care. Injury, 24(6), 365-368. doi:10.1016/0020-1383(93)90096-O

Kypri, K., Chalmers, D. J., Langley, J. D., & Wrigh, C. S. (2000). Child injury mortality in New Zealand 1986–95. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 36(5), 431–439. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1754.2000.00559.x

McGwin, G., Melton, S. M., May, A. K., & Rue, L. W. (2000). Long-term survival in the elderly after trauma. Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, & Critical Care, 49(3), 470-476.

Walsh, D. W., Christen, H. T., Callsen, C. E., Miller, G. T., Maniscalco, P. M., Lord, G. C., & Dolan, N. J. (2012). National Incident Management System: principles and practice (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned

The primary and causative failure of government, according to the U.S. House report (2006), was that officials did not develop an adequate or accurate situational picture in a timely fashion. This lead to minimal preparation, ineffective evacuation plans, and an slow logistical supply chains for moving needed assets into the area to aid with the response. The second mistake, according to the report, was officials distancing themselves from the failures politically. This sole act (by many in the leadership) served only to protract the response and recovery and confuse the populace. Understandably, however, the politicians certainly wanted to be removed from the situation, as they could have lessened the burden years earlier with use of specific appropriations. Funds designed to mitigate the exposure of the Gulf coast to hurricanes were not spent as intended, if at all.

Looking back on the situation, had each government activated their EOC and staffed it with reputable public safety officials to run the response, the situational picture would have been clearer, especially with the various EOCs communicating together (Walsh et al., 2012). The plan might have coalesced into the use of an area command with resources deployed in task force and strike team convention as needed. Certainly, though, the public message would have been singular, to the point, and helpful to the public (Walsh et al., 2012). This would have lead to an expedited response and coordinated evacuations prior to landfall of Hurricane Katrina, which was said to be “predicted with unprecedented timeliness and accuracy” (U.S. House of Representatives, 2006, ix).

References

U.S. House of Representatives. (2006). A failure of initiative: Final report of the select bipartisan committee to investigate the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Walsh, D. W., Christen, H. T., Callsen, C. E., Miller, G. T., Maniscalco, P. M., Lord, G. C., & Dolan, N. J. (2012). National Incident Management System: principles and practice (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

Critical Incident Response Plans

The possibility of a large-scale event threatening the health and safety of a large number of residents in Connecticut is sizable. Emergency response plans (ERPs) need to be in place to address concerns including epidemic/pandemic disease, the intentional or accidental release of a hazardous material, contamination of the food and/or water supply, and other incidents that might threaten the 3.4 million residents and could result in mass casualties. For this reason, the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH; 2005) has developed an ERP to guide the department in the event of a catastrophic threat the lives and safety of the residents of Connecticut. Additionally, the State of Connecticut has developed a State Response Framework, much like the National Response Framework, in order to allow for a modulation of an incident from a local level to a state or federal level (State of Connecticut, Department of Homeland Security, 2010; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2008). The ability of an incident response to grow and shrink as an incident dictates follows the natural progression of incidents starting and ending locally, whether involving state or local responses at any time during the response (Walsh et al., 2012).

The ERP (DPH, 2005) that guides the DPH allows for representation in the state EOC while forming a modular incident management team (IMT) to staff the DPH emergency command center. The DPH IMT is designed not only to support the state EOC when activated, but also supports the various local incident commands as a public health and medical service resource. In keeping with the modular aspects of the incident command philosophies and the state and national response framework, the DPS ERP becomes a valuable resource for both initiating a response to a significant threat to the public health and safety and allows for an expert resource when other incidents of magnitude, but not necessarily public health in nature, require or benefit from the availability of public health experts.

One criticism I do have, however, is that the plan (DPH, 2005) does not address the provision of emergency medical services (EMS). For some time, there has been much confusion as to where EMS falls in the realm of emergency service functions. EMS, for many jurisdictions, is a function of the fire department and may fall under the direction of ESF #4, firefighting, especially as many EMTs and paramedics are cross-trained to fight fire. However, ambulances are not firefighting apparatus. As ambulances do transport the ill and injured, perhaps EMS falls to ESF #1, transportation. This is unlikely, though, as the primary need is not the transportation provided but the care rendered. Public health and medical services, ESF #8, seems to me to be the logical category for EMS to fall under, but EMS has an expanded role that also fits ESFs #9, #10 & #13 (search & rescue, oil & hazmat response, and public safety & security, respectively), as well as the aforementioned ESFs #1 and 4. This lack of initial categorization may allow flexibility in the deployment of EMS personnel and equipment, but it could also lead to ineffective deployment strategies resulting in a shortage of EMS in one area and overutilization in another.

References

State of Connecticut, Department of Homeland Security. (2010, October). State response framework. Retrieved from http://www.ct.gov/demhs/lib/demhs/telecommunications/ct_state_response_framework_v1_oct_10.pdf

State of Connecticut, Department of Public Health. (2005, September). Public health emergency response plan: Emergency Support Function #8 Public health and medical services. Retrieved from http://www.ct.gov/ctfluwatch/lib/ctfluwatch/pherp.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2008, January). National response framework. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nrf/nrf-core.pdf

Walsh, D. W., Christen, H. T., Callsen, C. E., Miller, G. T., Maniscalco, P. M., Lord, G. C., & Dolan, N. J. (2012). National Incident Management System: principles and practice (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

Emergency Operations Center Leadership

The emergency operations center (EOC) is a decentralized and secure place for senior management officials to maintain operational awareness when confronted with a large scale events or disasters (Walsh et al., 2012). Although these events or disasters may dictate the use of local incident commands at various emergencies throughout an area, the EOC allows an incident management team to direct the overall response effort while maintaining complete situational awareness. This allows for increased interoperability and the availability of resources and a centralized planning and intelligence effort (Walsh et al., 2012). During a multi-state event, a joint field office (JFO) might serve as the primary EOC to support other EOCs that have been activated.

Within the EOC, there are a number of leaders and managers responsible for ensuring an effective response strategy for the emergency that is being faced. One of these leaders is the Area Command Logistics Section Chief (or, “Log Chief”). The Log Chief is responsible for procuring and otherwise acquiring the facilities and personnel to support the response initiative. This includes “resources from off-incident locations […] providing facilities, transportation, supplies, equipment maintenance and fuel, food services, communications and information technology support, and emergency responder medical services, including innoculations” (Walsh et al., 2012, p. 60).

In response to an impending an ice storm in Austin, Texas, in 2003, the city’s EOC was activated 24 hours in advance of the storm. One of the crucial area command members activated was the Log Chief. The Log Chief ensured that redundant communications facilities were available as power outages were interferring with some established communications equipment. The Log Chief also ensured that there was food available for delivery to each small-scale incident as it developed. This was important as the available resources were deployed, there was a lack of available manpower during shift change, so feeding hungry crews was a priority. The Log Chief, on this incident, had many other important functions, but as a responder working in these adverse conditions, it was most important for me to be fed and have solid communications in the event I was to be one of the motorists sliding off the road.

References

Walsh, D. W., Christen, H. T., Callsen, C. E., Miller, G. T., Maniscalco, P. M., Lord, G. C., & Dolan, N. J. (2012). National Incident Management System: principles and practice (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

Public Health Risks in the 21st Century

Within the next 30 years, I foresee a significant public health risk of viral pandemic, a concern outlined in the recently published CISIS commission report (Fallon & Gayle, 2010). According to many, the next significant pandemic to be a global threat will occur anytime between now and 70 years (Gostin, 2004; Monto, Comanor, Shay, & Thompson, 2006; Ravilious, 2005; Smil, 2008; Tapper, 2006; Taubenberger, Morens, & Fauci, 2007). Although many scientists have their focus on influenza as the most probable for pandemic exposure, other novel virii, such as SARS, HIV, et al., have the facets to make them just as potentially significant (Gostin, 2004; Smil, 2008; Tapper, 2006). Regardless of the particular pathogen, history has shown pandemics to create and environment of negative net effects to humanity. According to Billings (1997) and Ravilious (2005), the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918, caused by a mutated avian flu strain, claimed between 20-million and 40-million lives in a single year (Monto et al., 2006; Taubenberger et al., 2007). Spreading quickly along major international trade routes, the Spanish flu infected many servicemen returning from duty at the end of World War I. As these infected servicemen returned and celebrated the armistice in crowds of people, a severe strain on the public health system in the United States was unknowingly developing. Considering the hypervirilence and increased mortality (2.5%, compared to the typical 0.1%) caused by the 1918 Spaish flu, the world’s economy was in turmoil (Billings, 1997). As most of the American workforce was recently embroiled in overseas combat duty, upon their return they must now face the possibility of infection, an inability to work, and possible death.

Monto et al. (2006) outline a useful model of surveillance techniques that would not only be useful in detecting and improving response to influenza outbreaks, but it would certainly help to detect any new significant diseases that could be a public health risk and threaten a population or society. Additionally, Taubenberger et al. (2007) focuses on learning the biology of the influenza virus to predict the possibility of outbreak and, thus, pandemic potential. Coupling these two approaches makes sense to both identify potential pathogens and use surveillance techniques to track and direct responses to mitigate actual outbreaks as they occur. These efforts, however, should be directed by an organization that values independant operation, impartiality, neutrality, and universality, just a few of the principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movements (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2010). Adoption of these principles will allow valuable health information to flow freely to other entities positioned to respond appropriately without regard to local politics, ensuring a just and equitable solution to help to mitigate the potential for great harm.

References

Billings, M. (1997/2005). The influenza pandemic of 1918. Retrieved from http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

Fallon, W. J. & Gayle, H. D. (2010). Report of the CISIS commission on smart global health policy: A healthier, safer and more prosperous world. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic & International Studies.

Gostin, L. O. (2004). Pandemic influenza: Public health preparedness for the next global health emergency. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 32(4), 565-573. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.2004.tb01962.x

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010, July). Haiti: From sustaining lives to sustainable solutions – the challenge of sanitation. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

Monto, A. S., Comanor, L., Shay, D. K., & Thompson, W. W. (2006). Epidemiology of pandemic influenza: use of surveillance and modeling for pandemic preparedness. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 194(Suppl. 2), S92-S97. doi:10.1086/507559

Ravilious, K. (2005, April 14). What a way to go. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/apr/14/research.science2

Smil, V. (2008). Global catastrophes and trends: the next fifty years. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Tapper, M. L. (2006). Emerging viral diseases and infectious disease risks. Haemophilia, 12(Suppl. 1), 3–7. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2516.2006.01194.x

Taubenberger, J. K., Morens, D. M., & Fauci, A. S. (2007). The next influenza pandemic: Can it be predicted? Journal of the American Medical Association, 297(18), 2025–2027. doi:10.1001/jama.297.18.2025.

Revisiting My Goals

When I applied to Walden University, there were some choices that I needed make in regards to which program I would enroll in. I relied on my past experience and some of my current goals to direct me to the Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (BSCIS) with a concentration in Information Systems Security (ISS), a process which truly motivates me. Revisiting my goals and lending them power to help navigate the world of academia, I needed to ensure that these goals still held true. The first assignment in the Introduction to Information Systems class afforded me the opportunity to do just that, while this assignment will allow me to review my goals once again.

My affinity towards positive social change (Schadone, 2009) is unwaivering, as is my desire to achieve a position in the field of disaster management. I do feel, however, that my chosen degree program is ill-prescribed to prepare me for such ambitions. Though there has been a great incentive to involve the engineering sciences into public policy administration (Connolly, 2009), my experience with the BSCIS degree, even with the ISS concentration, leads me to believe that the curriculum does not satisfy my current needs or goals. I do believe that a career in Information Systems Security would provide an opportunity to reach many of my goals, but other academic directions would provide a more solid foundation for me to build upon.

As of this writing, I have decided to research other avenues of academia which might be better suited to providing the core educational opportunities that would benefit me the most. I have decided that the B.S. in Health Studies with a concentration in Health Administration would be a better fit at this time. I hope to use this degree to propel me forward into an opportunity to earn an MPH with a concentration in Emergency Management and, ultimately, a Ph. D. in the same.

As the H1N1 influenza virus reminds us all about the 1918 “Spanish Flu,” there is an undertone of personal responsibility and preparedness in the event of a pandemic (Bornstein & Trapp, 2009), of which conditions are favorable. I plan to take personal responsibility in this and other potential disasters to position myself as an expert in the field helping to promote plans and policies to mitigate and respond effectively to such incidences. Though, I am versed in the computer sciences, I feel that my position as a health official would be better utilized in these times of crisis. Perhaps one day in the future I will return my focus on computing, but until then, my social conscience and sense of community seem to be my only defining factors.

References

Bornstein, J., & Trapp, J. (2009, June). Pandemic Preparedness: Ensuring Our Best Are Ready to Respond. IAEM Bulletin, 26(6), pp. 6, 14. Retrieved August 22, 2009, from http://www.iaem.com

Connolly, J. (2008, September). Bridging the gap between engineering and public policy: A closer look at the WISE program. Mechanical Advantage, 19. Retrieved August 22, 2009, from http://www.asme.org

Schadone, M. F. (2009). Information Systems and Me: My Professional and Career Goals. Minneapolis, MN: Walden University.

“Disaster Response and Management – IT” (DRAM-IT)

With the growing focus of disaster mitigation, response and recovery, companies that rely on information systems need to prevent and minimize the impact of disasters (whether natural or man-made) to their infrastructure. Society’s focus is to regain a sense of normalcy which requires a functioning economy, thereby increasing the need for companies to recover quickly.

By providing expert philosophies, procedures, systems and tools, DRAM-IT can ensure that the client will transition seamlessly from pre-disaster to post-disaster with no negative long-term effects.

We start with employee-focused health, safety and security. We believe that the employee is the first defense against failure. Employees should be healthy and not have their minds occupied by other domestic problems (e.g. family welfare) which is why in times of a disaster affecting the community, we contract with armed security agencies to provide force security for key employees and their families. This focus allows other employees to take care of their own before returning to work. The same security force will provide on-site perimeter security allowing employees to feel safe while aiding in recovery efforts. But, before the incident occurs, we will create processes to assist each employee in staying healthy and fit, both physically and mentally, including the creation of medical response teams to manage on-site medical emergencies until EMS can arrive.

Data loss can be immeasurable and therefore cannot be tolerated. After performing a forensic analysis of current IT practices, DRAM-IT will offer methods of securing data with redundant distributed arrays with cryptographic and hashing intelligence ensuring the data has not been and cannot be manipulated. Along with distributed storage, we can offer distributed processing to ensure the business keeps running without a need for direct input by employees.

During a disaster, the focus needs to be on initiating recovery processes and requires interfacing with local authorities to be part of the solution. We will provide the internal Incident Command structure which will integrate with the local, State, and Federal efforts to ensure pooling of resources. We are also committed to the community. The faster the individual entities of a community can recover, the faster the community as a whole can heal.

With DRAM-IT Systems Mitigation, Response and Recovery, we can ensure that you can concentrate on what is important… we’ll take care of the rest.

By providing an all-encompassing approach to disaster management, our clients can be assured of continuous critical systems processing, ensuring business continuity throughout the disaster.

Table Title: Examples of Structure and IT needs
Functional Area (See Figure 7.23) Supporting Information Systems (See Figure 1.6)
Example: Human Resource Management Example: Transaction Processing Systems
Command Executive Information Systems
Operations Decision Support & Strategic Info Systems
Tactical Knowledge Management & Expert Systems
Logistics Specialized / Transaction Control Systems
Finance Specialied / Transaction Control Systems

Subject: Investment Opportunity – “Disaster Response and Management – IT (DRAM-IT)” 02/25/14
To Whom it May Concern

I am writing you as an entrepreneur in support of the community. We have faced a number of disasters recently and our economy continuously suffers. I hope to provide a host of services to companies which are key to the community infrastructure. My goal is to be able to assist these key companies in recovering from the disaster internally and allowing the economy a maximized benefit in a minimal amount of time.

As a critical care paramedic who has worked with FEMA response teams in the past years, I have the experience and education to know what is crucially important during a disaster. As a computer programmer and IT professional, I know how to apply my knowledge to critical business systems ensuring a smooth transition during the various phases of a disaster, whether large or small, internal or external.

I wish to be able to provide mitigation training, on-site employee health programs, redundant communications, secure data storage and retrieval with distributive data processing, personal and protective security and adaptive processes and philosophies that can overcome even the most destructive of forces. We will initially be focused on consulting with the promotion of best-practices in mind. During the disaster phase, we will respond directly as Incident Command Teams that will be fully self-sufficient for over 72-hours to ensure the response and recovery are as smooth as possible.

The unfortunate reality is that this endeavor will require a large amount of start-up capital. We must first hire and train appropriate personnel who can then consult to client companies and ensure they can operate effectively during and after a disaster. We also need access to distributive networks with which to operate. These will undoubtedly be fee-based services, but initial investments of processor-time and storage would be invaluable. Investing in this opportunity is investing in the community.

Sincerely,

Michael Schadone

Academic Goals

Settling on a degree program among the vast array of choices available has been a goal of mine for a very long time. Many people that I know always assume that I have already obtained a degree, no matter how many times I tell them the opposite. They are always surprised by this. Fortunately, soon after graduating high school, I found a career where I excel, and it has always brought me financial stability and the variety which I crave; therefore, I have never felt a professional need to further my academics in my current field.

Obtaining a degree, in my mind, is a personal goal that lends to the creation of academic and professional goals, both short and long-term. I only have one long-term personal goal: leave a positive mark on the society in which I live. This creates a positive personal growth atmosphere where I feel that I can accomplish any task worth undertaking. This is where I start my journey in academia.

The educational choices presented to me were quite diverse, and I was fortunate enough to have the time to weigh the various options. One of the issues that I considered heavily is the motivation of the institutions in their recruitment processes. More students certainly equates to more money, and I do not fault any business for making money. In contrast, I needed to find an institution that promoted other values as well, specifically societal values. Walden University’s values of promoting and affecting positive social change are admirable to say the least. This agrees with my values and coincides with my goal of leaving that positive mark on society. This is why I chose Walden University for my academic growth.

One of my long-term professional goals is to gain a position to be able to help rescue and rebuild in the face of disaster. Today’s society relies heavily on the free flow of information, and in the event of disaster, improving the stream of this data is crucial to the economic prosperity of the affected region. I chose to enroll in the Computer Information Systems program and specialize in forensics to better understand the specifics in disaster-related network response. This will allow me to help more people when they need help the most.

To use a long held standard, “The best way to do is to teach many to do.” So that I may do the most good, I wish to eventually become an expert in my field and teach others in the profession. Thus, my long-term academic goal is to obtain my Ph. D. to further the research and to continue to formulate best practices of recovery in disastrous situations.