Product Recommendations

18 hour days sound familiar? Room temperature water does not help. Hydro Flask Water Bottles are known for keeping cold drinks, cold. And hot drinks, hot.

This is an easy one. Challenge coins are a sacred sign of respect in military and emergency services. We like honoring The Flag with this Challenge Coin display.

Let’s face it. Emergencies don’t happen when everything is convenient. Don’t become part of the problem by trying to hold your phone while driving. This car cell phone wireless charger will allow you to talk, drive, and charge all at the same time.

J5 Tactical are well known with police, fire, and emergency medical services. This small but very powerful tactical light will help you when the lights go out.

Make sure all of your emergency kits carry a flashlight and backup batteries or battery storage.

Drones are really emerging in the emergency management world for there numerous capabilities like increased situational awareness, preliminary damage assessments, search and rescue. Be aware, it’s very important to know the rules and regulations around flying a drone.

As you may notice, this is a multi-tool without a knife. They are referred to as, “TSA multi-tools.” Technically in some governmental buildings you can have up to a 2” blade, but we would prefer this handy tool to be safe.

Emergency management is intertwined with protection services. 5.11 makes some of the best jackets on the market. Between the seamless pockets and arm Velcro patch, they are great, multi-hazard / seasonal jackets.

Swiss Army is a brand to remember. We love their gear and high quality craftsmanship. The Maverick will help you look good and keep time when disaster strikes.

This doesn’t look like a big deal. It is. These key chain mini S hooks are a life saver! How many access keys, vehicles, sheds, and locks do we have to have keys for? It’s as ridiculous as carrying two phones on us at all times. This allows you to only carry the keys that are needed for that day. A great way to save from ruining your ignition switch on your car from all that weight.

This small First Aid kit is perfect for your backpack. Keep it on you in case there is an emergency and you need to provide a splint, band-aid, or compression.

If you take medicine regularly as part of a medical condition, it would be a great place to add it in case you need to access it quickly, or if someone is trying to locate it when your down. Also consider including critical information like the info in this plan.

Between your computer, ipad, binder with the Incident Action Plan, a small first-aid kit, Hydro Flask… things add up. Do it right, get a great backpack like this one and not worry about it.

Experienced emergency managers know about this one. Especially those who have assisted in Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training. Duct Tape can do so many things in an emergency, from acting as a splint, to marking times and code level in a triage situation. White duct tape will make it easier to read the black permanent marker too.

The complexity of disaster, how do deal with different populations, knowing where they are strong, and understanding where they need the most assistance will make emergency managers more effective. This book reviews numerous events and how populations reacted to them. It includes drought and famine, hurricanes, wildfires, and other like disasters. The book also speaks about international relief to different socio-economic populations around the globe.

Clair Rubin is one of the most famous emergency management researchers in our field and has done wonderful work in capturing the details of the U.S. response to large-scale disasters. All emergency managers would learn from reading this book. It would be embarrassing to not review past experiences in a field where major decisions for future disaster responses are based on after action response. We must all know the information here.

Emergency managers read countless books on management styles and leadership. Most come from academic perspective, which is great for data analysis, difficult to want to finish reading. We think General Mattis and Bing West nailed the book Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead. It is a great resource from a leader who has response experience and subordinates that are deeply loyal. Better yet, this book is full of stories from his own experience and examples from other great leaders in history.