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Emergency Services and Response

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First responders—including police, paramedics, firefighters, and public health agencies—must react to all manner of emergencies, from terrorism to natural disasters. RAND research supports private-sector and government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels that are charged with responding to, mitigating the effects of, and recovering from natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other emergencies.

Report
Strategies for Improving Prehospital Outcomes for Cardiac Arrest
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a common, life-threatening event that is a leading cause of death in the United States. RAND researchers identified 49 strategies to improve OHCA survival and the delivery of care.
Jul 20, 2022
Essay
How to Prevent, Prepare for, and Respond to Mass Attacks
A new step-by-step guide can help communities prevent shootings and other mass attacks before they happen, and save lives when they do. It's written for a variety of public- and private-sector audiences—everyone from emergency responders and school officials to security personnel and community leaders.
Aug 30, 2022

Explore Emergency Services and Response

Journal Article
Trends in 2-1-1 Calls During Public Health Emergencies, Overall and By Gender: Hurricane Irma and COVID-19 in Broward County, Florida
The study examined how changes in 2-1-1 call volume after two public health emergencies in Broward County, Florida, varied by emergency type and whether variations differed by gender and over time.
Jun 22, 2023
Commentary
A Toolkit for Avoiding Mass Shootings
RAND has developed an online educational toolkit to provide practical strategies and guidance on deterring, mitigating, and responding to mass attacks. Research highlights three top ways to mitigate and/or respond to mass attacks right now: through proactive prevention, relentless follow-up, and diligent preparation and training.
Jul 14, 2022
Tool
Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit
RAND researchers created this tool to advance efforts to prevent and reduce intentional, interpersonal firearm violence and public mass attacks in the United States.
May 31, 2022
Report
SAFE Charlotte: Alternative Response Models and Disparities in Policing
Under contract with Charlotte, North Carolina, the authors evaluated three of the six policing and public-safety recommendations in the city's SAFE Charlotte: Safety and Accountability for Everyone report. They describe their findings in this report.
Sep 28, 2021
Report
Developing Metrics and Scoring Procedures to Support Mitigation Grant Program Decisionmaking
To develop metrics that can inform decisionmaking for awarding predisaster mitigation grants, the authors established three lines of effort (LoEs) for analysis. Each LoE produced a metric or framework that could support grant decisionmaking.
Mar 31, 2021
Report
United States–Japan Research Exchange on Artificial Intelligence: Proceedings from a Pair of Conferences on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Work, Health, and Data Privacy and on Disaster Prediction, Resilience, and Recovery
This report captures insights from two conferences that brought together U.S. and Japanese experts on work, health, and data security and on disaster response and disaster modeling to exchange views on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Dec 7, 2020
News Release
Creative Measures Needed to Meet Critical Care Demands of COVID-19; RAND Calculator Can Help Health Officials Plan for ...
Hospitals can prepare for a surge of patients critically ill with COVID-19, but it will require hospital leaders, practitioners and regional officials to adopt drastic measures that challenge the standard way of providing care.
Apr 3, 2020
Report
U.S. Coast Guard Emergency Response and Disaster Operations: Using Social Media for Situational Awareness
Researchers are helping the U.S. Department of Homeland Security understand whether and how social media might be better leveraged for situational awareness in U.S. Coast Guard response operations.
Mar 17, 2020
Commentary
A Coronavirus Election? Look to the Bottom of the Ticket
As the coronavirus spreads in communities, it will be mayors, county judges, and school superintendents—not federal officials—who make the tough calls about whether to declare a state of emergency or shutter public schools and other institutions.
Mar 9, 2020
Journal Article
Who Receives Naloxone from Emergency Medical Services? Characteristics of Calls and Recent Trends
Administration of naloxone by emergency medical services personnel is increasing faster than opioid-related deaths.
Sep 17, 2019
Journal Article
Reaching Vulnerable Populations in the Disaster-Prone US Gulf Coast: Communicating Across the Crisis Lifecycle
This article discusses results from a 2016 survey of Gulf Coast residents to explore potential vulnerabilities and resilience-building capacities in the region.
Aug 21, 2019
Blog
RAND Researchers Visit Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria
A small team of RAND researchers went to Puerto Rico two weeks after the island was struck by Hurricane Maria. They are compiling their observations into a series of studies for the Army, with recommendations to smooth its response to future disasters.
Dec 19, 2017
Commentary
How to Be Safer in the Arctic
The Arctic is more accessible than it once was, but it's still a formidable place to travel. An emergency involving a cruise ship or a downed plane could stress the search-and-rescue system. But modest investments and planning measures can make a big difference.
Oct 3, 2016
Report
Which Countries Could Become Disease Hot Spots?
Identifying and focusing on vulnerable countries that could become hot spots for infectious disease could help in the fight against future outbreaks.
Sep 12, 2016
Journal Article
The Promise of Direct-to-Consumer Telehealth for Disaster Response and Recovery
This paper discusses several potential uses of direct-to-consumer telehealth during disaster response and recovery while noting the logistical, legal, and policy challenges that must be addressed to allow for expanded use.
Sep 12, 2016
Report
Collaborative Disaster Preparedness: Vietnam, the United States, and Regional Experiences (Proceedings from Da Nang, Vietnam, August 18–20, 2015)
This report summarizes the workshop on Collaborative Disaster Preparedness that was conducted in August 2015 in Da Nang, Vietnam, and hosted by the Collaborative & Adaptive Security Initiative.
May 19, 2016
Journal Article
Wireless Emergency Alerts: Mobile Penetration Strategy
The objective of this analysis was to independently assess the coverage and penetration of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system.
Jan 5, 2016
Commentary
Ebola Shows America Needs Better Disaster Preparedness
Crafting an effective, whole-community strategy to respond to Ebola could stop the spread of the disease now and lay groundwork for responses to future outbreaks and other emergencies. In the long run, this could make public preparedness and resilience valuable assets for the U.S.
Nov 7, 2014

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Shoshana R. Shelton

Senior Policy Analyst

Shoshana R. Shelton is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on performance measure development, program evaluation, public health systems, violence prevention, infectious disease control and mitigation, and national health security. She has authored multiple…
Samantha Matthews

Ph.D. Student, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Samantha Matthews (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Community-Partnered Policy and Action stream at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. Her research is focused on behavioral health, suicide prevention, homelessness, and criminal justice. At RAND, she has…

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