Suffocating Under Relief: How Emergency Management Lost Its Path to Coordination
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Suffocating Under Relief: How Emergency Management Lost Its Path to Coordination
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About this listen
In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, Kyle King shows how growing disaster aid has weakened emergency management. He traces FEMA’s move from a coordination role to a relief fund handler, points out the costs of grant-driven processes, and makes the case for rebuilding from first principles.
Tune in for a close look at institutional hurdles, a proposal to separate relief and response, and a roadmap to restore true surge capacity—so communities are ready long before the next disaster hits.
Show Highlights
[00:19] FEMA’s shift from civil defense to all-hazards management
[01:18] How coordination gave way to relief-focused work
[02:54] The downsides of relying on post-disaster aid
[03:40] Key events that reshaped emergency management
[05:11] How relief priorities hollowed out coordination skills
[09:10] Bringing back rapid national mobilization
[10:59] Structural changes to balance readiness and relief
[15:58] Putting coordination back at the center of emergency response