CONTRIBUTE TO A GROUNDBREAKING BOOK ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE
ABOUT THE BOOK
Emergency management has never been more complex—or more essential.
That’s why we’re building a book unlike anything the field has seen: a real-world reference created by the people who’ve led through it.
This project brings together experienced professionals across the emergency management spectrum to share what actually works—hard-earned lessons, tested strategies, and innovative ideas that don’t show up in training manuals.
It’s a space to pass on what matters most: the knowledge that helps others lead with clarity, courage, and impact when it counts.
It’s Time to Make the Field Stronger Than We Found It
Hi, I’m Pete Gaynor, former FEMA Administrator and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I've spent fifteen years in the demanding yet rewarding business of emergency management and I’ve served in many different roles. But regardless of my role, one steadfast belief has remained true…
One belief has guided me through every role: leave it better than you found it.
This book is part of that mission.
We’re building a record of the best practices, real-world insights, and field-tested strategies that emergency managers actually use when the stakes are high. It’s a collective effort to strengthen our profession—and to support the next generation of crisis leaders.
Planning for the future is always a challenge when the present keeps demanding our attention. But it’s time to change that.
Let’s create a go-to reference—practical, honest, and rooted in lived experience—that helps emergency managers lead with clarity when it feels like there are no answers left.
And to do that, I need your voice.
This book will be:
✓ A concise, straightforward, usable desktop reference guide
✓ Sourced from emergency management experts across the country.
✓ Full of real-life examples of how the nation’s best emergency managers have navigated the most difficult disasters.
This book is not:
✗ An academic research project
✗ Going to result in a 500-page technical textbook
✗ Another book that will sit gathering dust
✗ Like any other emergency management book out there today.
Who Can Contribute
Everyone in the field has something valuable to share. No matter your role, position, jurisdiction, or level of experience, your contribution can help shape the future of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery—not just in your community, but across the nation.
What You’ll Write About
Each contributor will focus on one specific problem emergency managers face in the real world.
You’ll share how you’ve solved or navigated that problem, offering readers practical insight they can use in their own work.
How Your Contribution Will Be Used
The book will be organized by functional areas (e.g., operations, logistics, mitigation, etc.). Each section will open with an introduction from a leading expert in the field—followed by the most important part: your real-world contribution.
What to Include
Your submission should be concise, focused, and practical.
Share the challenges you’ve faced, the solutions that worked, and any strategies that helped you lead more effectively in a high-stakes environment.
I encourage you to be creative and share insights that will resonate with a diverse audience.
Benefits of Participation
✓ Get recognized as a contributor in a first-of-its-kind emergency management resource. The book will be widely distributed across the field—including federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies, academic institutions, and global partners.
✓ Expand your professional reach through virtual launch events, where contributors will have the chance to share their insights, connect with peers, and engage a broader audience shaping the future of emergency management.
Submission Guidelines & Details
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Fill in your contact information and accept the content agreement.
Select the appropriate Functional Area in the drop-down menu. You can also download the full list of Functional Areas here.
Solution Format (submissions are limited to 500 words)
Problem
Solution
Result
For longer submissions: If you believe your submission requires a longer explanation, you can still submit your contribution for consideration. We reserve the right to edit your contribution for length to meet the goals of the project.
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Functional Area: Winter Storm/Blizzard
Solution:
“During severe winter storms and blizzards our community constantly struggled to restore power to communities that lost electricity due to high winds, heavy snowfall, and fallen trees and branches that reduced road access. Our state has a “pole sharing” agreement where electric utilities own a percentage of power poles and telecom/cable providers own the remaining percentage of poles which makes it difficult to properly determine the ownership of infrastructure. Because restoration required different entities to resolve the same problem, coordination was always arduous. For example, if electricity was out in a certain neighborhood and a damaged pole belonged to a telecom provider, restoration couldn’t be performed until the telecom provider showed up—even if the electric utility was already on the scene to fix the problem. This issue was further compounded by access problems (blocked roads from fallen trees and unplowed snow) and the lack of law enforcement available to coordinate traffic issues. Our solution was to form on-call Restoration Task Forces. These consist of a dedicated plow truck, an electric restoration crew, a telecom provider crew, a state or local police officer to control traffic, and national guard personnel in high-wheeled vehicles with tree-clearing equipment to remove access issues and provide general support. The result dramatically improved the speed of electric restoration and demonstrated to the community that the “government” was prepared and ready to deal with problems in a proactive and common-sense manner.
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You can submit as many times as you like in accordance with the Submission Procedure, Format, and Sample listed above.
Do not worry about grammar or punctuation. Our editor will help fine-tune your submission.
If there are questions about your submission, you may be contacted via email to ask for clarifications.
All submissions will be run through a “Plagiarism Checker” prior to acceptance.
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My goal is to reach a first draft within one year of starting this project. The timeline could be impacted by many factors, one of them being the enthusiasm of professionals to submit content.
I will keep contributors up to date on the publication schedule via email.
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In full disclosure, I am doing everything from casting the vision for this book to scheduling, financing, editing, and publishing the final product.
As with any ambitious project, there will be bumps along the way. Your cooperation and care, coupled with my dedication to this endeavor, will make this project successful.
The sales price of the book will cover any costs associated with publication. The only investment I am asking you to make is that of your time, ideas, and enthusiasm.
Submit Your Work
Before you can submit any content, you must acknowledge and agree to the terms and conditions of submission by checking the box in the submission form.
Contact Us
info@eight-north.com
Eight North Disaster Consulting LLC