The next issue of Crisis Response Journal (7:4) is due to be published on February 17, 2012. Here's what we will be looking at...

Future perfect?

Dr Dave Sloggett provides a backdrop to the complex tapestry of issues surrounding state failure and the various forms of intervention open to the international community

Pukkelpop tragedy

Five people were killed and dozens injured in a freak weather event at the Pukkelpop rock festival in Belgium last year, writes Erik de Soir, who analyses the response and draws lessons for other festivals and events

Football disasters

Since 1902 approximately 1,900 spectators are known to have died and 8,800 have been injured in football stadium stampedes. To reduce this loss of life means learning from history and planning adequately for the future, Efraim Kramer tells Hilary Phillips

TFD’s front-line response

It is just under a year ago that the Great East Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami laid waste to vast areas of Japan. Here, Masanao Fujiwara describes the hellish conditions that the first units from Tokyo Fire Department encountered when they arrived on scene

Preparation through intelligence

Andy Marshall describes how an effective intelligence gathering process before, during and after a public sector strike in the UK helped to guarantee a minimum level of public safety to the community

Managing a volcanic crisis

Based on their analysis of crisis management during the El Hierro eruption, José Luis González and Fernando Soteras argue that such crises require clear scientific leadership to provide appropriate advice for the technical response, as well as to improve communication with those affected

A matter of stored energy

Dave Frodsham explores the phenomenon of burn injuries sustained in sub-flashover conditions – injury that can occur when energy stored within the layers of protective clothing is suddenly transferred to the firefighter. This can lead to burns, but with no sign of any damage to the PPE or outer fabric

Soldiers ready...

Sara F Zurita profiles an exceptional military unit that is tasked with responding quickly to disasters, serious risk or other public needs in Spain

Ready to be resilient

By helping regional leaders identify strengths and weaknesses in their capacity to respond to stress, the Resilience Capacity Index (RCI), developed in the USA by Kathryn A Foster, can illuminate the conditions and interventions that make one region more or less resilient, and why this is so

Protecting the backbone of a city

Cities are at the forefront of addressing the global challenge of climate change and currently seem to be beacons of hope in tackling the issue, say Richard Simpson and Alice Balbo

Safety in south-east Asia

Scott M Bernat uses recent events in south-east Asia to illustrate the need for comprehensive crisis management planning when operating in the region

A matter of confidence

Thomas Kinderman presents research that seeks to ascertain how confident police commanders and senior officers feel when faced with the preliminary management of catastrophic incidents

Fighting the invisible criminal

Cassidian explains how it can help companies become better equipped to mitigate and manage the cyber threat

Embracing the future

Justin Crump shares some thoughts and pointers on the way security must embrace the rapidly-growing social media trend

The cyber-threat: Fear, uncertainty and doubt?

Julian Richards contends that the cyber-threat is not an easy phenomenon to conceptualise and this is bound to have a confusing effect on how to formulate strategies to protect and defend our systems

Lost in transition

Patrick Lagadec introduces the feature on leadership by examining how a new era of interconnected global mega-shocks requires a different leadership mindset

Crisis leadership in organisations and communities

Herman B ‘Dutch’ Leonard and Arnold M Howitt examine the different kinds of leaders likely to come to the fore in an emergency – political leaders and emergency response chiefs – saying that neither group is likely to have the full set of capabilities required, so both groups need to work together

Didn’t see it coming…

How can leaders recognise the signs of an impending or unfolding crisis and, more importantly, how can they prepare themselves to deal with such events? Arjen Boin tackles these questions

In-depth: Major transport accidents

Ex-British Transport Police superintendent Willie Baker, who has unrivalled experience in preparing for and dealing with major passenger transport accidents, outlines the need for formal educational qualifications in managing such incidents

In Depth: Emergency management exercises – completing the toolkit

In the last issue of CRJ, Regina Phelps covered the first two critical tools that in an exercise toolkit – The right question and the secret weapon. This article explores the final toolkit gadgets – the right exercise and the simulation team

In-depth: Exchanging ideas and experience

Members of North American Fire Management Working Group report on the 2011 fire season and trans-boundary co-operation in fire management

Learning from disaster recovery

Ed Blakely discusses how the authors of a book on how to deal with post-disaster issues hope it will inspire more contributions and cases built from future disaster rebuilding experience

For better, for worse

In the second of our in-depth series about the media, Anna Averkiou explains the importance cultivating effective relationships with journalists to stand you in good stead in a crisis

Health carers: Under attack

Hospitals, ambulances and healthcare workers are coming under increasing attack as they tend to the sick and wounded in areas of armed conflict and violence. Dr Robin Coupland looks at work to tackle this growing issue

Celebrating the fireboat

This year, 2012, is going to be a year to remember for the UK. Not only do we have the Olympics, the Paralympics, but also the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, says the WCoFF

Managing disasters more effectively 

On December 20, 2011, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal for faster, more efficient disaster response of the European Union and for increased emphasis on disaster prevention and preparedness, writes Kristalina Georgieva

Leadership and command

The Incident Command System in the US allows all responders to co-operate effectively, writes J L Smither. The standardised structure makes it easier for incident commanders to co-ordinate teams from various jurisdictions and disciplines, responders integrate into the command system soon after arrival at the scene, and can begin operations quickly