mtthwhgn

20 years in Emergency Management I started my career in emergency planning twenty years ago this week. I don’t keep a diary, but I remember the exact day because it coincided with what remains the costliest tornado in UK history. …

BLOG: 20 years in #EmergencyManagement, looking backwards and to the future mtthwhgn.com/20-years-in-...

Queering Disasters, Climate Change and Humanitarian Crises This edited book investigates how disaster-related experiences and needs of LGBTIQA+ people differ across national, cultural, and regional boundaries.

Now available to order…

“𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀” featuring a chapter I was honoured (and a bit daunted) to contribute 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Finally, COBR is just the tip of the emergency management iceberg.

Resilience work also happens before the crisis, outside the room, and often without headlines.

END!

So next time you see that “COBRA has been convened,” just know it means:

Things are serious.

Some people are in a room.

A stressed person is updating a PowerPoint titled “Latest CRIP – FINAL v27 REAL FINAL”.

COBR isn’t limited to domestic incidents either.

It most recently met YESTERDAY to consider “fast moving” matters in Iran.

It’s not a ‘given’ that COBR will meet. I’m not aware of published triggers or thresholds, it’s essentially just…vibes.

A relationship flow diagram taken from the Amber Book, showing the link between COBR and other coordination structures.

Contrary to fictional portrayals, COBR doesn’t ‘run’ the emergency response. It provides strategic coordination and direction setting.

Local responders do the doing (and slightly confusingly, also have their own strategic coordination arrangements)

COBRA: a multi-part blog-along My career in emergency management started 15 years ago this year. The London bombings had happened the previous year and one of (many) themes in the profession at the time was about ‘citizen …

COBR has featured in TV shows and films, notably in Sky’s show COBRA, which I blogged about here: mtthwhgn.com/cobra-a-mult...

Drawing on info from the National Situation Centre (National SitCen) a Commonly Recognised Information Picture (CRIP) is produced.

That’s a lot of jargon for essentially a document summarising known info about an incident.

Attendance at COBR meetings is situation dependant, but a mix of relevant government departments and agencies.

The COBR Secretariat in the Cabinet Office provide meeting support.

In 2014, the Information Commissioner called it COBR(A), which is a whole new level of confusion!

COBR(M) where the M stands for Ministerial. In this version, the chair would be a senior Minister, sometimes the Prime Minister if the crisis is really serious (and they’re not on holiday! 🫢). Sometimes the M is implied.

It is styled in a couple of varieties…

COBR(O) where the O stands for Officials, and brings together senior civil servants from across government departments.

A gif of Steve Carell from The Office USA.

It also signals to emergency managers to get ready for some fast-paced information requests!

COBR is usually convened when a crisis is serious enough to need cross-government coordination.

It’s best suited for early phases of an emergency and signals to media and wider public hear that things are escalating.

Some people might tell you the A in COBRA refers to Room A. This is disputed, and ‘Committee Room A’ is apparently in a different wing of the Cabinet Office complex ‘70 Whitehall’.

A blurry image of a dimly lit meeting room with a large central table with multiple screens at one end. The information on the screens is not legible.

COBR is not NASA Mission Control. This image released in 2010 gives a flavour, but it has changed a bit since then.

It’s the top level of the Government’s crisis response structure, often described as ‘Whitehall in miniature’, originally developed following the 1972 dockers strike.

First up: pronounced the same but it’s officially COBR, not COBRA. Cabinet Office Briefing Room not 🐍

Does it matter? No. ❌

Does it make UK Emergency Managers twitch when the media spell it wrong? Absolutely! 💯

A screen grab from an episode of The Diplomat. Rufus Sewell lies in a hospital bed, his head covered in scrapes. Kerri Russel sits alongside him and looks confused and subtitled text asks “What’s a COBRA?”

Feels like we’re gonna hear a lot about ‘COBRA’ again…so how about a little explainer 🧵

I’ve been waiting patiently for this!! I need to get listening/live posting!

Applying the art of kintsugi to disaster recovery In August, I posted on X (let’s leave that conversation for another time) a provocative comment, questioning whether recovery exists: — mtthwhgn  (@mtthwhgn) August 21, 2024 My feelin…

Which links back to this blog post from Nov 2024, on how kintsugi might be a good way to think about disaster recovery mtthwhgn.com/applying-the...

a cropped photo of five people wearing aprons and gloves, showing off their pottery which has been repaired using the Japanese art of kintsugi, resin mixed with gold, to highlight imperfections

Spent the afternoon with my team creating kintsugi masterpieces, and talking about resilience, patience and perfection

A panel of experts at the launch event for London’s Business Resilience Networks.

Talking about crisis response assumptions (I.e. dispelling the panic myth), @profbrookerogers.bsky.social says “Hollywood has a lot to answer for!”

A screenshot from Netflix’s Departure, showing a woman (Archie Panjabi) and subtitles which read “somebody somewhere always takes responsibility after a disaster”

Do they? #EMGbluesky #DRR

BBC Radio 4 - Word of Mouth, Disaster Dialogue Professor Lucy Easthope explains why language is important in the aftermath of a disaster.

Pigeons, acronyms and ‘what is an emergency planner anyway’ @lucygobag.bsky.social with Michael Rosen. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Finale post: phenomenal! What a triumph of storytelling!

A photo showing a green lanyard prop inside Soho Place theatre, London. The label on the lanyard indicates the event is for an NGO attendee at COP 3 in Kyoto, December 1997.

The signage for the show outside the theatre. A white digital screen with the word Kyoto in red, the ‘o’ is the globe.

Interval post: I’ve been transported to 1997 for #KyotoPlay. This show is sensational - if you’re in London, don’t miss it!

Thinking Allowed - The Grave - Memorial Benches - BBC Sounds Laurie Taylor explores the origins of the grave and the meaning of memorial benches.

An upbeat Monday morning listen: Graves & Memorial Benches on BBC Sounds. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...