Inside My Canoehead
Jeff - AKA Dr. D
1 Creator
1 Creator
Non-apocalyptic evidence-based preparedness education for rational people. Grounded in the principles of personal responsibility and the power of community, the podcast presents achievable ideas on how you can chase your dreams and rock and incredible life, wrapped in a blanket of preparedness.
Your host Jeff, AKA Dr. D is a veteran, author, professor of emergency management and an avid backcountry paddler.
Society is not about to collapse, but the 2020s will be spicy. Adopt a prepared life and live large. Preparedness is a lifestyle, not a stockpile.
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Top 10 Inside My Canoehead Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Inside My Canoehead episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Inside My Canoehead for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Inside My Canoehead episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Preparedness: 2022 Threats and Opportunities
Inside My Canoehead
12/06/21 • 31 min
Every scholar, amateur and in-betweens have published lists of the coming year's threats and what is likely to happen. Crystal balls abound. This episode touches on the threats from a micro perspective, what is uncertainty and how will political and economic woes of the coming year affect your family life. We explore inflation, elections, restoring and supply chains to understand what the individual may face in the coming year. We close the episode with a clear lesson on how to understand your family's exposure to the risk, how to mitigate that risk through multiple lines of operations (income, food sources, etc..) and then, the most important suggestion - expand your community. There is nothing more important in the individual emergency preparedness space than building a strong social network with individuals and groups that may afford resources: economic, financial, human and most important - support.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Communities Win the Preparedness Race
Inside My Canoehead
11/14/24 • 46 min
Research from across the discipline over the past twenty years has argued that the most influential and correlated variable to better post event outcomes is the sense of community and belonging. Whether found in hundred year old disasters in Japan, recent hurricanes in the USA, floods in Europe, earthquakes in Asia - all point to one singular variable that is an indicator of a household’s likelihood of recovering from a disaster and made whole. In a previous article, I wrote about the strategies to build a resilient community, one where it is not individual household fending for themselves - the translation of public sector preparedness communications, but an intertwined web of networks and social connections that move as a whole. A force greater than the hazard and far out sizing government, community is the centre of gravity for successful preparedness operations.
We’re in the slow burn phase of a paradigmatic shift in the preparedness sub-field of EM, the evidence is present, the experiments continue to confirm community as the most influential variable, but change has yet to come. As Khun writes, this often takes considerable periods of time, where stalwarts hold onto previous ideas and theories, often due to sunk cost fallacy, educational structures in the discipline and organizational norms that reinforce the existing framework. We need to continue to champion the idea that the unit of measure in preparedness is not the human or household, but the community. Embracing what the science informs is more difficult than simple acceptance, as it challenges that which has framed and governed our efforts for generations. The world has changed, innovation is present at our doorsteps, but many continue to hold onto a comfort, the known, the accepted, the simple path.
It begins with changing the unit of measure to community and embracing technologies, being innovative and understanding that the government, community organizations, the corporate sector and households are equal partners in success. One is not superior to the others, collectively the four sectors of society are greater than the sum of the parts.
We’re almost there...
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Economic Barriers to Preparedness are Creations of the State
Inside My Canoehead
12/10/24 • 32 min
It is not that the population sees preparedness as unnecessary, but when associated as a cost element for a family, most are choosing to maintain more realtime budgetary requirements. Preparedness is future proofing, supper is today. If we correlate a cost to preparedness, we create an offramp, the easy button to choose not to adopt a prepared life as it is outside our current economic conditions.
The State creates the economic barrier in preparedness and then reinforces it as a selection on surveys. Offer a respondent the opportunity to indicate that something is important but unachievable due to economic conditions beyond their control, and they will do so in a statistically significant way. Simple logic and psychology. The individual feels better about themselves by assigning the blame for not adopting preparedness to the economy, not too different from the response to climate change arguments - I would do what I perceive as the right thing, but it costs money I don’t have access to, so I will hold the beliefs, feel good about myself and carry on.
Preparedness for disasters is a niche and interesting gateway to the overall phenomenon, a way to ground individuals in a new worldview, a reflective exercise expressed in the words of the stoics. Being ready to navigate events from the five areas of influence is an exercise in education, strategy and human relationships - not money.
Significant barriers to adopting preparedness exist, but access to financial resources is not one of those. It is unfortunate that one of the obstacles to overcome is the government.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Scalpel or Chainsaw - Emergency Management Governance
Inside My Canoehead
12/06/24 • 31 min
Public sector governance contains a relative scant level of review, not in the form of annual budgetary allocations, but in colloquial terms, a “fit for purpose” analysis. I’ve written before on the outsized level of bureaucracy, which at the origin, was likely created in times of need, to benefit the public. We’re often quite good at ameliorating sudden onset issues with programatic interventions, what we’re far less successful at is sunsetting those initiatives. Track records demonstrate that they take on a life of their own, having personally spent well over a decade at the strategic level of national governance, I can attest to the internal force of expansionist interest. Often these initially helpful and necessary programs or agencies are morphed and adapted by what the public servants refer to as scope creep. By expanding the inclusivity of a program, the responsibilities assigned to it, it grows. It is far easier for governance to add a new category or scheme to an existing program, than to begin the regulatory and administrative changes to establish a new, specifically orientated agency.
Over time, agencies grow past the initial mandate to become an octopus of entanglement, where the tentacles of the organization are now present in a diverse range of public sector arenas, that it becomes necessary and to some degree sufficient for overall public sector governance.
The answer may be a scalpel or chainsaw, or a combination of both. The answer might be to substantially rewrite the primary legislation for EM at the national level, redistribute responsibilities or remove requirements altogether. Everything should be on the table, to ensure the best possible service levels for the resources allocated.
We don’t know until we try - and we’re not trying
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Our Need to Be Right - Why We Want to Win the Argument
Inside My Canoehead
10/22/24 • 50 min
Being wrong, disproved or otherwise having our ideas challenged is uncomfortable. We prefer to exist in a world where we are surrounded by those who hold similar views, creating an echo chamber, missing some valued positions in society.
This is based in psychology, we believe in ourselves, we hold a place in an imagined hierarchy, we want to be seen as a positive force in the world. We want to speak to ideas and have everyone nod, we do not wish to have those ideas opening challenged and debated, or are we generally accepting of the idea that we may in fact be wrong, or at least have cracks in our argumentative foundation.
This belief in the need to be right, to be correct stymies our discourse, we listen to win, to defeat what others say, versus listen to understand why they believe what they do.
We do not consider or accept the possibility that our positions, some held for a significant period of time are false. We've lost the ability to fend for ourselves, to argue and lose. Maybe you and I are wrong, maybe our belief is incorrect - those statements are rarely held. We discuss.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Government ≠ Insurer of Last Resort
Inside My Canoehead
11/19/24 • 35 min
The argument is this: I believe that within a decade or so, the losses from disasters will be so expense that irrespective of the damage, there will no longer be any government assistance for those who are uninsured. Residents will simply have to go bankrupt and walk away. Were need a solution to stop that outcome.
We cannot order insurance companies to make policies cheaper, they’d go bankrupt. We cannot order residents to pay premiums they cannot afford, they’d go bankrupt. We cannot order the government to pay for disaster losses, they’re going bankrupt.
Insurance is best viewed as an investment, not an expense. We protect that which we deem valuable, from ourselves through medical, our loved ones through life, our cars through automobile, our stupidity through personal umbrellas and our domiciles and contents through house insurance. Hence, it is an investment to hedge against exogenous shocks that are largely outside our control, to cover the recovery costs post event. A simple idea that suffers from two main problems - personal responsibility and coverage from the taxpayer.
These are tough conversations we're not having, how do we as a society navigate this reality?
Why are we assuming the government will always be able to fund this expense?
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Trust in Emergency Management & Hurricane Preparedness
Inside My Canoehead
10/07/24 • 58 min
What we have all seen in the southeastern USA over the past week has been heart wrenching, whether here in Canada where I could do little more that financially support the NGO conducting operations, to the individuals charging into the chaos to provide relief and rescue those in peril. Evidence is clear that humans do not panic, they rally to the cause, step up to the occasion and do not turn to crime. Acts of violence and theft dramatically fall in disaster zones, though any instance of opportunistic theft is labelled as looting and broadcast across all channels as a representative behaviour of the local population. Abhorrent.
Misinformation is the intentional spreading of information one believes to be true but is in fact false, while disinformation is the international spreading of information the individual knows to be false, but does so anyway. Disasters include a breakdown of communication, where normal and stable networks are disrupted, sources of facts are interrupted and a void of available information seeds conspiracy theory. Dependable sources of accurate information are difficult to find and follow, this is a significant problem we are watching in the aftermath of hurricane Helene.
Institutional trust in the government has been on a steady decline, amplified in the pandemic and has shown little indication that statistical trends are returning to a growing public confidence in the government. FEMA is a federal government entity and therefore is subject to a mandate from the Stafford Act as well as other regulatory and policy frameworks. I have written extensively about the importance of building trust with the served population in times of peace and calm, building relationships with the affected population in advance of any disaster, so that when the event occurs, FEMA is seen as a trusted and valued addition to the response.
If EM is trying to establish themselves as a trusted source after the crisis begins, little success is likely. That requires dedicated pre-event population engagement over time, with all sectors of society acting together. We call it the community response council, the gathering for all parties in the area to discuss how they expect a response operation to be conducted, to establish priorities and to discuss who can do what for whom. Cooperation, coordination - not command and control. The secret sauce is just that, create the council in your area, be the champion and bring together all sectors of society. Leverage what has happened in Helene as an example of why a successful response operation requires a whole of community effort. When the trust is established it won't matter what mis and disinformation is present, residents will turn to their trusted sources for guidance. That is how you win, not by authority or title, but through engagement across society.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Engaging all Societal Sectors to Build Resilience
Inside My Canoehead
12/17/24 • 34 min
It is often stated that we are the most connected, yet loneliest generation. We hold in our hands a device that has access to the entire knowledge base of our species, the ability to call anyone on the planet and to send and receive information across all mediums. Yet we don’t know our neighbours, we are increasingly less tied to our communities and our sense of identity is less linked to place. It is the time of the individual, when the world needs the community.
Across the literature in multiple social sciences, there is a reasonably regularly occurring thread of the importance of human relationships, the value found only at in-person situations. We know there are physiological responses to the presence of another human, ones that do not present in online interactions. We are biologically wired to be together, in each other’s presence. We’re a tribal species who like the wolf, may be capable of survival as an individual, but to thrive requires a team.
The champion. Every community requires someone to step up and start, to initiate the first enabling environment, to announce the activation context and to organize the initial in-person gathering. Whether that is the local EM representative, a concerned voice in the chamber of commerce or a not for profit volunteer who sees an increasing demand for their services. I have seen a few examples in my research in Canada, a number of communities that have created a non-governing, non-decision making space where response is discussed. Often best described with the question: “What does it look like when X happens in our community, how will it affect you, your operations and what do you think we can do about it?”. A place for all four sectors of society to discuss the real impacts of certain events and as a team, consider what they could do, realize existing resources and coordinate assistance.
In the words of a stalwart in the field, Damon Coppola, “In a resilient community, EM is the redundancy”, not the primary response vehicle - that’s the community.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
The 100th Episode - The IMCH Why & Future Plans
Inside My Canoehead
04/29/22 • 24 min
Two years in and 100 episodes down, thanks to all the contributors, supporters and those who think this message matters. We chat about the "why" this podcast was created, the mess of the current preparedness landscape and the reasons why I think this channel is positioned to help. Plans for the future about the ebook, video course, consultancy and episodic continuation of the brand. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Buy Me A Coffee for daily preparedness tips. We will be publishing reels and TikTok videos in June, with the YouTube content focussing on preparations for outdoor adventure until July-August when we begin a series of detailed preparedness discussions.
Thank you for being here, it means a great deal.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
Why Canada Doesn't Need a FEMA Part 1: Defining the Problems in EM
Inside My Canoehead
12/13/21 • 67 min
With the current context of floods in BC, fires across the west, drought in the fields and potential hurricanes in the east, Canadians are being fed the notion that there is a lack of something in the emergency management field - in other words, we could be doing far better to help our citizens, mitigate hazards and overall preparedness and response. The default for some academics et al are to call for a US style FEMA to be established in Canada to direct, manage and help mitigate the coming effects of climate change and the increased frequency of disasters.
My bias is clear, there is no current or former issue that has been successfully addressed by the creation of a new public agency, employing thousands of public servants and consuming huge swaths of the public purse.
But before we provide a remedy, we need to properly define the problem. In this episode, I cover governance - who is responsible for what in Canada, the structure of the current Federal system with regards to emergency management. Then I outline within each of the four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery what are the shortfalls and offer some thoughts on how to address them.
The next episode will take this ground work and present two solutions: Morphing Emergency Preparedness at the Federal Level to a FEMA style agency and addressing the issues within the current structure - join me for that awesome second part.
www.insidemycanoehead.ca
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FAQ
How many episodes does Inside My Canoehead have?
Inside My Canoehead currently has 316 episodes available.
What topics does Inside My Canoehead cover?
The podcast is about Covid, News, Resilience, News Commentary, Podcasts, Self-Improvement, Education, Disaster and Prepper.
What is the most popular episode on Inside My Canoehead?
The episode title 'Preparedness and Political Turmoil' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Inside My Canoehead?
The average episode length on Inside My Canoehead is 32 minutes.
How often are episodes of Inside My Canoehead released?
Episodes of Inside My Canoehead are typically released every 4 days.
When was the first episode of Inside My Canoehead?
The first episode of Inside My Canoehead was released on Apr 29, 2020.
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