The Role of Homeland Security Information Bulletins within Emergency Management Organizations: A Case Study of Enactment

Homeland security information bulletins from governmental, commercial, and non-governmental providers are an important source of threat information within local emergency management organizations. This article examines how email-based homeland security information bulletins influenced preparedness in one university's emergency management organization. A one-year field study of the university's emergency management meetings, supplemented by in-depth interviews, survey data, and textual analysis, was used to determine how participants made sense of and communicated about homeland security threats. Assumptions about communication obscure the influence of bureaucratic imperatives in shaping "enactment" of homeland security threats. Process changes may be needed in order to enhance the contributions of homeland security information bulletins to emergency preparedness.