It’s been said and written, by so many of us across all the varying practices of emergency management, that the essence of what we do is about relationships. Why is that?
While emergency managers and emergency management agencies have some resources, those are of very limited scope and quantity. So when needs are identified in the community, we work with partner agencies to obtain resources and coordinate efforts. We solve complex problems, which wouldn’t be so complex if they were easy to solve. Our contact lists hold incredible value, but that value isn’t just in an email or phone number, it’s in the relationships that we forge with those on the other end. That relationship may be nothing more than familiarity – we’ve met a couple of times in meetings. Or perhaps the relationship runs deeper from working on various projects or even incidents together. Some of us even forge friendships with the people with which we work. Even familiarity brings with it a credibility that goes beyond a cold call, and the better relationships we forge means that people are more naturally inclined to help and to prioritize that help.
While we certainly find ourselves forging new relationships in response and recovery operations, the best time to do that is now. But when we look at preparedness constructs, forging relationships are rarely mentioned. Readers know I’m a big fan of the POETE preparedness elements – Planning, Organizing, Equipping, Training, and Exercises. I’ve written earlier about adding an A to the front of that – Assessing – although assessments may be part of planning, they can also be a stand-alone activity. Something I like about POETE/APOETE is that it is philosophically the order in which we do these activities, at least to begin any preparedness project. It starts with a plan, supported by internal and external organizational support, followed by acquisition of equipment or systems to support plan implementation, training of staff on the plan and the equipment/systems, then exercising it all. Aside from the ‘form a planning team’ step in developing a plan, I’ve largely put any relationship-centered activity under the Organizing element, but if we look at POETE as a programmatic order of operations, that’s far too late. I think Organizing is still very relevant where it is, because following the development of a plan, we need to ensure that internal and external organizations are aligned to support plan readiness and execution, but relationship building in general is a distinct, ongoing activity in which everyone in emergency management must engage.
Looking at POETE/APOETE as the elements of preparedness, and in consideration of the need to add Relationships to the acronym, and in further consideration of the order of the acronym emphasizing the general workflow, I propose that we add an R right up front. As such, my new version of POETE is now RAPOETE. I’ll let you figure out your own pronunciation of the acronym, but I think this is an important recognition of a critical element of preparedness that has been underrepresented at best among its peers. Relationship building, just like the other preparedness elements, also requires deliberate effort on the part of emergency managers. While it may be less tangible, it strongly supports the collective success of all our preparedness efforts.
Long live RAPOETE!
What are your thoughts?
© 2026 Tim Riecker, CEDP
The Contrarian Emergency Manager 