| Sumario: | This article summarizes an 18‐month study of the national response to the COVID‐19 pandemic as viewed from the individual perspectives of a team of local emergency management professionals. The research project evaluated the COVID‐19 response based on a concept articulated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a "whole community approach" to disaster preparedness and public health, which became the de facto organizing structure for the COVID‐19 national response. The research project identifies significant deficiencies in implementation of that concept, and offers some recommendations for defining a true "whole community approach" to public health and safety as a mitigation strategy against future national‐scale civic emergencies.
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