Comments on: Washington Post “Outlook” Section Article

By: Chris Battle

Chris Battle — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:47:51 +0000

John, former DHS Undersecretary of Prepardness George Foresman read your article and offered his own comments on Security Debrief blog. He obviously thought well of your article. You can read George’s article at http://securitydebrief.adfero.com/next-steps-for-making-preparedness-everyones-concern/

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:12:04 +0000

Your right Mr. Solomon, in an emergency “We’re Not Prepared”. In your article you mentioned that your wife asked you “What should we be doing”. That is a question that we at Stargazer.org have been been asking and trying to answer. Stargazer, an online service for social good, offers a practical means for families, businesses and groups to prepare for an emergency. Stargazer Safety Kits, offered as a free public service, include simple PDF forms that can be filled out and stored on a personal computer. All information captured is securely under the control of the user of the forms. These forms allow people to capture and protect critical information they may need in a crisis. The forms can be downloaded at http://www.stargazer.org. We donâ€™t like to think about it, but disasters happen every day. So, if you do nothing else today, please take the time to help yourself record and protect your critical information.

By: Kevin F

Kevin F — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:27:34 +0000

While I appreciated your insights and suggestions in today’s Post article, I noticed there wasn’t any sort of connection drawn between the lack of individual preparedness and the failures of government preparedness over the last several years, Katrina being the biggest but not only example. While FEMA is not worthless (as some critics would have us believe), they have had too many public misadventures to instill unwavering faith among the public that our government will be there for us should the unthinkable happen. I would have thought that more people would take the approach of “I should be ready to fend for myself” given the perception of an inadequate government response, but with 93% unprepared, I wonder if it’s more of a “well, if our government can’t gear up properly, I probably don’t need to either.”

My apologies for sounding critical, but I think there’s a larger issue here than just individual preparedness.

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:25:48 +0000

Your article in today’s Washington Post is very timely, important, and, to me personally, vindicating. Since 9/11, I have been a proponent of citizen emergency preparedness, but also frustrated by lack of coordination and too-often abundance of apathy. Like you, I am a CERT member (currently in MD, previously in CA.) I was also a Red Cross trainer for Emerg. Prep. for small businesses.
Education is the key, and as you stated in your article, should be supported a lot more by govt. and private sector.
Thank-you for a great article.
Love your blog too.
Diane

By: Randy White

Randy White — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:31:46 +0000

John,

Thank you for writing this piece. Yes, we certainly need better emergency preparedness plans for any attacks or energy shortages that cause major disruptions to the system.

I feel, however, that it focuses on preparations from a 10,000 foot level. My experience with local emergency planners is that they tell people to have a 72-hour emergency kit on hand, but what about our larger emergency regarding food and energy sustainability?

I am presently consulting to many cities on how to prepare for Peak Oil emergencies, and certainly feel that any instructions to helping the education system focus on local agriculture using permaculture methodologies is a top priority for food security.