In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

Welcome to listeners of the public radio show “Homeland Security Inside & Out” who are arriving here at this blog for the first time. I hope you’ll stick around.
I did an interview for the show about the blog that appears on this week’s show. 
As I have written before, I am a big fan of “Homeland [...]

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There is a fascinating interview by Jeff Stein in CQ Homeland Security with Darrell Darnell, Washington’s emergency management director, headlined “D.C. Homeland Security Chief Predicts Chaos In Event Of Nuclear Attack”. (Thanks to Eric Holderman’s Disaster Zone blog where I originally saw it.). I recommend reading the interview, because it puts into real focus the challenge [...]

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When it comes to preparing the U.S. public for disasters, one of the most important things to realize is there is not just one U.S. public to prepare. In fact, our cultural diversity may be one of greatest strengths as a country but when it comes to preparedness it is one our toughest obstacles. Addressing [...]

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After the American Red Cross’ Senior Vice President of Preparedness and Response Joe Becker finished doing a segment for this blog’s new video series “What Should We Tell The Public?”, he said he had another one in him and was kind enough to stick around to tape it. In his second segment, Becker again [...]

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I received an email last week from the Arlington, Virginia Office of Emergency Management alerting subscribers that they were going to start sending fewer email/text emergency alerts.
From: “Arlington Alert”
To: “Arlington Alert Subscribers”
Subject: Policy change concerning Military Flyover Alerts
Routine ArlingtonAlert notifications regarding military flyovers are being discontinued. This change was made due to the almost [...]

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Thanks to “The Takeaway”, WNYC Radio’s new morning show, I discovered a fascinating website/project, Hero Reports (Heroreports.org). Brainchild of Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate Alyssa Wright, Hero Reports takes its inspiration from the “See Something, Say Something” transit security campaign but adds a very constructive twist by soliciting examples of what the site calls “civic [...]

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Today, I am launching the first “In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog” Contest. It is my belief that we need to make emergency preparedness more engaging and even fun (as well as add some incentives) if we are to get Americans to take notice and start the preparedness process. So, I will be running some [...]

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I recently had the opportunity to meet Claire B. Rubin for the first time in Washington. Claire is a long-time emergency management consultant and scholar whose work I have followed in several types of media for awhile, and I wanted to bring them to your attention. She is a co-editor (with John Harrald) of the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency [...]

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This is my 100th post to the blog. When I started it three-and-a-half months ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect (ie. would anyone find the blog let alone read it?). It is still very much a work in progress. However, I have been encouraged by all the (mostly positive) feedback I have received — both from the [...]

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The next installment of the video series “What Should We Tell The Public” features Time magazine’s Amanda Ripley, author of The Unthinkable. As I mentioned in previous posts,The Unthinkable is a fascinating book that anyone interested in or involved in emergency preparedness — or for that matter anyone who ever thinks about what they would do if faced with [...]

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