In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Entries from March 2009

Citizen Preparedness Policy Recommendations For Obama Administration To Increase Public Readiness And Engagement

March 31st, 2009 · 6 Comments

Below is a list of ideas that I believe the Obama Administration – working with the Congress as well as state and local leaders and the public – should consider to help raise citizen preparedness and engagement. These proposals come largely from discussions I have had with many people involved in all aspects of the [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Ideas

The Blog’s First Birthday!

March 29th, 2009 · 3 Comments

A year ago, I started this blog and wrote my first post. It has been great fun and really fascinating to do. I have learned so much during the past year. I hope the blog has been interesting and enjoyable to read, and that it has had a constructive impact on readers and their families [...]

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Tags: Uncategorized

“Prepare In A Year” May Be More Realistic In This Environment

March 28th, 2009 · No Comments

One of the major obstacles to family preparedness is that it can be expensive and time consuming. So, some in emergency management believe there is value in presenting the preparedness process as something that doesn’t need to be done all at once — making preparing for an emergency, if you will, more ‘manageable’ for people [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Ideas · State Preparedness

“Kennedy Serve America Act” Passes Senate; Would Increase National Service Participants Involved In Disaster Preparedness, Response

March 27th, 2009 · No Comments

The U.S Senate yesterday passed the “Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act”, which would significantly raise the number of Americans who can participate in national service programs, including those to help prepare for and respond to disasters. The legislation calls for tripling the size of the AmeriCorps to 750,000 and expanding incentives for students and seniors to give [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Groups · President Obama · Uncategorized · Volunteering

Good Article On Social Media’s Role, Potential In Disaster Situations

March 26th, 2009 · No Comments

 In the January issue of Science, there is a nice feature on the use of social media in responding to disasters. (Thanks to my friend Jimmy Jazz for bringing it to my attention.) The article, “Crisis Communications” by Lea Winerman, covers some recent examples — the Virginia Tech shooting, Southern California fires, and Chinese earthquake — where [...]

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Tags: Media · Preparedness 2.0

New U.K. Government Report Says Threat Of WMD Attack Increasing; Part Of Effort To Educate British Public On Threats, Risk

March 25th, 2009 · 2 Comments

The British Home Office has just released a new report with its anti-terror strategy which reports that the risk of a WMD attack on the United Kingdom is increasing. HLS Watch has a good summary of how the new report fits into the British government’s overall approach to terrorism. 
The U.K. has been relatively open with its citizens about [...]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Student Volunteers Helping Galveston Post-Ike Recovery Give New Meaning To ‘Getting Hammered’ During Spring Break

March 25th, 2009 · 1 Comment

The Disaster News Network has a ‘good news’ article about the more than 5000 college students from around the U.S. who are spending their Spring Break helping post-Hurricane Ike rebuilding efforts in Galveston, Texas. According to the story, the students are ”giving their time, efforts and money toward helping us to recover” said Eddie Hilliard, a member of [...]

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Tags: Volunteering

“Great Start In DC” For ‘Tweeting’ FEMA Administrator-Designate Fugate; Now In Search & Rescue Operation For Lost Luggage

March 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment

As described in the previous post, FEMA Administrator-Designate Craig Fugate’s trip from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C. to begin preparations for his Senate confirmation hearings has not gone exactly as planned. ‘Followers’ of his Twitter feed, disasterrus, have not only read that Fugate was delayed in Atlanta and missed a connecting flight, but they also got to [...]

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Tags: Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness 2.0

FEMA Administrator-Designate Fugate ‘Tweets’ His Way To Washington For Confirmation Preparations

March 24th, 2009 · 2 Comments

I wrote recently that I thought the Twitter feed, Disasterus, of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate provided some interesting and even fun insight into the activities of the future FEMA Administrator. In a tweet earlier today, Fugate wrote:
Tallahassee this morning, flying out to DC to begin briefings to prepare for Senate Confirmation 
In the era of [...]

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Tags: Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness 2.0

Changing Of The Guard At “Homeland Security Watch” Blog, North Dakota/Minnesota Red River Flooding Roundup

March 24th, 2009 · 2 Comments

There’s new management at one of the most informative homeland security news and analysis resources I know of, the Homeland Security Watch blog. Jonah Czerwinski, a good friend of this blog, who wrote HLS Watch for the past 13 24 [corrected] months is taking a job in government. He has recently been replaced, quite ably, by a trio [...]

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Tags: Flooding · Preparedness Resources