Former U.S. Senator Bob Graham (D-Fl), Chair of the Commission On The Prevention Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction On Proliferation And Terrorism says that educating Americans on the threat of WMD’s should be an “urgent” priority of the Obama Administration because without an informed citizenry the nation cannot maximize its security.
Graham’s WMD commission released a report, “World [...]
Entries from March 2009
Informing Public On Potential Threats Is “Urgent” Priority, WMD Commission Chair Bob Graham Says In Interview
March 9th, 2009 · 9 Comments
Tags: Preparedness Interviews · Preparedness Resources
You Have One Less Hour Today, But Do One More Thing
March 8th, 2009 · No Comments
It’s Daylight Savings today. So, when you change the time on your clocks, VCR’s, etc., (and check the batteries on your smoke alarms) why don’t you also take a moment to review the supplies in your emergency kit and go-bag (or put some aside if you have not already done so). I know we have one less [...]
Tags: Preparedness Ideas
Stephen Kempf (FEMA Regional Administrator) — “What Should We Tell The Public”
March 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Between sessions of a conference on special needs citizens and disasters, I filmed a “What Should We Tell The Public?” video with Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Regional Administrator Stephen Kempf. In the segment, Kempf tells viewers to determine the emergency risks in their own area and then be able to take care of themselves for 72 hours. [...]
Tags: "What Should We Tell The Public?"
Book Contest Rules Change — “The Survivors Club”
March 6th, 2009 · 2 Comments
I may have been a bit too ambitious and asked a little too much for “The Survivors Club” book contest last month. It turns out that I have not received any entries thus far. I had requested that readers send in “your brief story or tip on how you ’survived’ or coped with an emergency [...]
Tags: Contests
FEMA-Designate Fugate’s Twitter Feed Leads Me To Good Article On Government Use Of Twitter
March 6th, 2009 · No Comments
I was reading FEMA nominee Craig Fugate’s Twitter feed yesterday and found an interesting Government Technology article he tweeted about in January that I had missed when it initially came out. According to the piece, “Governments Use Twitter For Emergency Alerts, Traffic Notices And More”:
When Twitter’s founders launched the service in 2006, they advertised it as a way to [...]
Tags: Preparedness 2.0
New FEMA Administrator-Designate Craig Fugate Terrific Choice For Nation, Citizen Preparedness
March 5th, 2009 · 2 Comments
President Obama has announced his intention to nominate Craig Fugate as the next Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). It is excellent pick. Fugate has distinguished himself as Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.
Fugate understands the importance of the public in disaster preparedness and response and has made citizen outreach a focus [...]
Tags: Department of Homeland Security
Give Valuable Blood, Win Valuable Prizes And Maybe A Date
March 4th, 2009 · 1 Comment
As someone now benefiting from periodic transfusions, I’ve been promoting the importance of blood and platelet donations. I am also always on the lookout for innovative consumer marketing approaches in the preparedness area. So, I wanted to highlight two ideas I heard about recently.
First, I learned that the New York Blood Center has a ‘frequent [...]
Tags: Cause Marketing · Red Cross · Volunteer Opportunities
“Blogger Bob” Briefs DHS Secretary Napolitano On TSA’s Efforts To Reach Out To Flying Public
March 3rd, 2009 · 2 Comments
It may seem a little surprising that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano received one of her early transition briefings from someone named “Blogger Bob.” But considering the growing importance of social media in homeland security it makes a lot of sense.
“Blogger Bob” a.k.a. Bob Burns heads the Blog Team at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration [...]
Tags: Department of Homeland Security
“The Office” Shows Good Intentions, Not So Good Implementation In Workplace Emergency Drill
March 2nd, 2009 · 1 Comment
In a recent episode of the NBC comedy “The Office”, the crew from Dunder Mifflin Paper Company displays how not to do an emergency drill. When Dunder Mifflin’s Dwight Schrute feels his PowerPoint presentation on fire safety doesn’t get through to his colleagues, he tries another method. ”Experience is the best teacher,” says Dwight. He’s not wrong, [...]
Tags: Entertainment
A Reminder About Emergency E-Mail/Text Alerts As Snow Storm Hits Eastern Seaboard
March 1st, 2009 · 4 Comments
With a snow storm heading up the East Coast, my Blackberry has been buzzing with public email and text alerts about the weather situation, like this one from the State of New York’s Emergency Management Agency:Â
“WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM EST MONDAY FORÂ MULTIPLE COUNTIES…A WINTER STORM WARNING [...]
Tags: Preparedness 2.0