In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Entries from August 2009

In Interview, Ex-Sec. Chertoff Recommends Condensing Color Alerts (“Because We’re Not Going To Get Below Yellow”); Suggests School Preparedness Course (Incl. First Aid, CPR, Mechanics, Firearms Training); Acknowledges He “Would Have Liked To Have Done More” On Citizen Preparedness; Says Successor Napolitano Is Doing “A Very Good Job” — New Book Out Tuesday

August 31st, 2009 · Comments Off

In an interview just before the release of his new book, former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urges that the terror color codes should be condensed to three levels, calls for the development of a new preparedness course (including first aid, CPR, basic mechanics, and firearms training) for schools across the U.S., acknowledges “he would [...]

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Tags: Education · Preparedness Interviews

“Four Years After #Katrina, A Mix Of Progress And Inertia”

August 30th, 2009 · No Comments

An editorial in Friday’s USA Today summarizes some of the lessons learned and not learned from Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. Among the positives, according to “Four years after Katrina, a mix of progress and inertia,” are the rebuilding of FEMA as well as that:
–The New Orleans levees so easily breached in 2005 are in better shape. [...]

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Tags: Hurricane Preparedness · Media

On #Katrina Anniversary, Watchdog Warns U.S. Still Unprepared On Disaster Housing, Mass Care, Disabilities & Communications

August 29th, 2009 · 3 Comments

Four years after Hurricane Katrina, the United States is “dangerously unprepared” for another major disaster with many key functions of disaster preparedness, response, relief, and recovery continuing to lack capacity to deliver core services and programs before and after a major disaster, due to the ineffectiveness of FEMA to sufficiently coordinate over 20 agencies and [...]

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Tags: Hurricane Preparedness

As #Danny Moves By & U.S. Marks #Katrina Anniversary, 260,000 Volunteer “Storm Spotters” Keep Watch For Severe Weather

August 29th, 2009 · 1 Comment

As Tropical Storm Danny moves up the East Coast and the nation marks the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it is a good time to mention a robust volunteer program called SkyWarn. I have wanted to highlight this citizen preparedness opportunity since being reminded of the program by the new (and helpful) Citizen Corps Twitter feed [...]

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Tags: Hurricane Preparedness · Volunteer Opportunities

San Francisco’s New “Unbranded” Community Preparedness Initiative “Prep SF” Rocks!

August 28th, 2009 · No Comments

At one of the opening panels of the recent Citizen Corps’ National Conference On Community Preparedness, I heard a terrific presentation on San Francisco’s new preparedness initiative, “Prep SF Because It Rocks!”, given by Rob Dudgeon, the Deputy Director of  the City’s Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM), and Kristin Hogan from the consultancy CirclePoint who helped [...]

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Tags: Preparedness 2.0 · Preparedness Ideas · Preparedness Models

#FollowFriday @CraigatFEMA — Administrator Fugate Is Back On Twitter With New Name & Under New Management

August 28th, 2009 · No Comments

He’s back! The much anticipated return of @Disastersrus (a.k.a. Florida Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate) to Twitter with a new identity and under a new management occurred yesterday as now Federal Emergency Management Administrator Fugate launched his new feed @CraigatFEMA.
Based on @Disastersrus and his public statements thus far as Administrator, I can almost guarantee that @CraigatFEMA [...]

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Tags: Preparedness 2.0

Survey Says Women More Conscientious Than Men On #H1N1; While Only 1 In 10 Americans Are Very Worried About Flu, 93% Are Taking Or Planning Steps To Protect Themselves

August 27th, 2009 · No Comments

While only 1 in 10 of Americans surveyed by the American Red Cross claimed to be very worried about H1N1 flu, 93 percent say they are are taking or planning to take at least one action to guard against the H1n1 flu. The poll was released earlier today.
“Even though most Americans aren’t extremely worried about the virus, [...]

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Tags: Pandemic Flu · Public Opinion · Red Cross

Napolitano’s CPR Training Offers Some Lessons: Integrate Into Workplace, Commitment From Top, Schedule Follow-Up A Year Later

August 26th, 2009 · 3 Comments

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and more than 25 senior DHS officials  received CPR and first aid training from American Red Cross trainers at the Department’s headquarters in Northwest Washington, D.C. on Friday. During the two-hour session, Secretary Napolitano and her staff received hands-on training from Red Cross instructors in cardiopulmonary resuscitation [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Events · Preparedness Ideas

Government Reevaluating Ready.Gov Preparedness Recommendations For Public: “Get A Plan” Getting More Emphasis, “Get A Kit” Getting Less, “Get Trained” Getting New Attention

August 24th, 2009 · 4 Comments

U.S. officials are reevaluating the government’s original post-9/11 Ready.Gov citizen preparedness recommendations and in public statements are already reprioritizing what they are urging Americans to do to prepare for disasters.
It means that Ready.Gov’s “Get A Kit, Make A Plan, Be Informed” framework — which has been used by many federal, state and local preparedness sites since [...]

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Tags: Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness Tips

As Ready.Gov Readies Plans For September, “National Preparedness Month Could Become #H1N1 Preparedness Month”

August 24th, 2009 · No Comments

With “National Preparedness Month” (NPM) a little more than a week away, the H1N1 flu could make September a real-life ‘teaching moment’ on the importance of emergency preparedness, according to Ready.Gov’s acting director Becky Marquis. I spoke to Marquis at FEMA headquarters on Thursday to preview some of Ready’s plans for the Month.
The NPM’s kickoff [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Events