In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The City of Boston has just launched two new online tools to help residents prepare a family preparedness plan and find their local emergency shelter.

According to the ReadyBoston press release:
“The Family Preparedness Planner and the Shelter Finder provide interactive ways for residents to answer logistical questions that would arise in an emergency. The Planner is [...]

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That’s the question asked on the American Red Cross’ Blog by Abi Weaver after the release of a new report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, “First Aid For A Safer Europe”. Among the report’s recommendations is that first aid be made compulsory in European nations. In her post, Weaver writes:
“This [...]

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On Wednesday, there is a free webinar on utilizing social media and other technologies for H1N1 and seasonal flu communications. It is being organized by the Center of Excellence for Risk and Crisis Communications at Booz Allen Hamilton.
The one-hour webinar is co-sponsored by the American Public Health Association, the International Association of Emergency Managers and the [...]

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An interesting and comprehensive piece on the changing paradigm of disaster communications, “Information Trickles Up,” by Jerry Brito and Daniel M. Rothschild was recently posted on the Local Knowledge project site of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The authors write:
The traditional view of disaster communications holds that in an emergency, information and instructions must [...]

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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced “The Big Rumble” marking the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake with a week-long series of special preparedness events. In a letter to the community, Newsom wrote:
“To commemorate the Loma Prieta anniversary, we invite you to participate in The Big Rumble, a week-long series of special events [...]

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The headquarters of the American Red Cross of Greater New York is just a few blocks away from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Manhattan’s West Side where the “Late Show With David Letterman” is taped. So, it’s only appropriate that the chapter’s employees just put together a ‘Top 10 Tips For Preparedness Month’ video (below) [...]

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Thanks to the Twitter feed of CraigAtFEMA (a.k.a. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate) who just posted an Emergency Management article, “Iowa County Surveys Citizens to Determine Emergency Volunteer Capabilities.” The piece explains:
To garner a better understanding of what its residents could contribute to disaster response and recovery, Adair County, Iowa, is surveying its citizens to determine their [...]

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Though it divided on whether or not to maintain the color alert system, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisory committee yesterday unanimously recommended that the Obama Administration make the government’s terrorism warning communications more robust, specific, transparent and actionable.
The Homeland Security Advisory System Task Force was appointed earlier this summer by DHS Secretary Napolitano. [...]

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As today is the last day that you can vote in the U.S. Health and Human Services’ H1N1 Flu Prevention PSA contest on Flu.Gov, I thought I would ask some folks from the worlds of social media, public health and/or emergency preparedness for their top pick from the 10 worthy finalists.
Among those I surveyed, the most [...]

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Pegged to National Preparedness Month, the U.S. Citizen Corps just announced it has added some new social media tools to its website, including widgets, web banners, and RSS feeds. They complement the Corps’ existing Twitter, E-mail lists and Facebook web presence. According to a news release:
“Widgets: Widgets are web tools that can be put on your webpage, [...]

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