In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I wanted to mention a new blog, “Recovery Diva,” by prolific emergency management expert, Claire Rubin. Claire is not new to the internet as she already co-edits (with John Harrald) the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management an electronic web-based publication. Claire is also the author of the book, Emergency Management: The American Experience 1900-2005, and she [...]

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There’s a useful roundup by Mollie Vandor, How To Prepare For Disasters Using Social Media, from the website Mashable.com. It was originally posted in March when this blog was on hiatus, and I just saw it. I wanted to post the article even though some of you may have already read it.
Vandor separates her guide into [...]

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On Wednesday, China held its second National Day of Disaster Prevention and Reduction. May 12th is the anniversary of the 8.0-magnitude 2008 earthquake that hit the nation’s Sichuan Province. China joins Japan which has its Disaster Prevention Day on the anniversary of the catastrophic 1923 Tokyo earthquake.

Students drilling in Donghu Primary School, Nanchang City, Jiangxi [...]

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U.S Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week that Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad would likely be charged “with an act of terrorism transcending national borders, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction [my italics], use of a destructive device during the commission of another crime, and explosives charges.”
I probably was not the only one [...]

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If the Nashville flood, the Oklahoma tornadoes, the Gulf Coast oil spill and the Times Square attempted bombing haven’t persuaded the public to think about preparing for an emergency, maybe news that Accuweather forecaster Joe Bastardi is predicting this year’s hurricane season will be in the “Top Ten” with 16 to 18 “named” storms will [...]

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The challenge of citizen preparedness is well illustrated by this letter to the editor to a newspaper in Canada during that nation’s Emergency Preparedness Week. I think anyone involved in public preparedness will empathize:
To the editor:
I guess everyone in Scugog Township is prepared for any emergency that may arise.
They must be, because at the end [...]

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Speaking at the Center For National Policy recently, Timothy Manning, FEMA Deputy Administrator for Protection & National Preparedness, said that the current statistics on citizen readiness “very concerning and frankly kind of frightening,” and he spoke about some of the agency’s efforts to strengthen the nation’s resilience to disasters.
At the Center’s event, “Disasters & Resilience,” [...]

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Jeannette Sutton, who writes the informative Disaster Sociologist blog for the Emergency Management magazine website, has a post about last week’s Information Systems for Crisis and Response (ISCRAM) conference. She reports that the role of new media in emergencies received more attention this year:
In the past, social and information scientists seemed to be on the outer [...]

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On the Canadian Red Cross’s blog, Red Cross Talks, John Saunders, “Disaster Dude/Director of Disaster Management, Ontario,” has a post, Twittering About Emergency Preparedness. Saunders says that Twitter has helped the organization reach an audience — “Upward mobile, professionals between ages 30 – 45″ — which he says is often difficult to get to on [...]

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Anyone interested in participating in the 2010 National Preparedness Month (NPM) may want to sign up for a webinar held by the FEMA’s Ready Campaign. It will introduce the 2010 Toolkit and offer information on how to be a take part as well as become a Coalition partner. September will mark the the seventh annual [...]

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