In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The always helpful and creative folks at the Cross Blog have offered some preparedness-related ideas for those still looking for costumes in a post titled, “Halloween Red Cross-Style”:
“If you’re also having a hard time figuring out a costume for this year, I’ve got some inspiration for you. How about showing off your Red Cross knowledge and [...]

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With news on H1N1 coming in fast and furious — and from all corners of the world — Mike Coston at Avian Flu Diary highlights the volunteer citizens who are helping to gather and analyze it for their fellow members of the public. In his post “Drinking From The Fire Hose,” Coston writes:
“With flu season [...]

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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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After returning to New York from the H1N1 Summit, I was listening to the “Homeland Security Inside & Out “radio show on my iPod riding the subway (ironically to a meeting at the City’s Office of Emergency Management’s headquarters in downtown Brooklyn).
In my Flu Summit summary post, I had mentioned how struck I was by the [...]

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I had the opportunity to attend Thursday’s U.S. H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit held at the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The all-day event was organized by the Obama Administration to focus attention on preparation for and response to a possible more serious H1N1 outbreak in the Fall. Five hundred [...]

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Though I am too old for summer camp, I did get to go away this weekend to CrisisCamp in Washington, D.C.. CrisisCamp was a gathering of about a hundred campers from all over the country and the world with an expertise or interest in crisis management/disaster preparation and response, especially in how new technology and communications [...]

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In his weekly radio/video address, President Obama addressed the government’s response to the H1N1 flu outbreak. One new topic he raised was the role of social media in communicating with the citizenry. As the President said: “The White House has launched pages on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to support the ongoing efforts by the CDC [...]

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“Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” When White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel uttered those words in November he wasn’t referring to Swine Flu. But it is applicable to the current situation. Whether or not H1N1 turns into a major pandemic or not, it should be a catalyst for citizens and community [...]

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In an interesting article on ForeignPolicy.com, “Swine Flu: Twitter’s Power To Misinform”, Evgeny Morozov argues that “despite all the recent Twitter-enthusiasm about this platform’s unique power to alert millions of people in decentralized and previously unavailable ways, there are quite a few reasons to be concerned about Twitter’s role in facilitating an unnecessary global panic about swine [...]

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I don’t think I know of any more effective example of citizen action on public emergency preparedness than the Flu Wiki. It is a remarkable resource for helping people prepare and respond to the pandemic flu (and other emergencies), and it has been created by and for citizens. 
Greg Dworkin, a pediatrician from Connecticut, is one [...]

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