In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

During National Preparedness Month, the blog will be highlighting interesting, innovative and fun readiness events and ideas that are going on around the nation. One of those is the “30 Days, 30 Ways” Contest created by Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) in Vancouver, Washington. According to its website:
Each day in September, CRESA is going to [...]

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A major highlight of the Red Cross Emergency Data Summit earlier this month for me was meeting in person someone I have known — and have learned from — remotely for the last several years, Brian Humphrey from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). Brian has been a pioneer in the use of personal technology [...]

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Readers of this blog know how excited I get about creative, well-planned emergency exerrcise that involve the public. So, I wanted to bring your attention to “Quakeville,” an two-day earthquake drill in Palo Alto, California that begins on September 11th. As described in an article at Palo Alto Online:
The ground is shaking violently. Family heirlooms [...]

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You know you’ve made it in New York City when the Empire State Building’s lights promote your cause. So, maybe preparedness is catching on in the Big Apple.
The City of New York’s Office of Emergency Management must be thrilled that the Empire State Building will be lit up in “READY New York Yellow” on the [...]

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On the Amtrak train back to New York City Friday night from Washington, I saw something and said something — but this tip was good news.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just begun rolling out a national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, and I saw its new advertising posters in many of [...]

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I was doing some research on separate blog posts for next week on the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and the need for government to better personalize citizen emergency preparedness communications. I happened to see a small example that actually involves both subjects and thought I’d pass it on.
As I’ve discussed before, the LAFD is [...]

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On its Facebook page, the very active Medical Reserve Corps of Greater Kansas City posted some photos of a day-long class it held Saturday using FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute’s Independent Study curriculum, “IS-22: Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide To Citizen Preparedness”.
The Facebook post piqued my curiosity about the FEMA course whose introductory Overview explains:
“has been [...]

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Thanks to Sara Estes Cohen’s Twitter feed I found out about a new group in New Orleans, Evacuteer.org, that is recruiting volunteers to help in the event of an emergency evacuation of the city (an eventuality whose chances increased today with the announcement by Mayor Mitch Landrieu that he might order a full evacuation before [...]

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched an initiative to help communities more effectively participate in government decisions related to land cleanup, emergency preparedness and response, and the management of hazardous substances and waste. According to the press release:

The Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) plan lays out specific steps EPA is taking to provide communities [...]

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SunSentinel.com in South Florida has an article, “Social Media Likely To Play Role During Hurricane Season,” which describes how local government and media are increasingly using the new information distribution platform in their disaster preparedness plans:
Before a storm hits, the Internet-driven sites will allow people to monitor a tropical system’s progress, receive evacuation orders and [...]

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