First, according to a FoxNews.com article, “In Case of Emergency, Please Remove Your Bra,”

Caught in a disaster? You’d better hope you’re wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head — one cup for you, and one for your friend.

Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95…

It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness…

According to a report on tech news site CNET, there are plans for a “counterpart device for men” in the works, though the precise shape it will take has yet to be revealed.

Earlier in the week, Hal also tweeted about another preparedness fashion accessory — rain boots with centimeters measurements on its side — from a company called Regina Regis, which come in a number of colors (I picked a couple of the most colorful to show below):

University of Delaware students lined up for what they were told was going to be a “GREEK” group picture but soon learned organizers had other plans. As students filed into Delaware Stadium they learned they weren’t just there for a picture but to practice emergency evacuation procedures. Around 2,000 students showed up for the drill before being dismissed to the Bob Carpenter Center for the picture.

That’s a ‘bait and switch’ for a good cause.

To the editor:

I guess everyone in Scugog Township is prepared for any emergency that may arise.

They must be, because at the end of Emergency Preparedness Week, on Saturday May 8, the No. 1 fire hall in Port Perry was open to everyone to learn about numerous ways to prepare for emergencies, and no one came.

I know my wife and I were not the only ones disappointed with the turnout. Five speakers were lined up to discuss anything and everything needed to prepare for disasters and emergencies of all kinds.

Some of the emergency situations noted in the past that have affected residents of Scugog were H1N1, increasing windstorms and severe summer weather numerous times, resulting in downed trees and other damage as well as the blackout of 2003.

Do you remember what you and your family went through during that blackout? Were you prepared? It could happen again. Will you be ready? Have you ever considered what could happen if flooding were to occur here? Think about broken dams, torrential rain and backed-up storm drains and septics.

At the seminar, tables were set up with giveaway information and supplies. Volunteers were on hand to inform and assist with information and to answer questions. Enbridge set up and prepared hot dogs, hamburgers and pop for visitors.

We want to thank the chief, the mayor and councillors and all the volunteers that were on hand for this event.

Bruno and Darlene Gauweiler, Caesarea

I am also posting the letter for those organizing events this month to show that no matter how difficult things are to do, it always could be worse! I wish everyone the best — and great attendance — with all their activities during Preparedness Month.

Thursday’s Canadian Red Cross “Disaster Dining” contest — in which competitors had 30 minutes to prepare their best dish using only foods that would be found in an emergency preparedness kit — fits that bill. The Toronto event launched a 3-week in-store campaign at Walmart in support of Canadian Red Cross local disaster relief operations.

When all the food had been tasted, Walmart District Manager Eeva Jalo took home (or to her office) the coveted 1st annual Golden Spoon award. Her dish — a combination of salsa, tuna, chickpeas, parsley, and cayenne and black pepper — beat out a group of aspiring top disaster chefs with a number from the first responder community. The other — apparently tasty  – entries included Chief of Emergency Management Ontario Dan Hefkey’s ‘Tex-Mex’ corn, crab and salsa filling in a soft taco shell.

Walmart District Manager Eeva Jalo shows her prestigious Golden Spoon award.

The idea for the competition came from a Red Cross staffer, Jen Mayville, who initially held a party “to experiment to see what sort of dishes we could create in a disaster-type situation. We got together for a dinner party and each made one dish with the following guidelines: No electricity could be used in the cooking process, No tap water, Only non-perishable food.” The cook-off came out of that evening. The Atlantic Canada chapter held a similar contest earlier this month.

Eeva Jalo’s Golden Spoon winner was made from tuna, chickpeas, salsa and spices.

One part of the curriculum is the use of “Moulage” which many of you know is disaster simulation makeup. As part of the Disaster Ready program, the student applied the makeup to the adult “victims” who helped out with the last day of training when the students responded to a mock incident (tornado). Moulage is one of the more fun and gruesome parts of emergency management training which I can attest to because I have been an enthusiastic user during our CERT drills.

Students putting Moulage on volunteer “victims” participating in a mock tornado drill (READYColorado Facebook page).

There is a video of the makeup session imbedded in the READYColorado’s Facebook page so I cannot put it on the blog. If you go there, you’ll see the big smiles of the kids as they create huge ugly wounds with many resembling zombies by the end.

Making Moulage part of citizen disaster training makes it more enjoyable and interesting; it also underscores the point that people can handle the possibility of scary injuries. I wanted to highlight this, because maybe it will show citizens — of all ages — that preparedness activities can be fun and even recruit some new volunteers.

One of my CERT experiences with Moulage as a bombing “victim” during a police training drill near the site of World Trade Center.

Preparedness Piggy is the official mascot of the Johnson County (Kansas) Emergency Management & Homeland Security Office. He started work last Fall and since then has been a regular at County events. Piggy has also starred in 12 of the County’s video readiness episodes with more in the works. This blog is always on the lookout for creative and fun ways of approaching preparedness; Johnson County’s Piggy fits that bill.

One of these preparedness advocates runs FEMA.

“The concept was basically centered around the challenge of trying to be a fresh voice of preparedness in a sea of ‘white noise’ for our citizens,” Adam Crowe, Johnson County’s Assistant Director for Community Management, told me in an email. “They’ve only got so much time to think about things outside of the stress of their lives and we’ve got a lot of competition. So we came up with an idea that blended Smokey the Bear with the Travelocity Gnome. Fortunately, people seem to enjoy the concept.”

Recently, Preparedness Pig had a meeting with the nation’s top preparedness official, FEMA head Craig Fugate at an International Association of Emergency Managers conference. When I asked what the two preparedness pros discussed, Crowe told me: “They talked about Preparedness, of course. They talked about the challenges of emergency management in the 21st century and how to continue to make America (or my local community) more resilient.”

You can find more information on Preparedness Piggy’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/preparednesspiggy), the County Emergency Office’s YouTube (www.youtube.com/jocoemergencymgmt), Facebook (www.facebook.com/jocoem) and twitter sites (www.twitter.com/joco_emergency).

Preparedness Piggy stars in “That Darn Weather Radio” video.

A company called Fortnight Lingerie created the video to promote CPR and its own products (not necessarily in that order), though it may be difficult to focus on either while watching. If the video inspires you to get trained as I did a couple years ago, you can find a location to do so here.

Super Sexy CPR video.

Thanks to Wendy Harman at the American Red Cross Blog for bringing this to my attention.

To the editor:

I guess everyone in Scugog Township is prepared for any emergency that may arise.

They must be, because at the end of Emergency Preparedness Week, on Saturday May 8, the No. 1 fire hall in Port Perry was open to everyone to learn about numerous ways to prepare for emergencies, and no one came.

I know my wife and I were not the only ones disappointed with the turnout. Five speakers were lined up to discuss anything and everything needed to prepare for disasters and emergencies of all kinds.

Some of the emergency situations noted in the past that have affected residents of Scugog were H1N1, increasing windstorms and severe summer weather numerous times, resulting in downed trees and other damage as well as the blackout of 2003.

Do you remember what you and your family went through during that blackout? Were you prepared? It could happen again. Will you be ready? Have you ever considered what could happen if flooding were to occur here? Think about broken dams, torrential rain and backed-up storm drains and septics.

At the seminar, tables were set up with giveaway information and supplies. Volunteers were on hand to inform and assist with information and to answer questions. Enbridge set up and prepared hot dogs, hamburgers and pop for visitors.

We want to thank the chief, the mayor and councillors and all the volunteers that were on hand for this event.

Bruno and Darlene Gauweiler Caesarea

Thanks to the Twitter feed of READYColorado for bringing this my attention.

The Transportation Security Administration, which makes the rules about how many ounces of liquid you can carry on the plane (and whose employees have a spectacular grasp of how to use new media), has released a fantastic rundown of which Thanksgiving fixings you can carry on.

Pies are OK. Cranberry sauce is not. Neither are:

* Creamy dips and spreads (cheeses, peanut butter, etc.)

* Gift baskets with food items (salsa, jams and salad dressings)

* Gravy

* Jams

* Jellies

* Maple syrup

* Oils and vinegars

* Salad dressing

* Salsa

* Sauces

* Soups

* Wine, liquor and beer

And snow globes — which have “an undetermined amount of liquid” — aren’t allowed through security either.

So why did pie make the cut? Our guess: Cronyism, plain and simple.

“With a 3-1 lead over the Phillies, the [UPDATE: World Champion] Yankees have been focused on driving runs home this World Series. But when the catcher is blocking the plate, a runner needs to change his plan.

Some emergencies may make it difficult or even impossible to return home. OEM recommends New Yorkers identify two meeting points— one close to home and another outside of the neighborhood— where loved ones can reunite in case an emergency blocks the way home.”

“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 support by dressing as:

* A Red Cross Pirate…?!

* A giant blood drop (our mascot’s name is “Buddy Blood Drop”)

* A Disaster Relief Volunteer

* “Disaster Dog” (another Red Cross mascot; see photo below)

* A blood donor (complete with a “Be nice to me, I gave blood today!” sticker, a bandaged arm, a fake bag of blood, and a doughnut in hand)

* A vintage Red Cross nurse

* A Vietnam “Donut Dolly”

* Dr. Charles Drew (the “father of blood banking”)

* American Red Cross founder Clara Barton

* CPR Annie (the dummy)

And once you are appropriately costumed, Sharon Stanley, the chief nurse of the American Red Cross offers some “tricks” to handle H1N1 hazards this Halloween:

* If your child is sick, keep them at home. This will be disappointing to your young one, but your neighbors and community are counting on you to hold the line on transmission of this virus.

* Remind kids to keep their hands away from their eyes, nose and mouth to keep germs away. Carry that hand sanitizer with you or have it near your candy dispensing area.

* If you are giving out candy, hand it out or scoop it. Instead of a bowl of candy, consider handing out small, individually wrapped bags of treats.

* Throw away any unwrapped candy and inspect the rest for choking hazards and tampering.

[UPDATE: ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper made a good point on his Twitter feed this morning: "Please note: if you plan on dressing up like a pig for Halloween and going as 'swine flu,' you are not being creative."]

The finalists are all good and their entries are better produced than I would have thought. Each makes useful H1N1 points in creative ways. And, the idea of asking the public to create PSA’s allows for more pushing of boundaries than if a government agency produced them. It is unlikely that the government would be able to show a man wielding a chainsaw through the streets to illustrate a version of  ’social distancing’ as one of the finalists does.

According to the rules set out in HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ own video on YouTube, contestants were asked to: “Create a 15, 30, or 60 second video Public Service Announcement (PSA) that will inform and motivate people to take steps that will help prevent the spread of the flu. Make your video fun, smart, and entertaining.”

Though I thought all the finalists were effective, only one video can win. So, in consultation with my two young daughters (my YouTube consultants), this blog picks “H1N1 Rap By Dr. Clarke” (see his entry below). In his video, Dr. Jon Clarke, in shades, raps about H1N1 prevention before concluding a little more soberly and without the sunglasses. We thought the combination was effective. If he is chosen, Clarke could be the breakout video star of the Fall.

“H1N1 RAP BY DR. CLARKE” (ABOVE). A FINALIST IN THE FLU.GOV H1N1 PSA CONTEST

It turns out that Clarke is a family physician in New York City with a music degree — and puts both credentials to good use in his entry. His YouTube page shows that he’s also rapped on behalf of diabetes awareness.

To watch all the finalists and vote go to the entry site here.

You can also view the entire group of 242 judged entries here. Most of these provide a more homemade video feel and are filled with kids, superheroes, and pigs. Some are also pretty effective. This one (below) called “Barnyard Conference” was a favorite among my kids, and it’s pretty funny (though it may not help efforts to replace the term “swine flu” with H1N1!).

ONE OF THE FLU CONTEST ENTRIES, “BARNYARD CONFERENCE” (ABOVE)

In all, I think that soliciting, unleashing and highlighting creativity from Americans with a desire to help on flu prevention — and from of a variety of ages, backgrounds, and points of view — was a terrific idea. It is fun, citizen-driven/focused, and most importantly should be effective in raising flu preparedness among the public. By the way, if you disagree with my selection please tell me why you picked one of the other finalists (or preferred one of the other 232 entries) instead.

Just as news was hitting the web (and my Blackberry) about Tom Ridge’s blockbuster charges on political pressure to raise the color terror alert in his new book “The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege … And How We Can Be Safe Again,” I was walking down Vermont Avenue in Washington on my way to an interview with Michael Chertoff whose new book, Homeland Security: Assessing The First Five Years, coincidentally is also being released on September 1st. I wrote about the content of Chertoff’s book contents in June.

So, when I got to Chertoff’s office I showed him the initial story by Paul Bedard at USNews.com. He had not seen the news nor has read the Ridge book yet. I had planned to ask him about how he would recommend changing the color alert system and what he told the task force looking into that question. But of course now I had to inquire whether he had received any political pressure on the alerts. He said he “never” was. During Chertoff’s tenure, DHS raised the alert twice: in 2005, after the transit bombings in London, and again in 2007, after the announcement of a plot to bomb airliners going from England to the U.S.

I will be writing up my interview with Chertoff next week when his book is released. I also expect to speak to Ridge about his book as well.