In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I wanted to highlight a new list of social media offerings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which are on its website here. They include the Department’s here. They include the Department’s two-week-old blog; Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter sites for various DHS agencies; and even the iTunes offerings from the Transportation Security Administration. And, [...]

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In a move that highlights the proliferation of video cameras, the usefulness of citizen/user generated content in emergencies, and, maybe most importantly, the growing appreciation by government authorities of that content, the National Transportation Safety Board has made a public request that any individual who has video of this week’s Washington, D.C. Metro accident should [...]

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just started a new blog called The Blog @ Homeland Security”, an addition to the Department’s web presence “designed to increase transparency and facilitate the dialogue between DHS and the American public.”  It will augment the existing Leadership Journal blog, which, according to DHS New Media Specialist Graves [...]

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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 the June issue of Homeland Security Today magazine, there are a couple of interesting articles with relevance to public preparedness:
1) “From Florida To FEMA” by Michael Peltier is an interesting profile of new FEMA head Craig Fugate. The piece notes Fugate’s focus on changing the public’s expectations, mindset and responsibilities on preparedness. In Florida, he tried [...]

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Patty Brooks, a very knowledgeable CERT member/trainer from San Jose, California, and author of the website, www.GoBag.org, has created a special forum on preparedness at http://www.gobag.org/forum/index.php. Patty describes it “as a brand new forum for folks who want to talk about, share, ask questions and learn more about preparedness.” She says that “the purpose of the website [...]

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With the hurricane season beginning, FEMA has a free E-mail subscription service that delivers news updates and disaster-related information directly to your computer or wireless device, such as: when a major disaster is declared, where local recovery centers are located, what kind of financial aid is available, how to obtain disaster-related assistance, and what to [...]

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Starting today, NotifyNYC, New York City’s emergency alert system, will cover the entire Big Apple. Notify NYC was first launched on a limited basis in December 2007, offering participants in four pilot areas of the City the ability to register for alerts and notifications about significant events in their communities. Notify NYC services are available by email, text [...]

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.Gov program and the American Red Cross are adding mobile phones and chargers to its recommendations for basic supplies in citizen emergency preparedness kits. This marks both a real and symbolic step for wireless communications and social media in public emergency preparedness and response. 
The Red Cross has already changed [...]

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I wanted to highlight points that two friends of this blog, Robin Parker and Jon Abolins, made last week in regard to government’s social media effort during the H1N1 flu outbreak. Both of them noted that social media content suitable for computer users is not necessarily effective for those utilizing a mobile phone, and that [...]

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