Stores across the area are hosting a Hurricane Preparedness and Awareness event throughout the weekend.

There will be tables set up in all stores providing shelter information, preparation checklists, pet needs, as well as special needs and senior citizen registration forms.

These types of events with information distribution and registration set up near preparedness supply displays are a net positive as they do bring attention to the subject, the creation/replenishment of some shoppers’ emergency kits and occasionally fundraising for the non-profits. However, they end up being far short of what is necessary. That’s too bad since there is such great potential for what could be accomplished if the government, non-profit preparedness groups and businesses in the field really focused in a creative, sustained way on what they could do together to address the shortcomings in citizen disaster readiness.

The key is to restructure these kinds of events to give the public far more real, tangible and significant incentives (primarily financial but also logistical, educational and even entertainment) to prepare, which is something that business working with government and non-profits could do as part of an integrated, ongoing marketing campaign. The fact is that when we really want to change social behavior as a nation we do it through the carrot or the stick. The carrot is the preferable tool for this issue, but it needs to be used. And, thus far, incentives and vegetables have largely been missing from the preparedness effort, which helps explain the lack of progress.

There is a need to design and implement new citizen preparedness campaigns using strategic marketing partnerships between government and business with the goal of significantly increasing public readiness and societal resilience.

My proposal in a nutshell is that marketing campaigns and events be created at a national, state and local level to with government and non-profits working with companies in preparedness-related products businesses to offer major discounts tied to citizens taking actual readiness steps recommended by Ready.Gov and local emergency management offices.

It is a subject that I have thought a lot about, largely because I think that getting private sector far more involved in emergency citizen preparedness is a (maybe ‘the’) key to improving citizen readiness. I have also spoken extensively with government, non-profit and corporate officials about how they might work together on advance preparedness in a way that serves their (and the public’s) interest. My strong feeling is that to do so would not take much more than more attention and focus and would result in a win-win-win-win for those stakeholders and the citizenry.

At last week’s Red Cross Emergency Social Data Summit, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate underscored the role of the private sector in disasters. “We have to figure out how leverage government and private sector resources to change outcomes.”

He said private sector involvement should be seen as a “bottom line” issue rather than just a feel-good pr move. That’s clear after a disaster as companies try to re-open quickly to serve customers in the community. And, that business-case approach should be similarly applied when it comes to advance preparedness. The fact is that the more prepared the public is, the better it is for the private sector. Business is key because as Fugate told me last year, “the bully pulpit is not enough”.

Government officials realize they need significant private sector involvement to market preparedness to the public, but have been unable to pull such an integrated program together as marketing is not government’s expertise. However, public preparedness needs to be developed and marketed as a consumer brand. Particularly since Hurricane Katrina, the corporate sector has become far more involved in disaster policy, but it has focused mostly (and often very successfully) on post-event recovery and response. Yet, there has been little attention given to have the private sector help create pre-event initiatives and messaging that would prepare citizens and institutions for emergencies in advance.

Government citizen preparedness campaigns over the past few years have raised awareness but not significantly enough to change societal behavior. This has been due to a lack of reach, frequency and sustainability of the communication, and the public’s inability or unwillingness to follow the actions recommended. No matter how good and robust the message, behavior will not change unless actions being recommended are made more turn-key, familiar and affordable. Government officials ask the public to buy supplies, make plans and educate themselves without offering them enough assistance to accomplish these not insubstantial tasks (and are asked to do so with even less incentives than other public sector campaigns provide).

Yet, the current conditions would appear to be auspicious for such an new corporate/government partnership to take on preparedness: the public is interested in becoming more prepared; major corporations are committed to the disaster issue and can offer products, resources and capacity. For them, preparedness provides excellent opportunity to ‘do good and do well’ increasing store traffic and selling products while improving community resilience; and non profit preparedness groups, most prominently the American Red Cross, have the experience and credibility to facilitate this partnership. And, as mentioned above, a priority of FEMA Administrator Fugate is to get the private sector involved in a way to “change outcomes”. Yet focus, coordination and leadership are still necessary “to connect the dots” for each stakeholder.

The range of disaster preparedness products from manufacturing companies that can be involved are endless: Bottled Water, Flashlights; Wireless Phones, Radios; Energy Bars; Canned Food; First Aid Kits. On the retail side, it can involve any store that sells these products, particularly ‘big box’ outlets and supermarkets. The campaign would also involve corporate trade groups, such as the Wireless Foundation and the Business Roundtable, which have been very involved in getting their members involved in disaster issues.

An example of the type of preparedness event I’m thinking about would include “In-Store Workshops” but with significant discounts and giveaways tied to information and actual completion of readiness steps:

* Big-Box/Grocery Stores Supply Kit Creation-Replenishment – This would be similar to the current preparedness in-store events. However, they would be far more involved and would offer consumers more benefits and assistance for coming in. There would be a specific area where employees along with local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Red Cross volunteers would be answering readiness questions.

Advertisements in advance would invite individuals and families come in with emergency communications plans (or fill them out in the store) and in return they would receive a significant discount on supplies or free products (ie. if you purchase a case of bottled water, you would get your emergency supply thrown in). And if a customer signed up to volunteer to CERT or Red Cross Disaster Services volunteer, they would get a bigger discount.

In addition, customers would be provided branded bags so adults — and kids — can make/replenish their own ‘go-bag’ (if they didn’t want to buy a pre-made kit). Again, the stores would discount the supplies significantly and CERT, Red Cross and government  officials would be there to answer questions.

* Mobile Phone Retail Outlets – The mobile communications companies are eager to show their value of their products  to customers in emergencies so their retail stores would be excellent settings for preparedness events/trainings. Among the activities that could be set up: helping people register for government emergency text/e-mail alerts. I’d also like to see a event/photo-op with kids teaching their parents about texting and its role in an emergency. Here again, the companies would offer customers extra free text/phone minutes for completing the preparedness steps (I’d also like to see discounts on extra batteries though the companies do make excellent margins on the extras.)

I also think this setting would be a good place for people to learn about how the role of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to help people in a crisis. can be very usewith be a place for families and friend also  and families and friends setting up social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to teach how they can be used before and during emergencies.

Government could also increase the effectiveness of such an initiative by creating tax-free preparedness product periods as Virginia and Louisiana have (and we’re trying to do here in New York), which add more financial incentives, increase store buy-in and garner more media attention for preparedness.

The key is to pull all of these stakeholders together — connecting the information with accessible, useful and affordable products along with expert and peer-to-peer guidance –in a sustained, integrated way. I will be continuing to work on these partnership ideas and would be interested in any thoughts from readers.

According to the “Ready Alabama” website:

The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and the Alabama Department of Homeland Security are encouraging religious leaders of all faiths on Sunday, September 26th, 2010, or your nearest day of worship, to inform their congregations on how to Be Informed. Be Involved. Be Ready…

We are encouraging religious leaders to include disaster readiness information in their Sunday bulletins, website or speak on the importance of disaster readiness bringing the congregations attention to the importance of disaster preparedness.

The idea is to test the speed and widen the scope of responses to a major disaster, focusing on how social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used. ”Ultimately, the goal is to get there faster, respond more effectively to save lives, communities, businesses, etc.,” read a written release on the drill. Organizers said that all messages about the fictional disaster would be marked clearly as fake on the Web.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m. ET, organizers began sending fictional messages from an account on Twitter reporting the disaster.

“#X24 IS A TEST, NOT REAL [link] CNN.com Earthquake strikes coast of Southern and Baja California http://bit.ly/Exer24 1 …,” was the first mention.

Instead of a CNN story, the link went to a Web page explaining the drill and how users can participate. As time went on, details included reports of snapped bridges, severe flooding and a tsunami on the way.

“#X24 IS A TEST, NOT REAL TV said large wave headed toward coastline! Everyone get out! http://bit.ly/Exer24 3-9 …,” read a later post.

For more information and to participate in the ongoing exercise, check its Twitter and Facebook sites.

According to the Washington EventBrite webpage:

Global CrisisCamp Day activities will include training new volunteers on open tools such as Ushahidi (including Crowdmap), OpenStreetMap, Sahana and CrisisWiki as well as inventorying existing resources and the development of training tools to build the first CrisisCamp-In-A-Box toolkit to be released in early January 2011.

The CrisisCamp community aims to provide new CrisisCamp organizers with mentorship, tools and tips on how to organize a CrisisCamp, training materials on open technology tools, lessons learned from past CrisisCamp events and a toolkit for the development of technology prototypes.

Also, on the CrisisCommons website, you can check the post, “What To Expect — CrisisCamp Day.”

CrisisCamp is a global network of hybrid barcamp/hackathon events which bring together people and communities who innovate crisis response and global development through technology tools, expertise and problem solving. Since 2009, CrisisCamp volunteers have created crisis response and learning events in over 10 countries with volunteers of all backgrounds who collaborate in an open environment to aggregate crisis data, develop prototype tools and train people on how to use technology tools and problem solving to aid in crisis response and global development.

I was lucky enough to attend the first CrisisCamp last year in Washington. It has already had enormous impact on disaster preparedness/response policy and practice. CrisisCamp communities have been active in the response to the Haiti and Chilean earthquakes and the Pakistan Floods. CrisisCamp events have provided surge capacity and training for existing organizations such as Ushahidi and OpenStreetMap as well as the development of new tools such as Tradui, a mobile Kreyol translation or problem solving such as a solution to extend of long distance Wi-Fi in Port au Prince to crisis response organizations operating on the ground.

If you are interested in becoming a CrisisCamp organizer or are interested in the development of a CrisisCamp in your area, contact Heather Leson at heatherleson (at) crisiscommons.org.

The study, Bringing Youth Preparedness Education to the Forefront: A Literature Review and Recommendations, looks at best practices, scholarship and offers recommendations. It is worth reading for this interested in the subject.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Education, and the American Red Cross held the Summit, which brought together approximately 150 attendees from the fields of youth communications, programs serving youth, developers of youth preparedness education, practitioners from the state, tribal, and local levels, and academia — as well as abroad, including New Zealand, Chile and Israel.

The goal of the Summit is to synthesize input from all participants to develop a framework for a national strategy on grades K-12 preparedness education to increase youth preparedness knowledge, skills, and behaviors, and to address youth of all abilities and backgrounds.

The full report can be found here. The National Summit webinar can be found (and will be posted later on): here.

The Red Cross has organized a series of preparedness events for personnel and families on military bases, including one at Fort Belvoir earlier this summer and another at Fort Polk last month. The families were able to build an emergency preparedness kit and learn about emergency preparedness, according to a news release from Leann Murphy, CEO of the American Red Cross of Central Louisiana:

The goal is to provide 1,500 families at each location with basic elements of an emergency/disaster kit. The items that will be made available for military families at the event include:

ARC multipurpose lantern, Two LED flow sticks, Two emergency preparedness drawstring bags, Self-powered AM/FM National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio, Personal safety pack, Mini water storage system, and Multi-tool.

Red Cross volunteer teams from across Louisiana will be will be available to demonstrate how to assemble a disaster kit and to provide community disaster preparedness information. Other Fort Polk agencies and units will be supporting the event as well.

A military family at an American Red Cross preparedness event (Photo: Daniel Cima)

Ok. Everything seems all good. To me, there is no group that deserves free preparedness supplies than military families. And, it’s obviously better now that thousands of families are better prepared as a result of this initiative. However, here’s my ‘no good turn’ BUT — the fact that they are receiving their emergency kits gratis just underlines the challenge of getting the rest of the public to purchase or put together theirs. It is not inexpensive to do. And though it is great that thousands of military families get them free, it also underscores that fact that if emergency officials want the rest of the public to do so they need to make it easier and cheaper.

As I have proposed, one way would be for the Red Cross and government officials to work with the private sector to provide discounts on emergency products as part of an emergency supply marketing initiative which would lower the price and logistical obstacles for the public. That would help a wider range of Americans — including military families — build their emergency supply kits.

The public’s interest in free or discounted preparedness supplies was underscored this morning on the Red Cross’ Facebook page where the Eton Corporation gave away 700 free “Blackout Buddies,” an emergency LED blackout flashlight that plugs and recharges straight from a wall socket, in 30 minutes. Again, this giveaway is a positive private sector/Red Cross partnership, but it also serves to underline the need.

Eton Corporation’s “Blackout Buddy”

First, I handed out preparedness ‘goody bags’ to passersby in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle after stuffing the packages with other members in an impromptu assembly line. In each bag was a READY New York pen, hand santizer and info pamphlets. Most folks walking by our tent were interested in getting the bags maybe in part because of the increased awareness related to Hurricane Earl heading up the Eastern Seaboard.

Putting together preparedness bags.

Then, handing out the READY New York ‘goody’ bags in Columbus Circle.

After assembling and handing out the bags for a couple hours in Manhattan, I went to downtown Brooklyn where the City’s Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno was announcing some new initiatives for National Preparedness Month, including a Facebook application to help New Yorkers locate family in an emergency. I was asked to stand with Bruno, the Fire Commissioner and officials from the Police Department, Red Cross and the Ad Council to represent CERT during the event.

Participating in a National Preparedness Month press conference in downtown Brooklyn.

After the press conference, I went over to a camera tent where OEM was interviewing/auditioning citizens for a preparedness public service announcement. In all, a full CERT day.

Auditioning for a READY New York public service announcement.

The Empire State Building lit in Ready New York Yellow tonight.

According to The Daily Yomiuri:

The government on Wednesday conducted a disaster drill under a scenario in which three massive simultaneous earthquakes struck a wide area along the Pacific coast in central Japan. Wednesday’s drill, the first under the triple-earthquake scenario, was among many similar exercises conducted nationwide, marking this year’s Disaster Prevention Day.

Japan’s Disaster Prevention Day was established to mark the anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake which killed more than 100,000 people in 1923. And China, since its 8.0-magnitude 2008 Sichuan Province earthquake, has also held two national disaster prevention days with nationwide drills.

This blog has long advocated both more extensive civilian drills as well as a special preparedness day to undertake them. If Japan and China can do so, I think we can too.

Most every top national and local government preparedness official I’ve spoken to believes that preparedness exercise for the public would increase citizen readiness and engagement. Short of an actual incident, a drill is the best way to get people to think through what they would do if something actually happens. (For example, how to evacuate in a hurricane for residents, like in the northeast, who are not used to doing so.)

And, I strongly believe that there needs to be one day in the year dedicated to the emergency planning process. If we as a nation feel it is really important for the public to develop emergency plans, it would be far more effective if everyone was doing that at the same time — rather than asking individuals to do it on their own. This ‘preparedness day’ would also be the time that we all asked the questions about planning then practiced and updated those plans. It would be useful for both responders and the public.

Among the questions that will come out of that type of drilling day include: Where would you go? Would it depend on the type of emergency? Would you be able to get out of work? Would your kids’ school want you to come there? How would you get in touch with each other as well as how would the authorities would communicate with you?

The fact is that families will never be able to fully answer all these ‘what if’ questions in advance; it will always depend to some extent on circumstances (ie. evacuating vs. sheltering in place), but this day would at least begin the preparedness process.  It would be the time to think through some scenarios and link together some of the institutions/people families would need to rely on in a disaster.

Japanese children in Disaster Prevention Day drill.

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.

CrisisCommons, as has been covered frequently on the blog, is, according to its website, “a global network of volunteers who help people in times and places of crisis. If you can use the Internet, a word processor, a cell phone or any other kind of technology, you can help.”

And in the wake of the catastrophic Pakistan floods, that growing network has mobilized itself throughout the world to help, just as it did after Haiti earthquake and the Gulf oil spill.

After a couple of CrisisCamp meetings and cross-continent calls, the CrisisCommons website has just posted a long list of tasks for individual citizens can contribute to remotely at http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Pakistan/2010_Floods/Tasks, including contributing to the excellent mapping and reporting work of Open Street Map, Ushahidi, Sahana, and Tweek The Tweet.

Once again, after the Pakistan flood, CrisisCommons has displayed the incredible asset that is the average citizen, and the desire for those citizens to help out in an emergency. For an organization that is little more than a year old, it is doing amazing things and growing meteorically from disaster to disaster.

If you want an excellent video summary of the development of CrisisCommons and its future, I’d recommend watching the presentation given by Heather Blanchard (the organization’s one full-time employee) at the Red Cross’s Emergency Data Summit which was taped by C-SPAN here.

And if you would like to contribute to their work in Pakistan, check the tasks page here.

(UPDATE 8/23: On the CrisisCommons website, there is now an update on the activities of this weekend, including CrisisCamps London, Cambridge & Chile.

CrisisCommons volunteers working at the World Bank earlier this year.

The ground is shaking violently. Family heirlooms and knickknacks are flying like projectiles off walls and shelves. Glass is shattering, and the rolling motion seems to go on forever. When the “Big One” strikes, residents could find their homes uninhabitable, and figuring out how to live in the hours, days and weeks after a major disaster will become their No. 1 concern.

The scenario is the focus of a Sept. 11 disaster drill planned for Barron Park residents, who will erect a tent city at Juana Briones Park. It won’t be a neighborhood picnic. People will have to bring their own tents, water and food. Grills won’t be allowed. There will be no electricity for the duration of the event, which runs from 3:30 p.m. till 10 a.m. the next day.

Some surprise incidents, mimicking possible real-life disaster scenarios, are planned to test people’s responses, according to event coordinator Lydia Kou. Dubbed “Quakeville,” the drill is designed to shake people out of their denial.

Quakeville will kick off a series of citywide disaster-preparedness events throughout September and October. Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt and the Palo Alto/Stanford Citizen Corps Council have declared September as Emergency Preparedness Month citywide….

This is the first year that citizens will be involved in the “Quakeville” drill which may take on even more seriousness after a report this week that revised up the risk of earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault:

Quakeville will put disaster preparedness into the hands of the citizenry, who will be the first on the ground to deal with neighborhood emergencies, Kou said. ”It’s exciting because it involves all citizens. In the past, drills involved emergency volunteers only,” said Kou, who also is co-chair of the Palo Alto Neighborhoods block-preparedness-coordinator program and is a Barron Park Neighborhood Association disaster-prep leader.

Kou said Quakeville will help give residents a sense of what they might encounter, and need, when forced out of their homes and into close contact with many other people. ”Will you need earplugs in case the person sleeping in the tent next to you snores? Will you need hay-fever medicine? How will you entertain yourself and your kids?”

It’s funny that she mentions earplugs, because that is exactly the item I added to my ‘go-bag’ after spending a noisy day in a shelter during a hurricane drill in Brooklyn.

I am also supportive of the decision to undertake the drill on 9/11, which I think should be an official preparedness day in which exercises like the one in Palo Alto would be done throughout the U.S.:

“Sept. 11 is a very appropriate day for people to come together to commemorate friendships and lives lost,” she said, adding that the city is encouraging other neighborhoods to hold block parties on Sept. 11 to build community connections. ”It’s an act of remembrance,” she said…

One area she hopes to resolve is what to do with pets. For the Sept. 11 event, organizers are encouraging people not to bring their animals. But at tent city they’ll look for ways to resolve that concern, she said.

The Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services headquarters

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 evening of September 2nd, which is the kickoff day for the City’s National Preparedness Month activities.

I’ll be handing out READY New York pamphlets in Columbus Circle that morning as part of my CERT responsibilities. Last year, participants distributed more than 100,000 preparedness guides and 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the five boroughs during 2009’s National Preparedness Month Kickoff events.

Hopefully, it will be a clear night and New Yorkers who look up in the sky that night will be reminded to go to the Ready New York website for more information on preparedness.

The Empire State Building lit up in New York Mets’ blue to celebrate the team’s appearance in the World Series. It will be awash in “READY New York Yellow” on the night of September 2nd.

“READY New York Yellow”

NPM, sponsored by the Ready Campaign in partnership with Citizen Corps and the Ad Council, “is designed to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities.”

So far, there are 2,807 Coalition Members, who will be organizing preparedness activities during the month, which surpasses last year’s 2,700 (though is still short of 2008’s 3,200).

According to Madden. there will be a couple areas of special emphasis this year.

First, there will be a special effort during the Month to get Americans to create an emergency communications plan for their family. In fact, FEMA head Craig Fugate told me in an interview last week that if citizens are going “to do one thing” this National Preparedness Month it is to develop a family plan — described on most emergency management websites. In order to help Americans do the emergency planning, Ready.Gov and the Ad Council are offering some online tools to create a printable comprehensive Family Emergency Plan and an email/text containing basic information that can be shared with others.

Madden said he also hopes the Americans will — if they have not already — check in with their workplaces and kids’ schools about their emergency plans. I mentioned to him that I thought the language in this area on Ready.Gov “Make A Plan” section was not strong enough:

You may [my italics] also want to inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one.

To me, if the government believes it is important for people to create an emergency plan both to help themselves and to make the job of first responders easier during a disaster then the web site should be willing to say something stronger than they “may also want to inquire.” (”should” would be preferable.) Madden said he agreed.

Another area of focus during the Month is to highlight the growing number of ways that Americans can access(and provide disaster preparedness, response and recovery information, particularly using new technologies such as the new mobile FEMA site, m.FEMA.gov. Madden says that going beyond National Preparedness Month, the Ready Campaign will be continuing to better “tailor” FEMA’s resources to the public’s needs with more platforms and interactivity.

For more information on NPM, click here. To check the NPM activity calendar or add your event, click here. For a NPM widget, click here.  To sign up as a NPM partner, click here.

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.

There was a whole lot of information, ideas and energy among the 200 attendees at the Red Cross’ Hall of Service in Washington and the hundreds of others who joined remotely from around the U.S. and the world. Red Cross’ CEO Gail McGovern summed up the event very well late in the afternoon when she said “my brain is exploding” from everything she took in during the day. (C-SPAN filmed the parts of the conference, which can be found here.)

I thought I would ask one of the Summit organizers, Red Cross Social Media Director Wendy Harman, for her initial thoughts on the day and the next steps. In the five-and-half-minute video below, Harman offers a nice summary for those who were not able to attend in person or remotely. Harman discusses the goals of the conference including identifying and raising awareness of the gaps in disaster response, reaching consensus on what can be done to address the issues, and beginning to determine future action items. She hopes the event helped get the attention of the emergency management and non-profit community of the potential of technology to assist and tap the capacity of regular citizens in crises.

American Red Cross Social Media Director Wendy Harman Discusses The “Emergency Social Data Summit”

As far as future steps, Harman says that the Red Cross will be going through and analyzing all the discussions both inside the conference room as well as online. It will be reporting out the findings by completing the Summit White Paper whose initial chapters can be read here.

Those interested in the follow-up, Harman says, should check the Summit wiki (which now has the reports of roundtables both at the event and on Twitter with some initial ideas on proposals and priorities). Harman says she hopes anyone who has some ideas should contribute them to the wiki.

Harman also raises an interesting idea that was discussed throughout the day — should there be a 4th basic citizen preparedness step added to “Get A Kit”, “Make A Plan”, & “Get Informed” along the lines of “getting to know your community” which might range from asking citizens to store emergency numbers in their mobile phones to personally connecting with their neighbors in advance of an emergency situation.

I think this is a good idea which both captures the need to integrate new technology into preparedness recommendations and also better highlights the fact that personal community building should featured more as a key citizen disaster resilience objective. I have written often about to need to better define what ‘preparedness’ means for the public, and I believe this proposal should be part of those discussions.

It is the organization’s first “Emergency Crisis Data Summit: Answering The Cry For Help” which will bring together government agencies, emergency management professionals, disaster response organizations and tech companies to discuss how best to harness the communications power of new media to prepare and respond to crises.

The day-long event — whose agenda is here –will be open and broadcast on the internet (more information about the Summit can be found here). You can keep track and take part in the conference using several social media properties:

* It will be ustreamed live via the NextGenWeb site. Register on Eventbrite for ustream details. The archived U-Stream will be available online, too, and on the Emergency Social Data blog. C-SPAN will also be providing coverage of the event.

* You can participate in the Twitter discussion at the hashtag #crisisdata as well as add to or comment on the Summit’s aggregated information via the Emergency Social Data Wiki. There will be a formal Twitter chat at 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT featuring questions from @ntenhross and @ikepigott.

* In person attendees will update their observations and impressions via the Whrrl Emergency Social Data Society .

I will be attending the Summit and will be writing it up on the blog.

The Red Cross will be publishing a White Paper “The Case For Integrating Crisis Response With Social Media,” based on the Summit’s discussions (The early chapters have already been posted in advance on the Social Data blog to help frame the event’s agenda — I recommend taking a look at them as they provide a good overview/history of the subject.)

American Red Cross’ Social Media Director Wendy Harman doing a walkthrough at the Hall of Service in Washington where the Emergency Crisis Data Summit will take place Thursday.

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.

Members of the Sedgwick County Animal Response Team (SCART), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about how to handle pets during disasters, were on-site washing away summertime smelliness, clipping nails and pulling out sticker burrs.

For a suggested $20 donation, dog owners left with fresh-smelling pets and a packet of information instructing them how to prepare for an emergency.

A cocker spaniel named Dexter gets a bath on Saturday The dog wash was a benefit for the Sedgwick County Animal Response Team. (Photo: Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle)

According to the article, SCART’s first big challenge was helping after the Greensburg tornado, which illustrated the need for public education on animal preparedness, according to the team director, veterinarian Christen Skaer:

She and a group of volunteers scoured the town in the days after the tornado, looking for pets in need, many who had been left behind by owners who assumed they’d return quickly to their homes.

“There were about 350 we cared for,” she said, “and very few of them were ever returned home.”

A survey showed that of the people who failed to evacuate their homes after Hurricane Katrina, 44 percent said that they didn’t want to leave their pets behind, Skaer said.

Having a plan in place that allows people to evacuate with their animals saves human and animal lives, Skaer said.

“It makes our jobs a lot easier,” she said. “There’s not a team in the world that can rescue all the animals affected by a disaster, so it helps if people are prepared.”

Thanks to the @SteveisReady Twitter feed for bringing this event to my attention.

According to an article in the Telegraph Journal of St. John, New Brunswick, the Red Cross invited three teams of cooks and gave them the challenge of cooking a meal using only non-perishable ingredients. The event — aimed at promoting the value of creating a 72-hour emergency kit — was held at a local Walmart which has been working with the Red Cross in August to raise awareness and funds for emergency preparedness:

The winning team was Lily’s Café executive chef Jake Guptill and sous-chef Nick Shaw, who prepared a dessert of peaches with honey, mixed fruit and various spreads and a main course of chicken vegetable fajitas.

Guptill said the team’s strategy was to keep it simple and incorporate all of the food groups…Mayor Ivan Court and Neil Bauman, a shelter adviser with the Red Cross, judged the dishes and chose Lily’s Café as the winner. Court said that, for him, taste won out when he was deciding who should win.

Nick Shaw and Jake Guptill won the Red Cross’ “Disaster Dining” cook-off using only non-perishable food found in a 72-hour emergency preparedness kit. (Photo: Kâté Braydon/Telegraph-Journal).

Thanks to the Twitter feed @Steveisready for bringing this story to my attention.

According to its website, “National Night Out” is designed to: heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

NYPD 19th Precinct Commander Matthew Whelan with a very happy to be back CERT member.

The Facebook post piqued my curiosity about the FEMA course whose introductory Overview explains:

“has been designed to help the citizens of this nation learn how to protect themselves and their families against all types of hazards…By reading and following the instructions in this guide you and your family can say, Yes, we are ready!”

As this is ostensibly the government’s baseline for judging whether citizens are “ready” for disasters, I thought I would read through the course material. After finishing it, I had two overall reactions:

1) there is a real need to review and refine what government authorities are telling the public about preparedness and what “we are ready” should mean for American citizens.

2) as part of that review process, it would be very useful for top federal (as well as state and local) emergency management officials to hold open forums — maybe using the “Are You Ready” class format somewhat along the lines of the Kansas City Medical Reserve Corps course writ large — in order to solicit questions and input about preparedness from Americans. These types of events would bring new attention to the subject as well as stimulate an important and overdue dialogue integrating the public in helping determine policy about public preparedness.

First, as far as the content of the “Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide To Citizen Preparedness”, I want to highlight what I think are some significant shortcomings and disconnects. For example, right at the beginning of the course, Chapter 1.1, “Getting Informed,” instructs the public to:

Learn about the hazards that may strike your community, the risks you face from these hazards, and your community’s plans for warning and evacuation. You can obtain this information from your local emergency management office or your local chapter of the American Red Cross…

Ask local authorities about each possible hazard or emergency and use the worksheet that follows to record your findings and suggestions for reducing your family’s risk…

There is a major problem here: the government is putting far too much of the onus on the public — telling citizens it is only their responsibility to ask rather than taking the initiative to inform them if it is that important. The fact is that in many parts of the nation (including here in New York) the average citizen cannot just contact the local emergency management office and get a hazard briefing. Further down in the same chapter, the public is also told to request information that is not fully accessible or available to them:

Ask local authorities about methods used to warn your community…

Ask local authorities about emergency evacuation routes…

Ask local officials the following questions about your community’s disaster/emergency plans. Does my community have a plan? Can I obtain a copy?

The fact is that FEMA is recommending people undertake a time consuming and unfamiliar task that in many cases they actually will not be able to accomplish by themselves. Shouldn’t the government at all levels have more responsibility to take the initiative in communicating this the information to the community rather than wait until individual citizens contact them?

Ok, so how do you begin this discussion? I have an idea that was provoked by seeing the photos from this weekend’s Kansas City class: why not hold open public forums on preparedness? These national seminars would be coordinated with similar events run by state and local emergency managers. This would bring new attention to citizen readiness and provide the public with the opportunity to both ask questions and as importantly offer input. I think FEMA head Craig Fugate would do a terrific job of leading such forums as would a number of state and local officials.

As Tip O’Neill might have said, (almost) all disaster preparedness and response is local. But the federal government does have a significant role in public education, particularly when it comes to terrorism and major disasters. In fact, Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in a speech at Harvard University earlier this year made that point saying that Americans deserve a “clear appraisement” of the terror threats, “because I believe the American people want, and deserve, candor about what we face.” That appraisement still needs to be delivered. National officials also have a megaphone and platform that is necessary to get the issue on the media and political agenda.

Fugate began a review discussion of the government’s recommendations last year when he tweaked the agency’s central readiness preparedness message emphasizing family plans over supply kits. Others in the emergency management community are also increasingly asking out loud some basic questions about citizen preparedness such as ‘what really is prepared?‘ One question after going through the entire 200-page “Are You Ready?” document is whether we’re asking the public to do and know too much — in fact, I would argue that we’re both giving the public too much information but not enough of what they really need to be ready.

Whenever I attend local public events on preparedness, citizens always have specific questions about specific threats, evacuation plans, emergency communications that cannot be answered fully with general preparedness boilerplate. The fact is that government officials have not fully leveled with the public on preparedness, giving them all the information they need to be really prepared. Without having an open, interactive discussion we are not really going to make progress on really ‘getting informed’ or figuring out if “you [and I] are ready?” and what that means. I think a series of preparedness forums at a national and then state and local level would be very helpful as part of that process.

CrisisCommons, according to its website, “is a volunteer technology community dedicated to bringing together technology, innovation and volunteers to help people and communities in times and places of crisis.” I was lucky to have attended the first CrisisCamp held in Washington last June. Since then, the organization has taken off with CrisisCamps organized all over the world in the wake of the Haiti earthquake and Gulf oil spill. Already, output from the Commons (such as the Oil Reporter) is having a significant impact.

On Thursday, the CrisisCommons and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars are hosting, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a series of roundtables with crisis response organizations (nongovernmental groups or non profits), members of the private sector and the academic community.

To sign up for the CrisisCommons roundtable series, click on any of these: NGO/Nonprofit Roundtable, Private Sector Roundtable, Academic Consortium Roundtable. If you are a member of these communities and cannot attend, you can provide written feedback or suggestions on their wiki and participate via webcast. (Roundtable Webcast Schedule: 8:15AM EDT – NGO/NonProfit Webcast / 12:45PM EDT – Private Sector Webcast / 3:45PM EDT – Academic Consortium Webcast)

On Friday, CrisisCommons community with support from the Sloan Foundation and the World Bank will host the First International CrisisCongress at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC. This forum will explore lessons learned from CrisisCamp Haiti and CrisisCamp Chile and the opportunities and challenges of building a sustainable volunteer community whose mission is to use technology tools and expertise to aid communities in crisis.

There are a small number of tickets left to attend the International CrisisCongress in person. To register to attend click here. To attend virtually please click to the Congress webcast beginning at 8:30AM EDT (mms://wbmswebcast1.worldbank.org/live). The CrisisCommons Twitter feed is here.

To give you a better sense of the CrisisCommons concept, I have posted this Current TV segment (below) “Geeks for Haiti”:

Current TV segment on CrisisCommons

designed to bring hazards researchers and practitioners from many disciplines together for face-to-face discussions on issues and trends that affect how society deals with hazards and disasters.

The schedule (here) is chock full of interesting panels and speeches, including a keynote from the New York Times’s Andrew Revkin.

I had the pleasure of attending last year’s Workshop and wish I could be there this week. However, I am not yet recovered enough to do so. As a result, I am following the proceedings through the event’s Twitter feed, @HazWS, and the Twitter tag #Haz which are providing coverage. I also recommend that anyone interested in these issues should follow the Center’s normal feed, @HazCenter.

The Center “convened the invitational meeting to examine critical issues associated with response to and recovery from a nuclear detonation and to consider the policy implications of those issues.” It took place in late April in Washington, D.C., and I had intended to attend but was not fully recovered from treatment.

An important aspect of the gathering was examining the role of the public before and after a nuclear incident. And, in fact, according to the report, White House aide, Dr. Tammy Taylor (Senior Policy Analyst, National Security and International Affairs Division, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, The White House) “noted that it is essential to educate people in advance because officials will not have accurate information immediately, and protective action will be effective only if people know what to do directly following the detonation.”

One of the “challenges” the conference examined was: Advance Education and Post-event Communication. And, according to the report:

The public needs advance knowledge and information: With advance information about nuclear fallout and ways to protect themselves from dangerous exposure, the public could take action after a nuclear detonation that would save tens of thousands of lives. The first and best protective action is to find adequate shelter and stay there until officials provide additional information and instructions.

However, as Mr. [Brooke] Buddemeier [from the Global Security Directorate of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories] emphasized, the decisions with the biggest lifesaving effect will be those made in the first minutes or hours following a nuclear attack, but they often are not technically informed decisions and may, in fact, be counterintuitive. For example, people may think first of fleeing when it would be safer to stay put in adequate shelter.

Effective communication will be critical: To save lives, U.S. government (USG) policies and programs should focus on rapid, straightforward delivery of 3 key messages for survivors: A nuclear detonation has occurred nearby; Immediately seek adequate shelter, such as a basement or a room in the interior of a building; and Wait for more information and instruction before evacuating. Sheltered individuals should stay put for at least 24 hours following the detonation unless authorities provide different instructions.

At the end of the report, the Center offers several steps that the U.S. federal government should take now to prepare for effective response and efficient recovery following nuclear detonation:

Pursue pre-event education and communication with communities: Prepare the public to recognize and seek adequate shelter and to refrain from evacuation unless otherwise instructed by government officials.

Improve medical response capacity: Continue to support healthcare preparedness activities and pre-event development of strategies for triage, implementation of crisis standards of care, and transport of large numbers of survivors to locations where they can receive medical care.

Direct research toward better characterization of levels of persistent radiation: This research should be prioritized as it will inform efforts to forecast acceptable levels of radiation. Without that ability, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to encourage repopulation of contaminated areas.

Anticipate and address long-term recovery challenges: Specifically, recovery plans must address mass displacement of populations; the needs of individuals, families, and host communities; and efforts to return people to their homes.

Congress should take action to remedy vulnerabilities in presidential succession, reconstitution of the House of Representatives, and continuity of the U.S. government.

The full conference report — which was prepared by Nidhi Bouri, Ann Norwood, and Tara Kirk Sell — can be found along with the agenda, speaker list, and video of some of the panels here. The conference was sponsored by the Alfred E. Sloan Foundation.