In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

CERT members don’t volunteer for the fringe benefits. But nonetheless it was great that the USS Intrepid Museum offered free admission today to CERT’s as part as their “Safety Preparedness Weekend”. So, I took one of my daughters to the newly refurbished carrier which is docked on the Hudson River in midtown Manhattan. It’s always [...]

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and more than 25 senior DHS officials  received CPR and first aid training from American Red Cross trainers at the Department’s headquarters in Northwest Washington, D.C. on Friday. During the two-hour session, Secretary Napolitano and her staff received hands-on training from Red Cross instructors in cardiopulmonary resuscitation [...]

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With “National Preparedness Month” (NPM) a little more than a week away, the H1N1 flu could make September a real-life ‘teaching moment’ on the importance of emergency preparedness, according to Ready.Gov’s acting director Becky Marquis. I spoke to Marquis at FEMA headquarters on Thursday to preview some of Ready’s plans for the Month.
The NPM’s kickoff [...]

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In June, I had the terrific opportunity to participate in the inaugural CrisisCamp held in Washington, D.C. It was a gathering of folks from throughout the U.S. and the world with an expertise or interest in crisis management/disaster response, particularly in the role of new technology and communications. I wrote about the event on the blog [...]

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“You have learned from the news media and City officials that there has been a widespread airborne anthrax release across the city that may affect large numbers of the City’s residents. [Anthrax exposure may cause fever, coughing, malaise, fatigue, myalgias, profound sweats, and chest discomfort. If anthrax is inhaled and not treated, death is very [...]

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The City of New York is looking for at least a few hundred more good men (and women) to be “Fake Patients” in a “Point of Dispensing (POD) Emergency Response Exercise” on Saturday afternoon. Officials say the drill will help in the planning for both a possible anthrax attack as well as the possible return [...]

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As part of yesterday’s “National Night Out Against Crime”, my Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) handed out preparedness information in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. We joined members of the New York City Police Fire & Parks Departments during the annual event, which aims to promote crime prevention awareness as well as strengthen ties between uniformed emergency agencies and [...]

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At the Natural Hazards & Applications Workshop on Friday, a panel of those involved with the Great California ShakeOut offered an update of their plans for the second annual drill, which will take place at 10:15 a.m. on October 15, 2009. During that day, millions of Californians will practice “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” as [...]

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I am in Broomfield, Colorado outside Denver at the “Natural Hazards & Applications Workshop” which is organized by the University of Colorado’s famed Natural Hazards Center. The workshop, now in its 34th year, is “designed to bring hazards researchers and practitioners from many disciplines together for face-to-face discussions on issues and trends that affect how [...]

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I am in Bethesda, Maryland to cover the “H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit” which will take place Thursday at the National Institutes of Health. The schedule of speakers is here. I will be writing about the Summit on the blog. But if you want to follow the proceedings contemporaneously you can do so on the web [...]

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