In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The Obama Administration will be holding a H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit on Thursday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan will host the all-day parley to further prepare the nation for the possibility [...]

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I know there are some ‘ham radio’ operators among the readership of this blog. And, most will be participating in the Amateur Radio annual “Field Day” events taking place throughout the U.S. this weekend. In fact, thousands of Amateur Radio operators are showing off their wireless capabilities (often during emergencies) at locations in community parks, campgrounds, [...]

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DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano held a “Pen & Pad” availability for reporters and bloggers who cover the Homeland Security Department earlier today (video here). Napolitano previewed some international visits she is making to Europe and the Middle East and highlighted a couple of new DHS initiatives, including her new mission statement of “The Department’s Five [...]

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As part of the Obama Administration’s voluntarism initiative, the United We Serve summer service program launches today. It will conclude with the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11.
You can participate in United We Serve events across the nation this summer by visiting the new White House website, Serve.gov (http://www.serve.gov/).  To encourage participation in [...]

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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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I received a birthday e-card this morning from my friend, David Stephenson, which said: “I’m sure today will be one the happiest birthdays of your life. Enjoy it to your fullest.” He’s right. Finishing six months of chemotherapy just weeks ago has made today, my 46th birthday, happy indeed. And I tried to enjoy it to [...]

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The Safe America Foundation is launching a new campaign, “Drill Down for Safety,” designed to “create local practice drills on an annual basis in communities large and small to assure that Americans are prepared for disasters.” 
The nationwide campaign will focus initially on getting businesses — small, medium-sized and large — to organize emergency drills during September [...]

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On Sunday, I participated in “Operation Safe PATH 2009,” the largest terrorism drill in New York City since 9/11. I was one of approximately 150 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members who played bombing ‘victims’ for the exercise.

I am standing outside the PATH train station near the site of World Trade Center along with other [...]

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If you are in the Washington, D.C. area on Monday morning, there will be an interesting panel discussion on business and community preparedness and response. Organized by the Reform Institute, the forum is titled “A Resilience Metric: Measuring Preparedness Before Disaster Strikes”. The event is described in an Institute news release:  
Preparation and planning are the foundation [...]

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I recently attended a panel sponsored by New York University’s Center on Law & Society on the “World At Risk,” report released late last year by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism. As I wrote previously, “World At Risk” includes a refreshingly significant focus on the role of the citizen in [...]

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