The Obama Administration has said that public readiness is a priority and has taken steps to strengthen the involvement of Americans in their own homeland security. However, officials acknowledge that there is still a ways to go. I present these proposals to help move forward citizen preparedness on a local, state and national level. I hope these suggestions can be a useful addition to the policy discussion and have submitted it to the Federal Preparedness Task Force. As always, I welcome your feedback:

1) CREATE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS TASK FORCE — The lack of progress to date on public readiness and engagement underscores the need to develop new ways of approaching the issue. DHS Secretary Napolitano should create a Citizen Preparedness Outreach Task Force to assess the current state of public readiness and work on developing new approaches. At present, there is no clear social education analog to civilian emergency preparedness that can be easily pulled off the shelf so it will take some work to develop an effective program. In fact, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism in its final report recommended the Administration make citizen engagement a priority. But Chairman Bob Graham told me that the ‘WMD Commission’ did not did not find anything suitable it could recommend, and that something new has to be developed.

2) BETTER DEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “PREPARED” “READY” AND/OR “RESILIENT” — An American Red Cross survey indicated that 93% of Americans are not prepared for disasters. The truth is that no one can be fully prepared, but there is a need to offer the public a clearer definition — including a minimum level — of preparedness. That might include creating a family communications plan and storing tangible supplies but also knowing more about potential threats that every American should know. That doesn’t mean overwhelming people with too much information, but making sure they are at least familiar with some basics. (For example, the first time citizens hear about a ‘dirty bomb’ from government officials should not be in the moments after one has been exploded.) In addition to the content questions, there is also a word meaning issue to deal with as well. The Obama Administration has been emphasizing the concept of societal resilience. Should emergency management officials be talking about citizen resilience in their communities rather than preparedness or readiness?

3) SUPPORT & REPORT ON STATE/LOCAL PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS — Provide adequate seed money for state and local government to bolster civilian preparedness programs and link the grants to performance. Encourage authorities to report publicly on their level of citizen preparedness and create metrics for better measuring civilian readiness. Find interested governors to take on leadership roles and create pilot models in their states. There is a need to employ both “bottom/up” and “top/down” approaches to disaster preparedness combining state, local and community leadership and citizen involvement with federal commitment and focus. Ensure that government authorities can competently respond to disasters but also more strongly emphasize the need for the public and local communities to be prepared and self-reliant, particularly in the first 72 hours after a disaster.

4) HIGHLIGHT & SPREAD MODELS FROM AROUND U.S. & OTHER COUNTRIES — There is a need to help promote and implement best practices from communities around the U.S. and draw, where applicable, particularly from British and Israeli experiences. One model may be the United Kingdom’s National Risk Register, which sets out publicly the government’s assessment of the likelihood and potential impact of a range of different public health, natural and terrorist risks. It is designed to increase awareness of the kinds of risks the UK faces, and encourage individuals and organizations to think about their own preparedness. The Register also includes details of what the Government and first responders are doing to prepare for those emergencies and the role of citizens in those plans

5) USE ‘CARROTS’ TO CHANGE PUBLIC BEHAVIOR – Provide a tax write-off for citizens to buy preparedness-related products as a way to promote participation and to signal governmental commitment. Encourage states to create tax-free periods as is being done in Virginia and Louisiana (and has been introduced in the New York legislature). Also, consider targeting assistance to citizens who cannot afford to prepare. 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. Similarly, preparedness disincentives in the law should be removed (ie. in some places, homeowners who retrofit their homes face higher tax assessments.)

6) BRING IN BUSINESS TO DEVELOP INTEGRATED ‘WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN’ PUBLIC PREPAREDNESS MARKETING CAMPAIGNS– Design and roll out a full service preparedness marketing campaign with help from the private and non-profit sectors. Galvanize business to take on disaster preparedness in the same way they have with disaster response, most notably in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (ie. big box stores, packaged goods manufacturers, bottled water companies, wireless industry). Work with companies in preparedness-related businesses to offer major discounts tied to citizens taking actual readiness steps recommended by Ready.Gov and local emergency management offices.

For example, individuals and families come into ‘big box’ stores 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 for free). And if a customer signed up to volunteer for CERT or the Red Cross Disaster Services, they would get a bigger discount. Mobile phone retail stores would be excellent settings for preparedness events/trainings to help people register for government emergency text/e-mail alerts. I’d also like to see an 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 step.

7) DON’T BE AFRAID TO TELL THE CHILDREN — Put more emphasis on educating young people on preparedness by piggybacking on other related school-based social education efforts, most prominently fire safety. The challenge is the both the decentralization of the nation’s education system and the already high curricula demands on teachers. Yet, an effective fire education program was implemented in the schools beginning in the 1970’s, and there would seem to be a perfect fit to integrate a preparedness module into that existing program. The federal government should work with state and local officials as well as fire and education officials to determine how best to accomplish that objective.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate recently suggested expanding the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program for young people. I believe that a decision to expand CERT-type training in the schools would be welcomed on a bipartisan basis.There should be more public briefings on how personal tech would be helpful in an emergency, before the emergency (including how Twitter, Facebook and one’s smart phone can be invaluable). Further, every governmental preparedness web site should add a cell phone and an extra battery (or other power source) to the basic components of their recommended disaster supply kit.  Many private companies are working on applications for citizen emergency communications. Those business efforts need to be integrated with official alerts (ie. the new iteration of the Emergency Alert System) and unofficial citizen-based social media (as well as the news media). Both the content and distribution channels of emergency communications are changing and new models need to be developed.

8 EMBRACE AND ACCELERATE PREPAREDNESS 2.0 – There is a need to better inform the public on the potential of 21st century personal technology to prepare for and respond to 21st century emergencies. We must make Americans more aware of the capabilities of the technology at their fingertips (ie. wireless devices, social media sites) in advance and integrate it into disaster planning and response. The public’s new ability to access and distribute information offers both an opportunity and a challenge to government authorities.

There should be more public briefings on how personal tech would be helpful in a crisis, before the crisis (including how Twitter, Facebook and one’s smart phone can be invaluable). Further, every governmental preparedness web site should add a cell phone and an extra battery (or other power source) to the basic components of their recommended disaster supply kit. Many private companies are working on content and distribution applications for citizen emergency communications. Those business efforts can complement official efforts (ie. the new iteration of the Emergency Alert System) and unofficial citizen-based social media (and well as the news media). One hugely promising initiative is CrisisCommons which over the past year has created groups of volunteers throughout the world to bring technology to bear on disaster response issues.

9) FIND POLITICAL, CELEBRITY PREPAREDNESS SPOKESPEOPLE – During the time that I have covered the topic of citizen emergency preparedness, one of the most surprising things I’ve found is that there is no major elected official who has taken the lead on the issue. It’s surprising for a number of reasons: natural disasters and terrorism dominate the headlines and will continue to for the foreseeable future; citizen preparedness is pretty much an unassailable, bipartisan, patriotic and community-building topic; and even the smallest interest in Washington has at least one political champion (but not public preparedness). And, with much to do, there is a great opportunity to have a positive policy and political impact. To some in the readiness community, the absence of star power on the issue has been one reason for the lack of public attention. Though celebrities have been eager to participate in fundraising efforts after catastrophes like the Haiti effort), there is no big star who is singularly identified as a spokesperson for emergency preparedness.

10) GIVE THE PUBLIC MORE INFO SO THEY CAN BETTER PREPARE & PARTICIPATE – There is a need to better inform the public when it comes to disaster preparedness so they can not only ready themselves and their families but also be part of the policy debate. Let me mention two areas briefly:

a) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): In its report, the WMD Commission argues that the incoming Administration should make an effort to inform and engage the public on the subject of WMD’s. I agree. And, I suggest officials consider starting that process by defining (or redefining) what a WMD actually is. At present, it is most common to define a WMD for the public as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (or “CBRN”) weapon.

The Commission report, however, focuses primarily on the dangers of biological and nuclear terrorism, both of which could be absolutely catastrophic. By contrast, a chemical or radiological (better known as a ‘dirty bomb’) weapon could be very serious but would likely not cause as much lasting damage. In fact, both a chemical and radiological attack would likely be a one-shot event seriously impacting those directly near the event, closer in result to a ‘traditional’ terrorist bombing. A nuclear bomb or biological incident, however, could have wide and long-lasting ‘mass destruction’ impact to humans, property and the society itself. We don’t want the public — and the nation as a whole — to overreact to some threats and underreact to others.

b) Risk: I think it may be one of the most important homeland security subjects for both the government and the public, because it highlights some of the tradeoffs involved in determining how to allocate the nation’s security resources and the role of risk management in making those decisions. This is a debate which should include the public. Right now, Americans aren’t engaged in the discussion over the security, financial, logistical and time tradeoffs involved in our own homeland security.

We need to introduce risk management into homeland security which would lead us to ask and answer important questions: What improves our security and resiliency? And what can be done at a reasonable social and financial cost? Those answers should come not only from policymakers but with the guidance of the public itself.

The public should be asked: How much risk do you want to pay for? How much inconvenience do you want to deal with? These are dilemmas we deal with everyday in our lives; we need to bring that same approach to homeland security and disaster preparedness. FEMA’s Fugate has since his days in Florida made the point that natural hazards turn into natural disasters because of man-made decisions on development, including ubiquitous golf courses: “You can tee off in Tallahassee and play through to Pensacola,” he likes to say.  ”Unless the public understands we need to change where we develop and live, it won’t matter.” It is up to elected officials to present those choices, including building codes, levies and insurance incentives.

11) ‘SEE AND SAY’ SOMETHING MORE – Build upon the initial success of ‘See Something, Say Something’ -type citizen information campaigns by providing the public with more specific guidance on how to assist law enforcement and, without giving away sources and methods, offering more feedback on the information they have provided. Law enforcement officials are concerned about societal complacency nine years since 9/11, but have not determined how to communicate to the public a more candid – yet calm and balanced – picture of the threat and how they can best help. The Department of Homeland Security is expanding “See Something, Say Something” nationally, which is a positive development. However, there is still a need to better explain to citizens their role, particularly at a local level. One important question is how much of what new information and training given to law enforcement about terrorism prevention should also be provided to the public.

12) MEDIA SHOULD COVER PREPAREDNESS AS WELL AS DISASTERS – While the press does wall-to-wall coverage on natural disasters and has covered practically every aspect of terrorism story closely, it has largely overlooked advance public preparedness. By contrast, during the Cold War, magazines ranging from Life to Modern Farmer dedicated entire issues to civilian readiness. Obviously, the press’ role is not to serve as a publicity arm of the government, but it is a topic that deserves more attention. And without more media coverage, it will be difficult to break through to the public. One great example of the press as a unique asset is the list of preparedness tips and lessons learned from the disaster survivors that was collected by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

13) GOVERNMENT PREPAREDNESS OUTREACH NEEDS TO BE FAR MORE INTERACTIVE — Right now, if a member of the public has a question about the preparedness process, there is nowhere to go. And, as someone who does a lot of public outreach on street fairs, radio or in community meetings I hear a lot of questions from average citizens about emergency readiness — ie. Shouldn’t buildings have mandatory emergency drills? Shouldn’t everyone have a solar charger in your ‘go-bag’ to be able recharge a cellphone or radio? Shouldn’t you have an evacuation family meeting spot outside of the City in case there is major disaster? In case of an emergency, where should we go for information? The emergency management community on a national, state and local level must overhaul its public information operations to be able to address those questions directly and lead the public through what can be a challenging process to undertake.

14) ‘DO ASK, DO TELL’: MAKE “PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY” MORE CENTRAL TO PREPAREDNESS MESSAGING — Instead of telling people to prepare because it is a responsibility (you need to do this), government has used a softer ask when it comes to trying to get the public to prepare. To me, the it is time to try to do more “telling” and less “asking”. I don’t believe the government should be afraid to explicitly tell the public that each of us can either hinder or help relief efforts by what they decide to do before and during a disaster. And, that it’s up to each of us to choose.

If indeed preparing for disasters is a responsibility of citizenship (which I think it should be), then it should been positioned that way. PSA’s saying that people are imperiling the lives of first responders and their fellow citizens, particularly the vulnerable (ie. the elderly, disabled) not to mention your own family might be treated with a little more urgency. Another potentially useful messaging approach was suggested to me by former Miss Utah Jill Shepherd who used citizen preparedness as her pageant platform. It can (and should) be included in the preparedness pitch that readying yourself and your family for disaster at home is a way civilians can contribute to the nation’s resilience and complement the work and sacrifice of those serving in the military. Preparedness may be the most important contribution most citizens can make to their nation’s security. Not only will civilians likely be the first on the scene of a major emergency, but the nation’s response will only be as strong as the readiness of the weakest link. We have entered the ‘pro-am’ preparedness era where the government needs to hand off some responsibility and the public needs to take it.

15) INTEGRATE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS INTO OTHER COMMUNITY ISSUES — Emergency preparedness is an important issue, particularly during crises. However, it has a better chance of becoming ingrained into American society if it is viewed as part of other preparedness topics that are a more central part of Americans daily life, including public health (immunization), security (Neighborhood Watch), infrastructure and climate change, part and parcel of just being ready for any situation.

For example, the global warming campaign can and should be a model for civilian emergency preparedness in a variety of ways. The two efforts are complementary and should be linked closer together in the public’s mind — and actions. In both, society is being asked to mobilize in order to avert or mitigate potential disasters, and both are part of strengthening the nation’s general national resilience. Yes, global warming has some skeptics, but so does emergency preparedness — ironically they are often not the same people which may conveniently add to its complementary synergy.

16) EXPAND EMERGENCY DRILLING OPPORTUNITIES TO PUBLIC –Increase chances for citizens to participate in disaster drills, which would help people focus on the issue and work through the key questions everyone should ask before a disaster (ie. How will you get information and communicate with your family? Do you know the emergency plan of your children’s school?). Most every top homeland security/emergency management official I have interviewed has told me that broader public disaster exercises would be helpful in a number of ways, but there has not been a concerted effort to expand drilling opportunities to the public.

17) DETERMINE BEST USE OF CIVILIAN DISASTER VOLUNTEERS – Craig Fugate said recently that FEMA would be reevaluating the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). I think that as part of that review government and non profit officials should be looking at how best to recruit and deploy disaster volunteers. Post-9/11 and Katrina — as well as with international incidents such as Haiti — there has been great interest among the public to be involved in crisis response. A key question is how that asset should be managed. Should it be the government? The Red Cross? Other non-profits and faith-based institutions? Business? Or a combination of the four? One hugely promising initiative is CrisisCommons which over the past year has created groups of volunteers throughout the world to bring technology to bear on disaster response issues.

Fugate said that FEMA is considering major changes in the CERT program, including creating a shorter training course which could be offered to more Americans and significantly expanding training for schools and other youth groups in order to better imbed preparedness into society for the long-term. I’ve always felt that CERT training is less about the skills you learn and more about awareness about the community and the various emergency authorities (and identifying citizen crisis organizers in advance). To me, CERT is just basic citizenship training for the 21st Century, which I think every American should get a chance to receive. I might suggest that the smaller reduced curriculum be called something along the lines of “Citizen Resilience Training”.

18) ESTABLISH AN OFFICIAL PREPAREDNESS DAY — Create a National Preparedness Day to focus public attention before disasters, including briefing citizens, conducting drills, and filling emergency kits. A helpful model is Japan’s Disaster Prevention Day held on September 1st, the anniversary of the catastrophic 1923 Tokyo earthquake. Earlier this month, 670,000 Japanese participated in emergency drills around the country. China, since its 8.0-magnitude 2008 Sichuan Province earthquake, has also held two national disaster prevention days with nationwide drills.

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. I might suggest September 11th be made the U.S.’s official Day. It would seem to be appropriate to honor the memories of those who died by action, particularly something aimed at making sure America is never as unprepared again.

19) CREATE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS OFFICE – Establishing a national citizen preparedness/resilience office to highlight and help coordinate efforts around the U.S. and ensure citizen preparedness remains a priority. Right now, there is not an identifiable place in the federal government that has responsibility for coordinating the public’s role in preparedness. Work with American Red Cross to create an effective advocate for the general public on emergency preparedness in the same way disabled and pet groups have done for the disaster needs of their communities over the past several years.

20) BUNDLE CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS PROPOSALS TOGETHER INTO “CITIZEN PREPAREDNESS INITIATIVE” – For too long, well meaning public preparedness efforts have gotten lost or have been ignored by the public. That’s in large part because they have not been packaged and presented as being specifically directed to citizens. But if the government would assemble these small disparate proposals listed above into an overall citizen preparedness package it would have a better chance of getting attention and gaining some traction. Ultimately, making inroads on citizen preparedness is less a matter of money than it is of focus and attention.

Under the New York bill, citizens would be able to buy emergency supplies without paying state sales tax between September 1st-11th and purchase pre-made “Go-Bags” tax free throughout the month. The bill would also declare September as “Emergency Preparedness Month” in New York. It was originally introduced by New York State Assemblyman Jonathan L. Bing as Bill A00783.

I had met with Assemblyman Bing’s staff to discuss emergency preparedness in his Manhattan district (where I live) as well as the State as a whole. I recommended that a tax free holiday on emergency supplies, which is being tried successfully by a couple states to increase public interest and action on preparedness, would be good for the Empire State. As Bing has long been involved in the issues of emergency preparedness and response, he thought a tax free period could have a significant impact on citizen preparedness, and decided to introduce legislation.

According to the proposed legislation, the tax-free period for supplies would run from September 1-September 11 commemorating the time between the anniversaries between Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. “Go-Bags” would be exempt all month but only if they met certain minimum requirements and were sold for $75 or less. Some of the individual emergency items would have similar price restrictions.

Storing supplies are just one step in becoming prepared, but getting people to take that initial step is crucial. In addition, a special tax holiday makes it more likely a) private businesses will add their marketing expertise and capacity to the preparedness effort and b) the media will provide coverage of the issue. Officials in Virginia and Florida, both of which recently implemented this idea, say results have been positive.

The bill has been introduced in the Assembly with twenty other sponsors as well as in the Senate. New Yorkers should contact your local legislators to encourage them to support the legislation. Those in other states should ask their elected officials to consider the idea.

Manning wanted to remind preparedness stakeholders, including the public, that there are two days left to contribute a new idea — or offer a comment and vote on an existing one — to the Dialogue. The website can be found at http://preparedness.ideascale.com/.

Thus far, there have been 246 suggestions, 388 comments and 2867 votes posted by 759 users. With this web-based tool, users submit their ideas, the community discusses and votes for them, with the most popular suggestions bubbling up to the top. Right now, educating the public on preparedness are two of the three recommendations with the most votes.

The Dialogue will complement the work of the Preparedness Task Force which was created at the direction of Congress. The Task Force is comprised of 35 local, state, and tribal members and 24 Federal ex officio members with diverse expertise in homeland security and emergency management. It was formed to assess the state of disaster preparedness and make recommendations for improvement throughout the nation. The panel has been meeting since April and is expected to release a report next month.

Manning says the Task Force has been looking at all aspects of the nation’s preparedness initiatives, many of which date to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security more than seven years ago. He adds that the group will be addressing some basic questions, including, “What are we trying to achieve? How do we measure effectiveness? What have been the effectiveness of grant programs?”

To contribute to the Dialogue (by the deadline of September 10th), click here. If you would prefer to submit your comments, ideas or recommendations directly to the Task Force, send them by email to FEMA-Preparedness-Task-Force@fema.gov (also by the 10th).

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”

During the past two decades, such blackouts have increased 124 percent — up from 41 blackouts between 1991 and 1995, to 92 between 2001 and 2005, according to research at the University of Minnesota. In the most recently analyzed data available, utilities reported 36 such outages in 2006 alone.

It offers a good reminder that citizens should be prepared for such events. One particular tip I would suggest is to make sure that you have requisite backup power for your mobile phone as communications in a crisis is paramount.

The need for — and importance — of backup power for mobiles in an emergency was brought home to me a couple years ago when I responded to a building collapse in Manhattan with my CERT team. The accident displaced a number of apartment residents who came to the Red Cross evacuation center with two questions: when can we get into our homes? and second, how can we could get our cellphones charged?

Eventually, power chargers for the various mobile phone makes owned by residents were found. But it was a bit of an epiphany for me. I believe that the cellphone or PDA is the most important emergency tool you need to have and learn how to use. In fact, I recommended, on the suggestion of Mitchell Moss, that everyone have an extra cellphone battery.

I had worked with the Wireless Foundation and technology expert David Stephenson to add mobile phones as a recommended tool on emergency management sites. The Ready.Gov Get A Kit section now also recommends a battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both; flashlight and era batteries; and cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger. Another option is to have an extra ‘low-end, energy-efficient’ phone.

Rebecca Marquis, the Ready Program’s Deputy Director told me she was at jazz concert in New Orleans where everyone was given a free Energizer® Energi To Go® Portable Power for Cell Phones. I think that is the type of business involvement in advance emergency preparedness which needs to be expanded.

Also, the American Red Cross has a broader checklist of how to prepare for power outage beyond just communications.

To enter, tweet just one thing that you’re doing to get prepared for emergencies to @RedCrossPDX and use the hashtag #just1thing.

It’s a terrific contest — fun, spurs action and creates a good preparedness list. Anyone can share anything they’re doing to get prepared at any time, but new this year each week of September will have a special theme and corresponding prize: Sept. 1-10: Children; Sept. 13-17: Families; Sept. 20-24: Workplace; Sept. 27-30: Pets. All participants are welcome, however only Oregon residents are eligible for prizes (valued at $100), to be awarded via random drawing.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate may want to enter the contest. Last month, he said in an interview that for National Preparedness Month, he wants Americans to do at least one thing: create an emergency communications plan for their family.

Here are some of the entries from last year:

KalCobalt: Gave house keys to trusted folks so if I’m separated from home by an emergency, my kitty can be cared for!

LouiseHornor: If we get separated from each other or our RV, our emergency meeting place will be closest Red Cross chapter. #just1thing

OberLaw: have beefed up supplies and created redundancy – car, home, work. inventoried everything w/ expiration dates!

nika7k: am dehydrating fruits, veg, trail mixes, and backpacking soups in case we have to eat w/o power! #just1thing

Bolz42: My #just1thing for today…staying home and not getting the office sick…

jcrawfordor: Finally joining Amateur Radio Group to participate in disaster management trainings

eakunkel: I’m putting together a disaster supplies kit (http://bit.ly/RLFvb) for the folks I’m house-sitting for

artisticbaker: I’m trying to keep first aid supplies handy in our house

MelindaJoy926: I’m buying bottled water

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.

Each day in September, CRESA is going to post an activity-based challenge which will take everyone who plays one step closer towards being more resilient as a community and ready to face the next crisis.

Anyone can play. In fact, we encourage EVERYONE to play along in this fun challenge. Even if you don’t complete all 30 days of challenges, by simply doing some of these activities, you may find yourself thinking about emergencies differently.

The Day 1 activity, posted this morning, is very relevant to those across the U.S. from CRESA on the East Coast who are being asked to monitor possible local evacuation orders as a result of Hurricane Earl.

DAY 1 ACTIVITY: Identify the name of your local Emergency Management Agency and how you would receive information from them during emergencies.

To enter:

PROOF OF COMPLETION: There are 3 ways that you can complete this task:  leave a comment with your answer in it on our blog, put your answer on our Facebook Fan Page or provide the answer on Twitter (please include @CRESA or hashtag #30days30ways in any tweets).

You do not have to complete the task on the day in which it is initially assigned; however, all proofs must be turned in by 9/30/10.

What Will I Win?

Besides the great self-actualization that you are prepared (or not, as the case may be), we have decided to provide some additional incentive beyond bragging rights for being the first 30 Days, 30 Ways winner. This includes:

Personal Mention in a media release about the contest results (you may choose to remain anonymous if you wish).

Invitation to a CRESA Emergency Management Staff Meeting to discuss your experience in this contest and to provide feedback on this contest. (If the winner does not live locally, we will set up a teleconference so that we can chat together.)

2011 Preparedness Calendar

“Behind the Scenes” Tour of the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) which includes 9-1-1 and Emergency Management.

The person (or people, in the event of a tie) who completes the most challenges will be identified as the winner of this contest. We challenge you to join us in this amazing and fun quest to be better prepared together.

I look forward to following the contest through the month.

It turns out that in most cases the two services are being utilized in somewhat different ways by different types of external users. Twitter is being used mostly as an informational source with speed and news being paramount for more of an official audience, while Facebook pages tend to be more of a place for public discussion and community building with more depth (ie. multi-media) and emotional involvement often for average citizens. But in a crisis, the two platforms will be used similarly to distribute and solicit emergency information. Both, officials say, have been very helpful to their informational outreach to the public.

Here are the e-mail responses about Twitter and Facebook from some of the emergency management experts I contacted:

Jeremy J. Heidt, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency – ”We are seeing quite a difference in what TEMA’s social media followers and fans are looking for from our agency, but that may be due to how we are interacting on those platforms. We have 355 followers on Twitter, but a majority (>75%) of them are what I would call information gatherers, like yourself, looking for official information to share through their own distribution channels.

For example, our Twitter followers include the Associated Press and CNN Southeast Desk, as well as various federal, state and local agencies or officials. The general public makes up a small percentage of the direct audience, though they are welcome to receive the messages. TEMA primarily uses Twitter as an automatic distribution mechanism –using Google Feedburner and RSS feeds — for any information that has been updated, such as pictures or maps on Flickr, any official state news releases on TN.Gov or blog postings to TEMA’s website, as well as FEMA releases involving Tennessee and earthquake notices in the region from the U.S. Geological Service.

During the recent flooding, I repeatedly told media outlets that following TEMA on Twitter would ensure they received immediate notice of any new information that we had released. This cut down tremendously on the number of repeat phone calls from those media outlets looking for just routine updates to some previously released information. By utilizing the Twitter lists, I’m also able to get immediate feedback by watching what media outlets are saying about an event, as it is happening. We don’t have a lot of two-way conversations via Twitter though.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Twitter page.

The Facebook page, TNDisasterInfo, has 2,483 fans, but the daily impressions are 9,755. This site has much more grassroots appeal to its users. They are able to comment and give direct feedback via Facebook. Sixty-five percent of the fans are female, and most reside in Tennessee. I definitely think that how TEMA uses and interact through social media will continue to change.

In the future, I think emergency organizations will have to monitor social media, like Twitter or others, for ’emergency’ communications from our citizens. We need to adapt to how the public chooses to communicate, or we will lose a piece of situational awareness that is vital to any successful emergency operation.”

Gloria Huang, American Red Cross — “Yes, we definitely have a different community on Twitter versus Facebook. Our Facebook following [202,687] consists of a lot of Red Cross volunteers, donors, workers – people with some personal tie to the organization. As a result, they are incredibly interactive and love sharing and chatting with each other on our Facebook page. Because of that, we try to tailor our content on Facebook to encourage community building and we try to give them interesting topics to talk about. In contrast, our Twitter following [177,206] love to see more disaster-focused tweets. They are interested in hard facts and timely information that they can pass on. That is most of the reason why our Twitter account is so disaster-focused.

The nature of a Facebook Page is very community-oriented; our fans/followers are very happy to declare that they donated blood, or that their mother and grandmothers also volunteered, or that they recently got certified in CPR. On the flip side, the Twitter community is much more public and vast in size – if the information we tweet is current and relevant to what people are talking about (like the Haiti earthquake), it will get spread far and wide.”

Comments on the American Red Cross’ Facebook page.

Christina Stephens, Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management — “Our Twitter followers [2,636]  are interested in news. They expect to get information everyday. Facebook users [1,672] are more likely to want to engage with us and others in a discussion. Those on Facebook tend to be more emotionally connected and Twitter users more informationally connected. But in an emergency we would use them similarly getting information out and receiving feedback. And we would be instructing people to use each to alert their family and friends about their situations.”

Adam Crowe, Johnson County (Kansas) Emergency Management & Homeland Security – “There is significant overlap in the information that we post to Facebook [440] and Twitter [808]. The most significant minor differences are based around the use of multi-media. We typically post videos and pictures to facebook and merely post to Twitter a link back to the Facebook or YouTube page. The on except to this is our automated twitter feed (@jocoalert) that receives automated emergency information such as weather alerts or advisories. Our hope is that people will select to follow this account and be notified vis SMS text – thus creating a community-wide text notification system.”

Johnson County Office of Emergency Management’s Twitter feed.

Rachel Racusen, Federal Emergency Management Administration — “Our Twitter followers [16,492] tend to be interested in news and information. The Facebook page [15,409] offers more opportunity for discussion among and feedback from the public. And, we receive helpful comments on FEMA policies.”

Chi Kong Lui, American Red Cross of Greater New York –”We do see a difference between people who use Facebook versus Twitter under normal circumstances. Twitter is a bit faster paced and noisier. We don’t subject our Facebook fans to the real-time daily disaster updates that appear in our Twitter. That being said, when a major disaster or emergency strikes, the users want useful and relevant information as quickly as possible and in whatever format they can get it. So during a disaster, I think we would look to provide as much updates to both platforms as quickly as possible.”

It’s surprising for a number of reasons: natural disasters and terrorism dominate the headlines and will continue to for the foreseeable future; citizen preparedness is pretty much unassailable, bipartisan, patriotic and community-building topic; and even the smallest interest in Washington has at least one political champion (but not public preparedness). And, with much to do, there is a great opportunity to have a positive policy and political impact.

Yet, there is no elected official who has taken the lead on the issue which is one of the reasons why the nation still has not made appropriate progress on it. Citizen preparedness requires some political leader who will make sure it is not ignored in the legislative process as it has been to date. In fact, I would argue the lack of political leadership is one reason why citizen preparedness has not received requisite attention from the government, the media and the public.

So, is there any elected official is interested in the job? Or, do readers have any ideas of who should do it?

He told the Summit audience that the public needs to ”understand their roles and responsibilities” in advance of disasters which will allow responders focus on what they do, safety, rescue and recovery. But he said “far too many folks who could have and should have been prepared do not and then force those who aren’t as fortunate to compete for resources in the aftermath of a disaster.”

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate (Photo: Shashi Bellamkonda)

Fugate often brings up the public’s “responsibility” in speeches including a keynote address I heard at the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Workshop:

“a recent survey found that only half of Americans have put together an emergency kit, and less than half – only 40 percent – have created a family emergency plan. I cannot emphasize enough just how problematic this could prove in a catastrophic environment, not only to the households, but to the efficacy of the overall incident management effort. Every family that fails to take even the most basic preparedness actions, such as having sufficient water and non-perishable food to support the family for at least 72, is a family that will pull responders and critical resources away from those who truly need such assistance, both the casualties of the disaster, and our most vulnerable populations, such as persons with disabilities and children…

Having a family disaster plan, keeping supplies for basic survival needs, and staying informed are the responsibility of every American.”

And, in fact, President Obama made that same point last year at the beginning of hurricane season when he said that preparing for disasters was a “personal responsibility” for Americans and a responsibility of citizenship:

“We just saw some statistics coming out of Florida indicating that a huge percentage of people in hurricane areas simply don’t make plans. They don’t have a plan, they don’t have a set of contingencies that will allow them to respond in an effective way. Those people who have the capacity to plan, they will thereby relieve some of the resources that the government has to provide and we can stay focused on those folks who are most vulnerable and have the most difficulty dealing with a storm. So I hope that message of personal responsibility sinks in…As we enter into hurricane season, I hope that everybody who’s watching is going to be paying attention and take seriously their responsibilities as citizens so that the entire country is ready.” [my italics]

President Obama presides over a FEMA hurricane preparedness meeting last year (White House photo: Pete Souza)

But despite the strong — and I would agree appropriate — rhetoric about personal responsibility and responsibility of citizenship, that approach has not become a major thrust of government’s primary preparedness messaging to the public, including on Ready.Gov and other local emergency management websites. Instead of telling people to prepare because it is a responsibility (you need to do this), government has used a softer ask when it comes to trying to get the public to prepare. To me, the it is time to try to do more “telling” and less “asking”.

The soft sell approach actually dates back to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Ready.Gov. In an NPR “On The Media” story from 2003, I examined the government’s initial public service announcements that featured the first DHS Secretary Tom Ridge:

To ultimately be the victor in the war again terrorism we need all Americans to be engaged, down to the point where we ask mothers and fathers to think about doing some simple things at home to protect themselves and protect their children. [my italics]

In the PSA, Ridge is only asking Americans to think about doing — not telling them to do. Ready.Gov took a similar tack, which has continued to this day. The website’s “Make A Plan” section currently states: “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.”

Yet, 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.”

For the NPR story in 2003, Tom Ridge’s spokesperson Susan Neely told me that focus groups had indicated that people wanted to be engaged on this scary topic in a “constructive way, not a mandate kind of way.” It was understandable to try that approach then. But seven years later with the needle on citizen preparedness having not moved very far, it is time to add another communications angle.

If indeed preparing for disasters is a responsibility of citizenship (which I think it should be), then it should been positioned that way highlighting the fact that you are preparing as much for others as yourself. PSA’s saying that people are imperiling the lives of first responders and their fellow citizens, particularly the vulnerable (ie. the elderly, disabled) not to mention your own family might be treated with a little more urgency.

As has been discussed often on the blog, when the nation wants to change social behavior it uses a carrot or stick. When it comes to preparedness, a carrot is more appropriate than “Click It Or Ticket”. However, a sterner “responsibility message would add a little oratorical “stick” to the mix. This new approach would not preclude still using the current softer approach, but it would add another arrow to the readiness quiver and signal this issue should be treated as a priority by the public.

The need for a stronger “responsibility” message is shared by most top officials of both political parties who have worked in citizen preparedness that I have spoken to. However, there has been a hesitation to use it in mass communications to the public where I think it would be most useful.

Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff echoed the other leaders in an interview I did with him last Fall that preparedness was a new responsibility of citizenship of the 21st Century. President George W. Bush’s Terrorism Adviser Fran Townsend told me: “It should be every parent’s responsibility to make sure that they know their children’s school emergency plan and have a communications plan for their family.”

And, former FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison in an interview told me that FEMA and local authorities are relying on the public to do its share: ”All the states, local communities working together cannot take the place of personal responsibility for taking care of yourself,” notes Paulison. ”If individuals don’t take that responsibility, this country is not going to be ready and be able to take care of everyone.”

Another potentially useful messaging approach was suggested to me by former Miss Utah Jill Shepherd, who used citizen preparedness as her pageant platform. It can (and should) be included in the preparedness pitch that readying yourself and your family for disaster at home is a way you can contribute to the nation’s resilience complementing the work and sacrifice of those in the military. I believe that could be an effective approach.

I don’t believe the government should be afraid to explicitly tell the public that each of us can either hinder or help relief efforts by what they decide to do before and during a disaster. And, that it’s up to each of us to choose. I think that’s a choice and a challenge that might get people’s attention and maybe lead to action. And, since the other approaches being used to address this issue clearly have limitations, it’s definitely worth a try.

It’s a very relevant query for this blog as citizen preparedness has not had an ongoing high-profile celebrity spokesperson. To some in the readiness community, the absence of star power on the issue has been one reason for the lack of public attention. Though celebrities have been eager to participate in fundraising efforts after catastrophes like the Haiti effort), there is no big star who is singularly identified as a spokesperson for emergency preparedness.

The American Red Cross has used actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Raven Symone as preparedness spokespeople. Maria Shriver, Honorary Chair of California Volunteers, has been outspoken on earthquake readiness. But a national spokesperson would be very helpful in publicizing the issue in a sustained way.

Brad Pitt working on a Make It Right housing project in New Orleans.

Former White House Terrorism  Adviser Fran Townsend and Terri Bischoff, the outgoing CEO of the Red Cross of Greater New York chapter both told me they think Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are rebuilding the homes in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward as part of the Make It Right redevelopment program, would be excellent spokespeople for disaster preparedness.

Personally, I’d like to see Jack Bauer a.k.a.Kiefer Sutherland be the spokesperson. Not only was his character phenomenally popular but the whole “24″ show is an argument for creating a family emergency communications plan. I think Jack would get the attention of Americans for the disaster issue as the “24″ did for eight seasons.

Your suggestions?

Jack and Kim Bauer could have used a family emergency communications plan.

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.

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”

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.

I asked him about the role of social media in disasters, how he has benefited from having (and tweeting on) his own Twitter account, and what he wants to accomplish during the upcoming National Preparedness Month in September. The four-and-half-minute video is below.

My videography does leave a little bit to be desired (the shakiness was not the result of a sudden earthquake in D.C. though there were some powerful storms in the area, and there is also short break in the interview after the first question as I fiddle with a sticky Flip camera button. (I am a little out of practice having not shot a video for the blog in 7 months.)

In the video, which was shot in the kitchen of the Red Cross’ Hall of Service, Fugate says:

* social media provides FEMA and other emergency management agencies the chance to get 2-way input from disaster survivors to better shape response to their needs in a crisis. He notes FEMA is trying to offer emergency information to the public in “flexible” formats that match how they will be using it before and during a disaster (such as on their smartphones).

* his Twitter account @CraigatFEMA (and he does his own “tweets) helps “get rid of the mystique of being an administrator of a federal agency. There always seem to be these barriers between you and interacting with people everyday.”

* for National Preparedness Month, he wants Americans to do at least one thing: create an emergency communications plan for their family. Fugate says that sometimes authorities make preparedness too complex and believes developing a family plan — described on most emergency management websites — is a good disaster readiness “first step”. (He also slips in some nice words about this blog in this answer, which were totally unsolicited but very much appreciated.)

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate talks about social media, preparedness and the public.

(UPDATE: Ed O’Keefe who writes the interesting “Federal Eye” blog for The Washington Post was at the Crisis Data event and just did a post about the Fugate interview here.)

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.

to increase awareness about immunizations across the life span, from infants to the elderly.

August is the perfect time to remind family, friends, co-workers, and those in the community to catch up on their vaccinations. Parents are enrolling their children in school, students are entering college, and healthcare workers are preparing for the upcoming flu season.

Last week, I wrote about the Get Ready preparedness campaign of the American Public Health Association (APHA), which calls for immunization as part of the basic emergency readiness steps. Though immunization is not presented as part of the Department of Homeland Security/Ready.Gov emergency preparedness recommendations (last year with the threat of the H1N1 flu was an exception), including those shots as part of the overall message does make some sense, because it is a more familiar public health action.

It might be a good way to introduce citizens to the emergency preparedness in a less threatening way. Conveniently both National Immunization Awareness Month and National Preparedness Month occur sequentially around the beginning of the school year. (And, the Red Cross suggests that when parents buy back-to-school supplies, they consider adding an emergency preparedness kit to the shopping list.)

Of course, an argument can also be made that adding another step might dilute the Preparedness Month message, particularly if terrorism awareness is also potentially added as was discussed in a recent blog post.

Traveling should be fun-filled and worry-free. But vacationers leave behind the predictability and convenience of home. Travel can be complicated by unforeseen crises — medical emergencies, canceled flights, lost luggage, natural disasters, political turmoil. In tough economic times, amid less sympathetic airlines, a dream getaway can devolve into a logistical challenge or worse.

Knowing how to handle travel emergencies can salvage a trip or, in the most dire situations, save a life. Preparedness can make a huge difference.

The full article can be found here.

According to an article on the Army’s website:

In February, the Department of the Army determined Anti-Terrorism Awareness Month would be held in August each year — a month Army leaders have deemed an appropriate reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“August is a very appropriate month, given that it’s just a month before September, keeping in mind 9/11, and also September is National Preparedness Month,” said Brig. Gen. Colleen L. McGuire, provost marshal general of the Army.

The link to National Preparedness Month raises the question whether an Anti-Terrorism Awareness Month would be useful for the civilian world as well, particularly as the Department of Homeland Security ramps up a national “See Something, Say Something” terrorism tips campaign. Another possibility would be to integrate more anti-terrorism content into National Preparedness Month activities in September.

Throughout August, according to the article, Army bases across the nation will be promoting the observance by using posters, banners and displays:

“Here’s an opportunity to focus on anti-terrorism –- particularly for children and Family members who live on an installation,” McGuire explained. “It gives them the chance to become acquainted with their neighbors and become more aware of their surroundings.”

Part of the anti-terrorism, or AT awareness campaign is a focus on Army iWatch –- a community program which encourages vigilance and proper reporting to base authorities.

Some of the suspicious behaviors iWatch asks Army community members to look for include people asking security-related questions, loitering, drawing or taking photos of important buildings or entry points, wearing bulky or baggy clothes, chemical smells, and unattended cars lefts in parking lots or no-parking zones.

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.

In the video, Curtis a long-time Red Cross volunteer, says she has added a family picture, chocolate, candy, games, rechargeable flashlight, dental floss, almonds and chips to her kit. And she adds: “I live in earthquake country, where there will be a lot of broken glass, so I suggest solid shoes for every member of your family.” [I have personalized my kit with earplugs (after spending a day in a shelter while playing a victim in New York City hurricane drill), a deck of playing cards, stuffed animals (for the kids) and an extra BlackBerry battery.]

To me, one of the biggest gaps in citizen preparedness communications is the lack of personalization and humanization. The messaging is far too institutional, and the result is that people largely do not respond. Expert officials ask average citizens to create emergency plans and kits, research threats and do practice run-throughs, but they never show them how (and if) they do it for themselves. The fact is that I have found many of them have not actually gone through the process.

As a result, they do not have a full understanding of the challenges for the public in taking what seem to be simple preparedness steps but are not particularly easy for laypeople — there are always many questions and hidden obstacles for civilians going through the preparedness process. But those are almost never addressed in a personal way by those in authority, which is a major reason why the messages do not largely get through to the public. While officials are always asking the public “what’s your plan?” or “what’s in your kit?” but rarely tell us what’s in their plan or their kit.

The reality is that it’s not so easy to do a plan, make a kit and get informed on sometimes unfamiliar and scary topics, and feel that you are actually doing something that will really help you in an emergency. Citizens have to rely on others (ie. schools, workplaces, doctors, government offices) in accessing information to put together these contingency plans, which again is not so straightforward.

In fact, just to take one of those institutions we are asking the public to rely on, a recent Save the Children study found that “fewer than one quarter of all states and the District of Columbia have enacted four basic safeguards to protect kids who are in school or child care during disasters, such as requiring all licensed child care centers to have a plan to reunite children with their families and requiring schools to have a clear written evacuation plan in place.”

Jamie Lee Curtis’ American Red Cross preparedness video, “What’s In My Kit”.

Now, it is true that emergency management officials are not going react like regular citizens in a disaster but instead will be likely be working managing the situation. So, they may not have to plan for themselves in the same way an average person would. However, most have families who are going to prepare and respond along with the rest of the public. Former White House Terrorism Adviser Fran Townsend told me that even though she would normally be engaged during a crisis, she had developed an emergency communications plan with her husband and kids.

And ex-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described to me trying to locate his daughter on 9/11 when he was in the Justice Department; to me it humanized disaster preparedness and planning in a way that a list on website just never can. I encouraged him to use that story as a way to get through to other parents. The fact is that every emergency management official is also a citizen; it would be helpful for other citizens if officials show that perspective more, and it would be similarly useful for leaders to take that point of view more in their preparedness planning and communications.

Along the lines of the Jamie Lee Curtis video, I think it would be useful if those government emergency management leaders offered the public more information their own efforts to prepare. It would also be interesting if other Red Cross folks (leaders, staff and volunteers of chapters around the U.S., including President Gail McGovern) talked about their own family emergency planning. And, frankly in this celebrity-driven society, having other high profile personalities like Curtis would be helpful as well in providing models and inspiration — how about Kiefer Sutherland a.k.a. Jack Bauer talking about the challenge of creating an emergency plan for his family without the help of CTU?

It asks the public to do five things: get a flu vaccination and other recommended immunizations, create a family communications and evacuation plan, have an emergency preparedness kit, protect their pets, and encourage their community to get ready. APHA is encouraging citizens to organize preparedness events on Get Ready Day, September 21st, as part of National Preparedness Month.

The APHA’s Audrey Pernik told me that the “promise” concept has worked before for other Association campaigns so it decided to use the idea for preparedness this year. The hope is that by getting individuals to take the first step online it will encourage them to take family readiness stepss. Asking more and getting more is similar to the philosophy of Orange County READYOC’s “Promise To Prepare” campaign that I wrote about last month. Pernik said that 1600 people have already made the pledge in the first week it has been on the web.

An interesting aspect of the APHA preparedness initiative is that it includes immunization as a part of preparedness, which is central to the group’s work but is not normally part of emergency management’s standard outreach message (other than last year when the H1N1 flu was a major focus). Though it is an extra step, I see how including immunization in public preparedness recommendations might be useful because it is a more pedestrian, non-disaster action which could be a good way to get citizens into emergency preparedness in a less threatening way.

You can make your preparedness promise here.

The APHA’s Get Ready campaign video, “Ant & Grasshopper”

So, it’s not surprising that the agencies are developing a special social media response team comprised of teenagers to assist the state’s efforts in dealing with disasters. Tentatively called the Colorado Social Media All-Hazards Response Team (COSmart), it will aim to create a cadre of high school and college age citizens to assist the state in better integrating social networking and other new personal technologies into disaster preparedness and response.

It is part of Colorado’s aggressive effort to involve youths in preparedness activities, including training programs and internships. The state sees the response team as a way to provide a platform for young people to offer their ideas on emergency readiness and tap their technological expertise, according to READYColorado’s Brandon Williams.

Williams told me that he hopes the team members will serve as “eyes and ears” in the community on disaster preparedness before and during emergency situations, helping to collect and disseminate information between citizens and the authorities and creating situational awareness with social media and other communications tools.

He says the program is still in the developmental phase. But what I like about this idea is that it addresses an aspect of the emergency management community’s challenge in figuring out how best to take advantage of the potential of new personal technology in disasters. A major question is how to institutionalize a relationship in advance with citizen users that can be tapped during emergency situations. One way to do so is to reach out to the civilians beforehand — similar to pre-positioning supplies before an emergency — and this Colorado initiative could be an important model of how do so.

Plus, it utilizes the unique knowledge of young people in social media and engages them in preparedness on their own terms. I look forward to following the initiative as it develops. Thanks to Eric Holdeman (via Garry Briese) where I first heard about this idea.