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 [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Preparedness Ideas'
Napolitano’s CPR Training Offers Some Lessons: Integrate Into Workplace, Commitment From Top, Schedule Follow-Up A Year Later
August 26th, 2009 · 3 Comments
Tags: Preparedness Events · Preparedness Ideas
National Emergency Management Association President Says U.S. Has “Culture Of Entitlement” On Disaster Preparedness, Response
August 20th, 2009 · 3 Comments
In a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, the current President of the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Nancy Dragani said that the nation has a “culture of entitlement” when it comes to disaster preparedness and response. According to an article by Daniel Fowler of CQ Homeland Security, Dragani, the Executive Director of the Ohio Department [...]
Tags: Preparedness Ideas
In NYC Speech, Napolitano Says “For Too Long, We’ve Treated The Public As A Liability To Be Protected Rather Than An Asset In Our Nation’s Collective Security”; Promises To Begin “Engaging And Empowering Our Citizens To Be Part Of Collective Effort” Towards “Creating A Culture of Awareness And Preparation”
July 29th, 2009 · 16 Comments
In a major speech this morning here in New York City that focused a great deal of attention on the role of the American citizen in homeland security, Secretary Janet Napolitano said that “for too long, we’ve treated the public as a liability to be protected rather than an asset in our nation’s collective security” [...]
Tags: Department of Homeland Security · Preparedness Ideas
FEMA Head Says Personal Preparedness “Must Be National Priority”; Requires “Considerable National Attention” — “Every Elected And Appointed Official At Every Level of Government Must Make It A Priority”
July 28th, 2009 · 4 Comments
In prepared testimony yesterday for a House subcommittee, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate reiterated his concern about the lack of U.S. citizen preparedness in some pretty strong language. He told legislators that “personal disaster preparedness is and must be a national priority” and it “needs considerable national attention,” recommending that “every elected and appointed official at every [...]
Tags: Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness Ideas
H1N1 Hits Home; I’m On Tamiflu
July 23rd, 2009 · 2 Comments
This blog often covers my own first-person experiences. The most recent was a bit of a surprise. After covering the H1N1 flu from a distance as a blogger, the virus has hit home. This week, one of my family members was diagnosed with H1N1. She’s already feeling better, and the rest of the family is [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Preparedness Ideas
Memo To ‘Color Alert’ Task Force: Put Your Citizen Hats On, Design With/For Public, Integrate Into Overall Citizen Preparedness Program, Consider All-Hazards Approach (Maybe Starting With H1N1), Replace Changing Colors With Consistent Communications, Advisory Should Be Two-Way, Let Public In ‘The Bubble’, Utilize Social Media
July 22nd, 2009 · 8 Comments
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced last week that she was appointing a task force to examine the future of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) better known as the (much maligned and parodied) color-coded alerts.
Following a 60-day review period, the bipartisan task force will present its findings to Napolitano, who will in turn discuss them [...]
Tags: Preparedness Groups · Preparedness Ideas
Preparedness-Themed Song/Video Suggestions From Readers
July 18th, 2009 · No Comments
Last month, I posted some YouTube videos of songs I think are particularly resonant and representative of the ideas raised in this blog. Afterwards, I received a couple of suggestions from readers below which I thought I would post:
Bruce Hennes —
My nomination for Best Preparedness Song, Nuclear Division is Tom Lehrer – Who’s Next? [...]
Tags: Media · Preparedness Ideas
FEMA’S Fugate Brings “Bully Pulpit†To Mile High: Tells Hazards Workshop That Authorities Have To “Trust The Public,†But Public Also Has To Take More Responsibility. Pushes Value Of Social Media & Citizens’ Star Trek “Tricorder” (a.k.a. Smart Phone) In Emergencies
July 17th, 2009 · 1 Comment
In a rollicking keynote address at the Annual Natural Hazards Workshop in Broomfield, Colorado yesterday, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said that the public was a too often overlooked and unlocked asset in emergency response, but he also called on that same public to take more responsibility for preparing for and mitigating disasters. Fugate kicked off the 34th [...]
Tags: Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness Ideas
FEMA Regional Offices Now On Twitter; County Using Electronic Billboards To Push Multiple Preparedness Messages To Driving Public
July 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has 10 regional offices (see map here for how they are divided). Each of them now has their own Twitter feed. You can go to the Homeland Security Department’s social media page here to sign up. These have just started up, and they vary by office as far as frequency of [...]
Tags: County Preparedness · Federal Emergency Management Administration · Preparedness Ideas
If The D.C. Train Crash Had Been Terrorism Rather Than An Accident, Would We React Differently?
June 23rd, 2009 · No Comments
Phil Palin from the blog HLS Watch has an interesting, somewhat provocative post this morning. In “Accident or Intention: Responding With Outrage or Deliberation,” Palin asks if the reaction would be different had yesterday’s Metro crash in Washington, D.C. been a terrorist bombing. He suggests that the deliberative, balanced and constructive approach (as opposed to [...]
Tags: Preparedness Ideas