In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

This edition of “What Should We Tell The Public?” features U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson.  In the video, he says that the public should realize that homeland security is still a “work in progress,” and he underscores the need to create a “resilient” nation.
I shot this in Thompson’s Capitol Hill office after [...]

[Read more →]

Laura Belsey is the director of Katrina’s Children, a terrific documentary about 19 kids from different neighborhoods in New Orleans area and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on their lives. In this ”What Should We Tell The Public?” video, Belsey relays some sage advice from the children in the film about what they learned going through this major disaster. 
The video [...]

[Read more →]

This “What Should We Tell The Public?” video features New York State Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, the sponsor of a bill to establish a tax free period during September for emergency supplies. Bing is my local assemblyman, and I worked with him on creating the legislation. 
In his segment, Bing says that a major crane collapse near his [...]

[Read more →]

Between sessions of a conference on special needs citizens and disasters, I filmed a “What Should We Tell The Public?” video with Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Regional Administrator Stephen Kempf. In the segment, Kempf tells viewers to determine the emergency risks in their own area and then be able to take care of themselves for 72 hours. [...]

[Read more →]

This segment of the “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series features Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s vice president for outreach and educational practices.
Jeanette had a major role, along with Grover (who also recorded a video), in developing Sesame Street’s preparedness program for young kids and their families, “Let’s Get Ready! Planning Together For Emergencies,” done in collaboration [...]

[Read more →]

This segment of the “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series features Pat McGinnis, President Emeritus of the Council for Excellence in Government. Pat and the Council have been leaders in citizen readiness and engagement, including the creation of the much heralded What’s Your RQ? public preparedness quiz. In the video, she lists a number of things [...]

[Read more →]

This edition of the blog’s “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series features James Carafano from the Heritage Foundation. An extremely prolific and highly respected author on all things homeland security, Carafano released a report in September with recommendations for the next Administration titled, “Homeland Security 3.0: Building A National Enterprise To Keep America Safe, Free And [...]

[Read more →]

Frank Cilluffo is the Director of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute and a former Special Assistant to President Bush for Homeland Security.  
In this segment of “What Should We Tell The Public?”, Cifullo says each citizen has the ability to help improve their community’s readiness by asking questions and finding out what they can do to [...]

[Read more →]

On Friday, I had the chance to speak with Gail McGovern, the new President of the American Red Cross at her Washington office. We discussed citizen preparedness and some of her plans for the organization. I will write up that conversation in a future post. In the meantime, I also filmed two “What Should We [...]

[Read more →]

Fran Townsend served as President Bush’s top Homeland Security aide from May, 2004 through 2007. In this segment of “What Should We Tell The Public?”, Townsend urges parents to create and then go over a basic emergency communications plan so everyone in the family understands what to do and how to do it. She says she has set up [...]

[Read more →]