In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

Playing Games For Preparedness: DHS, NYC Offer Some Online Fun For Kids (& Adults) To Get Ready

August 6th, 2009 · 2 Comments

My New York City Office of Emergency Management “Tip-Of-The-Week” email tipped me off to some interactive web preparedness games the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has created to help teach children how to prepare for emergencies. They can be found on the Ready Kids website and the Ready New York For Kids site. The games include: [...]

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Tags: City Preparedness · Preparedness Games

Citizens (& Their Cellphone Cameras) Being Enlisted By New York Police Department

September 10th, 2008 · No Comments

One of the objectives to this blog is to highlight ways that average citizens can help law enforcement authorities on terrorism and other illegal activity, particularly utilizing new personal communications technology. To me, an important tangible (as well as symbolic) example is yesterday’s announcement from the New York Police Department that it wants civilians to [...]

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Tags: See Something/Terrorism Tips

Why Prepare? Ask (& Watch) The Survivors (Part 2) — The Pinellas County “Project Storm Story”

July 30th, 2008 · No Comments

A ‘near miss’ like yesterday’s Los Angeles earthquake often doesn’t motivate people to prepare. Sometimes, it requires something major to actually happen to you before doing anything.  
Yet, as Part 1, the Times-Picayune collection of preparedness tips I posted on Monday, indicates, the testimony of disaster survivors can also be very compelling and helpful. That’s why Pinellas [...]

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Tags: Hurricane Preparedness · Preparedness Lessons · Preparedness Tips

Why Prepare? Ask The Survivors (Part 1) — “New Orleans Times-Picayune” Readers’ Post-Katrina List Of Preparedness Tips

July 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

One of the simplest but most ingenious uses of the internet for disaster preparedness is the New Orleans Times Picayune’s list of reader hurricane preparedness lessons learned mostly as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
The Times-Picayune, which did such heroic coverage during and after Katrina, solicited these ideas from readers in 2006 and printed them weekly [...]

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Tags: Hurricane Preparedness · Media · Preparedness Tips

What You Should Do If A Nuclear Bomb Explodes Nearby

July 1st, 2008 · 4 Comments

The headline might strike some readers as tongue in cheek — as if you can really do anything if a nuclear bomb explodes nearby. And, clearly if you are too close, there is little you will be able to do. However, it is less well know that there are things that to you can do if you are in the vicinity [...]

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Tags: Nuclear Terrorism · Preparedness Tips

London Report On 7/7 Transit Bombings Offers Lesson About Need To “Re-cast” U.S. Emergency Plans From Public’s Point Of View

June 29th, 2008 · No Comments

An email from a new reader, Jo from London reminded me that I had meant to post the 2006 Report of the London Assembly’s 7 July Review Committee, which was set up to examine the lessons to be learned from the authorities’ response to the London bombings on July 7th, 2005.  
Though it is now two years old, the Report [...]

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Tags: International · Preparedness Lessons

Tips On Refining Your ‘Disaster Personality’ & What Men Can Learn From Women (About Flood Preparedness)

June 28th, 2008 · No Comments

I want to highlight two recent items from the blog of The Unthinkable author Amanda Ripley.
First, Amanda posted an excerpt from her book and Time cover story with recommendations on how to refine your own “disaster personality”. She lists five areas — Attitude, Knowledge, Anxiety Level, Body Weight & Training — where you can actually [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Tips

My Birthday Present From The Kids & Its Lesson For Citizen Preparedness

June 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment

For my birthday on last Saturday, my kids got me a 33oz. “I AM NOT PLASTIC” water bottle. I bring this up not because I love my kids (which I do) or because I want to contribute to slowing global warming (which I do). But instead because the gift offers me another good lesson about emergency preparedness.
I [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Tips

Check On Elderly Neighbors During Current Heat Wave And Afterwards

June 11th, 2008 · No Comments

As you may know — or are directly experiencing for yourself — parts of the northeast are having their first heat wave of the year. Here in New York, the City’s Office of Emergency Management has been reminding citizens to be careful of the heat. As I signed up for OEM’s public warning mailing list, I received this notification email:

For the next four days the [...]

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Tags: Preparedness Tips

A Good Citizen Preparedness Tip About Cellphones I Learned After Yesterday’s Crane Collapse

May 31st, 2008 · 6 Comments

Soon after the tragic crane collapse on the Upper East Side, my CERT team was deployed by the City’s Office of Emergency Management to help in the response.

A photo I took yesterday of local residents looking at the aftermath of a crane collapse that had killed two people earlier in the day.
We helped the Red Cross set up and staff [...]

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Tags: CERT · Preparedness Tips