National Preparedness Series

National Preparedness Month 2013 ends Today - What's next?
We've spent the last 60 days focusing on preparedness, now what? Do we just forget about being ready for emergencies for the next 11 months?

No - not at all, being ready for Disaster is a conscious and year round effort - you can do a little each month as discuss in our "Do 1 thing" post, and think about your situation all the time. Are you stocked up? Do you have a Plan? Do others know the Plan?

Emergency Preparedness, too, is not just about Disaster Survival Supplies.

Do you know CPR & First Aid? Host a CPR and First Aid Training at your location for your friends and family or co-workers. It's is not expensive, and even less so when you consider the value of a life saved. Tomorrow begins National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month...learn how to respond to saves lives when EMS or other "official" responders may not be around. Remember that in most cases, CPR only avoids permanent brain death, it doesn't usually actually "resuscitate" - your need an AED for that - apply for an AED Grant to make sure you can have one of these critical lifesaving devices available within a 3 minute round trip from a victim in need.

You can Be a Hero! Become a National Preparedness Community Member

Make sure you have a well stocked First Aid Kit and current First Aid Supplies - knowing First Aid is great - but when you don't have what you need to treat an injury, the knowledge falls short. Watch our Free First Aid Video to refresh your First Aid skills.

Think about preparedness - at home, at work, on the road, and for kids - at school. Remember pets, parent, and anyone with special needs - be ready in mind, and be ready in need. Be the Hero.

National Preparedness Month Series

With a full Month of Preparedness Planning and Events drawing to a close, we look back to see what we've done.

We've offered Emergency Planning and advice, Tips for Sheltering in Place, Ideas for Family Safety and Pet Protection during Disasters, Ideas for Senior Readiness, Business Continuity, and even considerations for Individuals with special needs.

Did we help? Are you more prepared to go it alone when disaster strikes?

Are you more familiar with Prepper Jargon and Preparedness Principles? Did you join CERT? Did you stock up your Emergency Supplies?

Here are some more ideas and info...

Important Preparedness Steps

Individuals

The Citizen Corps National Survey revealed that as of 2009, only 57% of Americans surveyed report having supplies set aside in their homes just for disasters, and only 44% have a household emergency plan. National Preparedness Month serves to encourage individuals across the nation to take important preparedness steps including: getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan, being informed about the different emergencies that may affect them, as well as taking the necessary steps to get trained and become engaged in community preparedness and response efforts.

Businesses and Organizations

How quickly a company is able to get back to business after a terrorist attack, a tornado, a fire, or a flood often depends on emergency planning and preparation done before the disaster strikes. The Ready Campaign highlights three steps to Business Disaster Preparedness:

1. Plan to Stay in Business;
2. Talk to Your People; and
3. Protect Your Investment. These steps underscore how important it is for businesses to document their property/equipment, back up business-critical information, and put a response team in place.

National Preparedness Month Coalition

An organization can become a National Preparedness Month Coalition Member by agreeing to participate in a preparedness activity or event in the month of September. National Preparedness Month Coalition members have agreed to promote emergency preparedness through a variety of different ways. Members can sponsor events, coordinate Disaster Preparedness Days,create Disaster Checklists, assist with the creation of emergency kits and survival kits, along with many other Preparedness activities.

National Preparedness Month Series

Here we are - nearing the end of the 10th Annual National Preparedness Month. Have you taken the Necessary Steps to assure you, your family, and your workplace are ready for  are ready for whatever emergencies may occur?

Is your Survival Kit ready? Stocked? Updated? Do you have a Survival Kit at Home, a Survival Kit at Work and  the Emergency & Disaster Tools needed to respond? have you got a Survival Kit in your Car with all those cool Auto Emergency Accessories? If you are a parent or Grandparent - do the Kids have their own Children's Disaster Kits? What about a Survival Kit at School? Finally - Pet Lovers... Have you set up your Pet Emergency Kits & Supplies?

Well Get Going! Did you plan on waiting until next year? What happens when the SHTF in between?

Take this next year to think about the little things. Get CPR Training. Hold a School Fundraiser to help your kids' school get Classroom Lockdown Kits. Stock up on Ice Packs and Cold Packs - not just for First Aid - think about it.. they can cool your foods in an emergency... What else? Be creative - Survive and thrive.

Survival Gear! Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Think about preparedness; at home, at work, at school, even in your car.
Are you Ready? 
Check your Emergency Plan and Evacuation Routes everywhere you normally spend time.
Check your Emergency Supplies:

• Check your expiration dates (food, water, batteries)
• Count your stock... is it enough?
• Don't let your gas tank get below half-full
• Keep cash on hand - ATMs may not be available, and you cannot count on credit cards in an emergency.
• Think Ahead-Plan Wisely-Prepare Yourself to Survive!

Survival Gear Including: Survival Kits, C.E.R.T. Products and gear, Pet Emergency Kits/Supplies, Outdoor Supplies, Triage Units, Trauma Kits, Search & Rescue Equipment & Disaster and Survival Videos, Emergency Shelters, Lighting, Food & Heating. See all your choices for Survival gear... Continue reading →

National Preparedness Month Series

Do you have an Emergency Plan? Do you have your Emergency Supply Checklist? Great! have you actually followed them and set up all the supplies you need, plans, and information required? Do it.

Here are some Great Free Disaster Planning Resources:

Family & Home

• High-Resolution Family Emergency Plan
  This is a full-color, two-sided, quad-fold brochure. A two page form intended to help families document information necessary after an emergency.
• Family Communication Plan for Parents and Kids
• Family Emergency Plan - Excel Version
  How easy is that?
• Emergency Supply List
  This download is a full-color, two-sided, tri-fold brochure.
• Prepare for Emergencies Now: Information to Get Ready"
  This is a full-color, two-sided, tri-fold brochure. A comprehensive brochure explaining the key steps to emergency preparedness, including: being informed, making a plan, building a kit, and getting involved.
• Printer Friendly version in English and Spanish

Pet Owners 

• "Prepare For Emergencies Now: Information For Pet Owners" A unique brochure containing information for pet owners and suggestions for proactive pet emergency preparedness. This is a full-color, two-sided, tri-fold brochure.
• Printer Friendly version in English and Spanish

Kids

Seniors 

• "Prepare For Emergencies Now: Information For Older Americans"
  This is a full-color, two-sided, quad-fold brochure. A unique brochure with information specific to Older Americans and tips on how to prepare for emergency situations
• Printer Friendly version in English and Spanish

People with Disabilities

• "Prepare For Emergencies Now: Information For People With Disabilities."
  This is a full-color, two-sided, quad-fold brochure. A unique brochure with information specific to Americans with disabilities and other access and functional needs regarding emergency preparedness.
• Printer Friendly version in English and Spanish

Business

National Preparedness Month Series - Free Disaster Survival Resources

Betcha Didn't Know Ready.gov offered all this cool free Stuff! (More Disaster Resources)

Continue reading →

National Preparedness Month Series - Do 1 Thing

Only 5 days left in National Preparedness Month - What have you Done?
OK, so you didn't get it together and put a program in place yet - National Preparedness can be a Month-by-Month easy process, too - How about the "Do 1 Thing" program? Just do one small thing each Month, and Next Year you'll be READY.

The Do 1 Thing Program is Easy!

We break up the big job of becoming prepared into 12 smaller 'things' or topics. Below are the 12 Do 1 Thing topics to help you become better prepared. Within each are easy and affordable suggestions that you can do to become better prepared.

A full list of all 12 Things is available here as a PDF.

SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

Get Involved

It takes more than police, fire and EMS to respond to a disaster. It takes people who are committed to neighborhoods, churches, schools and volunteer organizations. When people are willing to work together for the good of others, communities are stronger. Learn more about how to be prepared and contribute to a resilient community.

Stock up NOW

National Preparedness Month Series - Learn more online with Preparedness Webinars

• Higher Education Program Virtual Symposium Series 

FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Program

Virtual Symposium Session 2

“What’s New in Emergency Management?” 

September 26, 2013               2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT

FEMA Corps: Strengthening the Nation’s Response Capacity

By Nicholas Zefran^*, Kate Raftery^*, Samantha Hawke^*, Melissa Ventresca^#, Deanne Criswell^+* - AmeriCorps NCCC, ^# - FEMA/EMI, ⁺ - FEMA Corps Unit Chief

How do you develop and implement a successful partnership between two federal agencies around disaster response and recovery?  How can (and does) FEMA use a workforce composed of members between the ages of 18-24 to benefit FEMA’s disaster operations and ultimately the entire emergency management workforce?  Hear how the Corporation for National and Community Service and FEMA surpassed the challenges surrounding the establishment of a federal partnership.   Learn how their FEMA Corps experiences could be brought to the classroom, could benefit your program, and how can you recruit them!

Emergency Management Critical Thinkers: Optimizing Programs to Help New, Experienced, and Expert Leaders Enhance Marketability.

By Kathy Francis^*, MS, CEM^®, Bill Nash⁺, Douglas McDaniel^*, Sam Lombardo^*  Frederick Community College, ⁺ - Barton Community College

How do you develop emergency management leaders that are creative, critical, and reflective thinkers? What can programs do to provide not only intellectual challenges which parallel field knowledge, skills and abilities, but also provide a wide range of high-quality professional development opportunities to help new, experienced and expert leaders? Learn how successful programs challenge students to make connections between program studies and the real world expectations. Listen to hear how two institutions are accomplishing this objective!

Click here to register!

Questions? Contact Dr. Houston Polson, Director FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Program at Houston.polson@fema.dhs.gov or call 301-447-1262.

National Preparedness Month Series - Emergency Online Communication Training

Communicating with social media is new, and often confusing, for emergency operations center personnel. Participating in an Emergency Operations Center is just as confusing for local government web professionals who are typically without incident command education and are often the ones tapped to disseminate information in a disaster. Emergency Communication Solutions - From Bull horns to Walkie Talkies and Radios The 2013 National Association of Government Web Professionals National Conference will feature a single track of sessions dedicated to emergency online communications on Friday. The Friday Focus will bring together web and emergency professionals, combining technical and practical "boots on the ground" experience. These sessions are included in the cost of registration for the full conference, which takes place September 25-27, 2013. A special rate is also available for those who are only able to attend the Friday training on emergency online communications. Visit www.NAGW.org for more information and registration.

Date

Friday September 27th 2013 8:00am to 5:30pm

We told you about Pigeon CPR and we've even heard of Housefly CPR, but here's a new one for the wacky world of lifesaving... Wallaby CPR:

Man performs CPR on a wallaby … that’s Australian for bravery

The tiny marsupial, which weighs only 3.5 pounds, now goes by the name Lucky.

Mick Hussin of Victoria was relaxing with a beer when he saw two dogs chasing a tiny marsupial into Belongil Creek. When the little guy couldn't make it across, Hussin swooped in to rescue it.

National Preparedness Month Series

National Preparedness Month 2013 began on September 1st. We all need to participate, so we're providing National Preparedness & Emergency Plan updates, Trivia, Information, Tips and more all through September to help you get ready...

What are businesses doing as innovators and developers of products and services to make communities more disaster resilient?

Craig Fugate, director of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has talked about thr incredible restorative function of businesses. In fact, he frequently cites a story
about how FEMA was spending a lot of money to ship in ice to a community, only to learn that the local grocery store was already up and running and had ice on hand. As he
reasoned, the more business could take care of everyday needs, the more FEMA could devote its resources to more critical situations. In short, ordinary functioning of business
was an extraordinary help to the disaster response process.

Retailers often get short shrift for their roles in disaster resilience, but many emergency management officials will tell you that a community will begin to return to normalcy
once the convenience stores and gas stations reopen. Once people are confident that food and gas is easily accessible, it enables them to shift their minds to other things (as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests). Businesses have a very important role to play in this effort, ensuring that products get to market after disasters.

• Abraham Maslow - Psychologist - Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychologist best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation". Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity.
  Wikipedia
• Born: April 1, 1908, Brooklyn, NY - Died: June 8, 1970, Menlo Park, CA
• Education: Cornell University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Columbia University, City College of New York

This in no way diminishes the importance of the utilities and the value of getting power and water restored and running.

It also doesn’t diminish the importance of street sweepers, debris haulers, IT experts, and environmental and industrial engineers.

It takes a Village to Raise a Child - But It takes a Community to Recovery from Disaster. This means everyone working together - Individuals, Local Businesses, Government and Utilities, Philanthropic Organizations, Disaster Suppliers, Big Business... and You.

What are you and your workplace doing to prepare for Disaster? National Preparedness Month is about thinking about this and taking steps to assure you are ready to survive and then participate in recovery.

Survival Gear for Businesses and Preparedness Products for Business, Home & Auto

Over the past decade, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) has issued a series of reports on the role of businesses in disaster response, primarily focusing on the philanthropic and social contributions that businesses make throughout the various stages of the disaster response process. Continue reading →