Good news from Mississippi: MEMA [Mississippi Emergency Management Agency] would like to begin a pilot program in several schools that would weave the teaching of disaster preparedness into the normal curriculum. For example, the program could be similar to the fire services successful campaign about fire prevention, Latham said. “There’s probably not a child in […]
Tag Archives | emergency services
Sixth Graders Learning Emergency Management
Posted on April 23, 2012
This is all kinds of great: More information: Be Ready Camp.
Red Cross Follows its Own Advice and Doubles Down on Social Media
Posted on April 10, 2012
This could be really big (so long as the Internet and/or cell service works during disasters). Via the Natural Hazards Center Natural Hazards Observer
Fast, Perfect, and Cheap Disaster Response
Posted on January 20, 2012
“The federal government is a support role. So if you think FEMA responds to disasters or that we’re in charge, first of all, we’re never in charge, we’re always in support, and and we work for a lot of different folks.” FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate delivers a great TED talk on the federal role in […]
Are You an Emergency Manager? Why You Need Social Media (and it needs you)
Posted on April 19, 2011
A new article from USA Today takes another look at how emergency management officials are using social media. We’ve seen these before, but each one adds new evidence to this simple idea: If you’re working in emergency management and NOT using social media, you’re hampering your ability to do you job. This study from the […]
Amazing Tsunami Photos (Japan)
Posted on March 14, 2011
Incredible collection of tsunami/quake/nuclear reactor photos gathered by the Boston Globe. Perhaps the most troubling part of this? That a massive wall of water dropping large ships into neighborhoods and houses into the sea might not be the worst of it. Hope those nuclear engineers are lucky and we’re all fortunate. The Big Picture, Japan: […]
Horrible and Terrifying (Japanese Tsunami)
Posted on March 11, 2011
Wow. If you live anywhere near the ocean and this doesn’t scare you, it probably should.
Comprehensive (and Free!) Emergency Management Outreach Toolkit
Posted on December 10, 2010
. . . and when I say “comprehensive,” I mean “comprehensive.” Ready.gov has come out with an emergency preparedness outreach plan they’re calling Resolve to be Ready 2011, and it includes everything from press releases, newsletters, and links to videos to (are you ready for this?) tweets that you can cut and paste to your […]
Best Practices for Effective Hurricane Communication
Posted on December 6, 2010
Louisiana State University has released a great brochure on best practices for communicating about hurricane risks. It’s short, simple, and it makes sense. Here’s the meat of it, broken down by audience: GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Be Proactive in Educating the Public: Gaining compliance during a hurricane requires year-round efforts. Waiting until the storms hit invites disaster. […]
An Argument for Not Returning to Normal [Editorial]
Posted on September 20, 2010
An interesting editorial by Global Ethics professor Tom Sorell on why our natural post-disaster instinct to return things to normal is so often exactly the wrong response, and why we instead ought to work to “usher in discontinuity.” The problem with returning to “normal” is obvious: we’re often returning to the same conditions that put […]