John Solomon, the life-affirming voice of this blog, died Monday, November 1, from complications following a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. He was 47.

To readers of this blog, this news is not only devastating but also shocking. We knew that John was struggling for the past two years, but it was sometimes easy to get the wrong idea about the seriousness of what he called “this pesky” condition. It’s not that John ever hid anything — on the contrary, he was refreshingly candid at all times (most notably here). It’s just that he was so consistently sanguine that his illness often seemed like more of an annoyance than a life-threatening event.

John is survived by his wife Abby, his two children Rebecca and Sara, his parents Ann and Richard, his brother Jimmy, and by his many friends and admirers. The funeral service will be Wednesday, November 3rd, 10:00 am at Temple Emanu-El, on Fifth Avenue at 65th Street. John left behind a charitable fund, The John D. Solomon Memorial Fund (â„… The New York Community Trust, 909 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022). He was particularly encouraging of blood and bone marrow donations. For those  who don’t yet know: it is now amazingly easy and painless to give bone marrow. It’s basically just like giving blood (more about that here). Please consider honoring John by becoming a donor.

John was extraordinarily capable, and would have made a major contribution to any field. He loved his work in disaster preparedness, and felt that he was making a difference. He was. This blog was originally supposed to be a mere prelude to an important book about disaster policy, but it became a major work in its own right. I do not know whether John’s book will ever be published. But with his online work, and his memorable conversations with responders, policymakers, scientists, and journalists, he leaves behind a distinguished legacy of skepticism, curiosity, and a determination to make things right. I know his family is proud of his work, and plans to maintain this site as a resource.

There’s much more to learn about John and his giving life in this New York Times obituary. He was a terrific person doing important work, and it was my honor to know him.

- David Shenk

Stores across the area are hosting a Hurricane Preparedness and Awareness event throughout the weekend.

There will be tables set up in all stores providing shelter information, preparation checklists, pet needs, as well as special needs and senior citizen registration forms.

These types of events with information distribution and registration set up near preparedness supply displays are a net positive as they do bring attention to the subject, the creation/replenishment of some shoppers’ emergency kits and occasionally fundraising for the non-profits. However, they end up being far short of what is necessary. That’s too bad since there is such great potential for what could be accomplished if the government, non-profit preparedness groups and businesses in the field really focused in a creative, sustained way on what they could do together to address the shortcomings in citizen disaster readiness.

The key is to restructure these kinds of events to give the public far more real, tangible and significant incentives (primarily financial but also logistical, educational and even entertainment) to prepare, which is something that business working with government and non-profits could do as part of an integrated, ongoing marketing campaign. The fact is that when we really want to change social behavior as a nation we do it through the carrot or the stick. The carrot is the preferable tool for this issue, but it needs to be used. And, thus far, incentives and vegetables have largely been missing from the preparedness effort, which helps explain the lack of progress.

There is a need to design and implement new citizen preparedness campaigns using strategic marketing partnerships between government and business with the goal of significantly increasing public readiness and societal resilience.

My proposal in a nutshell is that marketing campaigns and events be created at a national, state and local level to with government and non-profits working with companies in preparedness-related products businesses to offer major discounts tied to citizens taking actual readiness steps recommended by Ready.Gov and local emergency management offices.

It is a subject that I have thought a lot about, largely because I think that getting private sector far more involved in emergency citizen preparedness is a (maybe ‘the’) key to improving citizen readiness. I have also spoken extensively with government, non-profit and corporate officials about how they might work together on advance preparedness in a way that serves their (and the public’s) interest. My strong feeling is that to do so would not take much more than more attention and focus and would result in a win-win-win-win for those stakeholders and the citizenry.

At last week’s Red Cross Emergency Social Data Summit, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate underscored the role of the private sector in disasters. “We have to figure out how leverage government and private sector resources to change outcomes.”

He said private sector involvement should be seen as a “bottom line” issue rather than just a feel-good pr move. That’s clear after a disaster as companies try to re-open quickly to serve customers in the community. And, that business-case approach should be similarly applied when it comes to advance preparedness. The fact is that the more prepared the public is, the better it is for the private sector. Business is key because as Fugate told me last year, “the bully pulpit is not enough”.

Government officials realize they need significant private sector involvement to market preparedness to the public, but have been unable to pull such an integrated program together as marketing is not government’s expertise. However, public preparedness needs to be developed and marketed as a consumer brand. Particularly since Hurricane Katrina, the corporate sector has become far more involved in disaster policy, but it has focused mostly (and often very successfully) on post-event recovery and response. Yet, there has been little attention given to have the private sector help create pre-event initiatives and messaging that would prepare citizens and institutions for emergencies in advance.

Government citizen preparedness campaigns over the past few years have raised awareness but not significantly enough to change societal behavior. This has been due to a lack of reach, frequency and sustainability of the communication, and the public’s inability or unwillingness to follow the actions recommended. No matter how good and robust the message, behavior will not change unless actions being recommended are made more turn-key, familiar and affordable. Government officials ask the public to buy supplies, make plans and educate themselves without offering them enough assistance to accomplish these not insubstantial tasks (and are asked to do so with even less incentives than other public sector campaigns provide).

Yet, the current conditions would appear to be auspicious for such an new corporate/government partnership to take on preparedness: the public is interested in becoming more prepared; major corporations are committed to the disaster issue and can offer products, resources and capacity. For them, preparedness provides excellent opportunity to ‘do good and do well’ increasing store traffic and selling products while improving community resilience; and non profit preparedness groups, most prominently the American Red Cross, have the experience and credibility to facilitate this partnership. And, as mentioned above, a priority of FEMA Administrator Fugate is to get the private sector involved in a way to “change outcomes”. Yet focus, coordination and leadership are still necessary “to connect the dots” for each stakeholder.

The range of disaster preparedness products from manufacturing companies that can be involved are endless: Bottled Water, Flashlights; Wireless Phones, Radios; Energy Bars; Canned Food; First Aid Kits. On the retail side, it can involve any store that sells these products, particularly ‘big box’ outlets and supermarkets. The campaign would also involve corporate trade groups, such as the Wireless Foundation and the Business Roundtable, which have been very involved in getting their members involved in disaster issues.

An example of the type of preparedness event I’m thinking about would include “In-Store Workshops” but with significant discounts and giveaways tied to information and actual completion of readiness steps:

* Big-Box/Grocery Stores Supply Kit Creation-Replenishment – This would be similar to the current preparedness in-store events. However, they would be far more involved and would offer consumers more benefits and assistance for coming in. There would be a specific area where employees along with local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Red Cross volunteers would be answering readiness questions.

Advertisements in advance would invite individuals and families come in with emergency communications plans (or fill them out in the store) and in return they would receive a significant discount on supplies or free products (ie. if you purchase a case of bottled water, you would get your emergency supply thrown in). And if a customer signed up to volunteer to CERT or Red Cross Disaster Services volunteer, they would get a bigger discount.

In addition, customers would be provided branded bags so adults — and kids — can make/replenish their own ‘go-bag’ (if they didn’t want to buy a pre-made kit). Again, the stores would discount the supplies significantly and CERT, Red Cross and government  officials would be there to answer questions.

* Mobile Phone Retail Outlets – The mobile communications companies are eager to show their value of their products  to customers in emergencies so their retail stores would be excellent settings for preparedness events/trainings. Among the activities that could be set up: helping people register for government emergency text/e-mail alerts. I’d also like to see a event/photo-op with kids teaching their parents about texting and its role in an emergency. Here again, the companies would offer customers extra free text/phone minutes for completing the preparedness steps (I’d also like to see discounts on extra batteries though the companies do make excellent margins on the extras.)

I also think this setting would be a good place for people to learn about how the role of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to help people in a crisis. can be very usewith be a place for families and friend also  and families and friends setting up social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to teach how they can be used before and during emergencies.

Government could also increase the effectiveness of such an initiative by creating tax-free preparedness product periods as Virginia and Louisiana have (and we’re trying to do here in New York), which add more financial incentives, increase store buy-in and garner more media attention for preparedness.

The key is to pull all of these stakeholders together — connecting the information with accessible, useful and affordable products along with expert and peer-to-peer guidance –in a sustained, integrated way. I will be continuing to work on these partnership ideas and would be interested in any thoughts from readers.

So, what’s the angle for this blog? It’s the family emergency preparedness pamphlet from the Children’s Health Fund that the show helped pay for, which was developed by Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness.

“My Family Disaster Plan,” was supported by a grant from “Idol Gives Back”, the show’s annual fundraising event. The piece was released last year when this blog was on hiatus so I am posting it now.

You can download “My Family Disaster Plan” here. Thanks to the Twitter feed @kidsgoape for bringing this to my attention.

According to the “Ready Alabama” website:

The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and the Alabama Department of Homeland Security are encouraging religious leaders of all faiths on Sunday, September 26th, 2010, or your nearest day of worship, to inform their congregations on how to Be Informed. Be Involved. Be Ready…

We are encouraging religious leaders to include disaster readiness information in their Sunday bulletins, website or speak on the importance of disaster readiness bringing the congregations attention to the importance of disaster preparedness.

The idea is to test the speed and widen the scope of responses to a major disaster, focusing on how social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used. ”Ultimately, the goal is to get there faster, respond more effectively to save lives, communities, businesses, etc.,” read a written release on the drill. Organizers said that all messages about the fictional disaster would be marked clearly as fake on the Web.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m. ET, organizers began sending fictional messages from an account on Twitter reporting the disaster.

“#X24 IS A TEST, NOT REAL [link] CNN.com Earthquake strikes coast of Southern and Baja California http://bit.ly/Exer24 1 …,” was the first mention.

Instead of a CNN story, the link went to a Web page explaining the drill and how users can participate. As time went on, details included reports of snapped bridges, severe flooding and a tsunami on the way.

“#X24 IS A TEST, NOT REAL TV said large wave headed toward coastline! Everyone get out! http://bit.ly/Exer24 3-9 …,” read a later post.

For more information and to participate in the ongoing exercise, check its Twitter and Facebook sites.

First, according to a FoxNews.com article, “In Case of Emergency, Please Remove Your Bra,”

Caught in a disaster? You’d better hope you’re wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head — one cup for you, and one for your friend.

Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95…

It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness…

According to a report on tech news site CNET, there are plans for a “counterpart device for men” in the works, though the precise shape it will take has yet to be revealed.

Earlier in the week, Hal also tweeted about another preparedness fashion accessory — rain boots with centimeters measurements on its side — from a company called Regina Regis, which come in a number of colors (I picked a couple of the most colorful to show below):

In fact, Shearer — the actor, comedian, activist and a New Orleans resident – said he was provoked to make the movie when President Obama ”referred to the flooding—in passing—as ‘a natural disaster.’ I just hit the roof. I went, ‘OK, blogs and radio and all the other things I’ve been doing clearly aren’t enough. I know what the next step is.’ And it was this.”

Shearer’s major point in “this” is that Katrina was a man-made — not a natural — disaster. And, the men (and women) who were most responsible for making it a disaster is the Army Corps of Engineers whose mismanagement, the movie argues, caused the city’s levees to rupture during the storm. And, “The Big Uneasy” further contends that many the same issues the first time around are being repeated in the rebuilding process.

For more information about the film including where it is showing, click here.

“The Big Uneasy” director and New Orleans resident Harry Shearer.

What has been particularly interesting to me is the dichotomy between the communities that are accustomed to evacuating and others that are not. When Earl threatened the Eastern Seaboard where (and whether) it would hit land was unclear so all areas were at least contemplating evacuation if not implementing it.

North Carolina’s Outer Banks undertook an evacuation, but that is old hat for residents of that often-threatened community. But by contrast, other (especially more urban) areas do not have that evacuation muscle memory. For a time, there was a concern that heavily-populated places, like Long Island without evacuation track records, were in the storm’s path. There was even thought that residents of low-lying areas of New York City might have to leave their homes. Of course, Earl luckily swerved into the Atlantic and we moved on to the next subject. But I still have significant concerns that this area could undertake a major evacuation at the present time even with warning.

Nevertheless, when government officials talk about the subject of emergency evacuation with the public and the media they don’t normally differentiate between communities that are evacuation veterans and those which are not.

Further, and more seriously I would argue, is the question of unexpected evacuation due to an unexpected incident such as a terrorist attack that could impact all parts of the country. It is an even more complex challenge which receives very little discussion at the local and national levels. In fact, most emergency authorities ask citizens to create and rehearse their own plans with little guidance (and so it shouldn’t be surprising why so few folks have). As has been mentioned frequently on the blog, there is a need to work through these issues together. To me, it could be even integrated into existing fire evacuation as well.

It would have been nice if some of these warnings, such as Hurricane Earl, would have provoked the public, the media and government officials to focus attention on the challenge of unexpected evacuation. It would be an opportunity to discuss further concepts such as ’shelter in place’.

But I think the fact that Outer Banks residents and tourists are able to evacuate the barrier islands swiftly and orderly is fooling the nation that somehow we are on top of the issue of emergency evacuation. It is time that this topic gets more attention, because officials are warning that the unexpected is actually the expected.

Residents and tourists on North Carolina’s Outer Banks evacuate before Hurricane Earl.

In this edition of the blog’s “What Should We Tell The Public?” video series, Holt recommends that citizens “do a risk analysis” of their area and then prepare for those risks. As part of that preparation, Holt recommends that people equip their cellphones in advance with important numbers such as the local police’s non-emergency contact and the U.S. government’s terrorism tips line. And, he suggests that citizens have a responsibility to contact their local, state and federal government officials proactively to tell them what information they need to be ready for emergencies.

Jack Holt, Senior Strategist for Emerging Media, U.S. Department of Defense (”What Should We Tell The Public?”)

The surveys are actually part of academic research being done by City of Dallas Emergency Management Specialist Raymond Rivas, a 4th year student in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD. Part of the program requires that after each class you must write an Applied Research Paper pertaining to an issue that affects your jurisdiction.

The results will be interesting in large part, because the City of Dallas OEM’s social media presence is still in its infancy so officials are probably going to learn a lot. If you want to participate in the seven-question citizen survey (and it is open to anyone), click here (deadline is October 1).

According to the Washington EventBrite webpage:

Global CrisisCamp Day activities will include training new volunteers on open tools such as Ushahidi (including Crowdmap), OpenStreetMap, Sahana and CrisisWiki as well as inventorying existing resources and the development of training tools to build the first CrisisCamp-In-A-Box toolkit to be released in early January 2011.

The CrisisCamp community aims to provide new CrisisCamp organizers with mentorship, tools and tips on how to organize a CrisisCamp, training materials on open technology tools, lessons learned from past CrisisCamp events and a toolkit for the development of technology prototypes.

Also, on the CrisisCommons website, you can check the post, “What To Expect — CrisisCamp Day.”

CrisisCamp is a global network of hybrid barcamp/hackathon events which bring together people and communities who innovate crisis response and global development through technology tools, expertise and problem solving. Since 2009, CrisisCamp volunteers have created crisis response and learning events in over 10 countries with volunteers of all backgrounds who collaborate in an open environment to aggregate crisis data, develop prototype tools and train people on how to use technology tools and problem solving to aid in crisis response and global development.

I was lucky enough to attend the first CrisisCamp last year in Washington. It has already had enormous impact on disaster preparedness/response policy and practice. CrisisCamp communities have been active in the response to the Haiti and Chilean earthquakes and the Pakistan Floods. CrisisCamp events have provided surge capacity and training for existing organizations such as Ushahidi and OpenStreetMap as well as the development of new tools such as Tradui, a mobile Kreyol translation or problem solving such as a solution to extend of long distance Wi-Fi in Port au Prince to crisis response organizations operating on the ground.

If you are interested in becoming a CrisisCamp organizer or are interested in the development of a CrisisCamp in your area, contact Heather Leson at heatherleson (at) crisiscommons.org.

The National Academies’ commission’s report — “Review of the Department of Homeland Security’s Approach to Risk Analysis” — does, however, approve of the Department’s current risk approach on natural disasters. The 150-page study can be downloaded here.

There are few more important aspects of homeland security than risk analysis, particularly in how the government allocates its resources, deals with threats and communicates with all its stakeholders including the public. And, the Department is working on improving things in this area.

Federal News Radio did an interview yesterday with commission chair John F. Ahearne about the report. It can be heard here.

One of the great tragedies and surprises for the public in the aftermath of the September 11th World Trade Center attacks was learning that New York City first responders could not communicate on their radios during the rescue effort. The 9/11 Commission report said dealing with that problem should be a top priority.

Well, in an interesting article in the New York Times earlier this month by Edward Hyatt, “9 Years After 9/11, Public Safety Radio Not Ready,” indicates that almost a decade later the issue still exists. Hyatt writes:

The problem, highlighted in the 9/11 Commission Report, was seen again in 2005 after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Public safety officers from different jurisdictions arrived at the scene of those disasters only to find that, unable to communicate with each other by radio, they had to resort to running handwritten notes between command centers.

Despite $7 billion in federal grants and other spending over the last seven years to improve the ability of public safety departments to talk to one another, most experts in such communications say that it will be years, if ever, before a single nationwide public safety radio system becomes a reality.

I would think a lot of readers must have been shocked to read that the connectivity issue remains. I am not enough of a technical expert to determine how reasonable this situation is. But this is type of unsolved problem that can really severely damage the government’s homeland security credibility, particularly if it is not explained to the public why it has not been dealt with (and may never be). I would hope that the officials at all levels would speak more about the lack of communications issue and not wait for the press to bring it up. If there is another situation like 9/11 and there are similar problems, it will be very difficult for the public to accept after all the discussions and hand-wringing about the issue.

But this question of government credibility should be viewed even broader, particularly in the area of communications. There is a lot of confusion among the public and in fact the government about how officials would communicate with its citizens and vice versa in a crisis. In fact, officials should be conducting an ongoing dialogue with the public on communications in general (ie. warning systems, IPAWS, reverse 9/11) which are evolving but are not currently up to speed.

But this ‘more is more’ approach to information is useful across the board when it comes to establishing and maintaining government credibility during and after a major crisis, particularly a terrorist attack. The time to talk about ‘dirty bombs’ and ’shelter in place’ is not after the incident but before. So, my strong hope is that government officials at the national, state and local levels are more forthcoming about the challenging issues they are dealing with so the public is not surprised to hear that problems they thought were being addressed have not been. Americans will be far more understanding if they are let into the ongoing discussion, and importantly their government will have more credibility with them.

The report of the “Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents” provides more than 40 recommendations about how the nation can overcome obstacles that complicate the nation’s ability to respond effectively to CBRNE incidents.

The study, “Before Disaster Strikes – Imperatives for Enhancing Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” focuses mostly on the military-civil response issues which are generally beyond the subject matter of the blog. But I did want to mention the report for two reasons: 1) a statement made by the panel chair Adm. Steve Abbot in the RAND Corporation press release about the inevitability of such a major attack (”such an incident will happen”), and 2) while the military-civil emergency response balance is not a subject the average American needs to know in detail there is some value for the government to at least expose them to what is in fact what would be significant issue in the event of a crisis.

The panel’s full report can be found here.

University of Delaware students lined up for what they were told was going to be a “GREEK” group picture but soon learned organizers had other plans. As students filed into Delaware Stadium they learned they weren’t just there for a picture but to practice emergency evacuation procedures. Around 2,000 students showed up for the drill before being dismissed to the Bob Carpenter Center for the picture.

That’s a ‘bait and switch’ for a good cause.

I hope and trust that the bill will pass. I am particularly supportive of the legislation as it addresses the health needs of both volunteers and the general public impacted through their work in the 9/11 response. (Further, a number of the victims are suffering with Leukemia likely a result of the aftermath.)

In supporting the bill, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg underscored the reasons I think it is important to help this group of Americans:

“It’s time that the country stood up to do the right thing,” he said. “There are people who rushed into what started as a rescue and wound up to be a recovery mission. They put their lives on the line. They are suffering greatly,” he said.

“Supposing there’s another disaster. You don’t want people sitting back and saying, ‘I’m afraid to go in and save somebody’s life, because when it comes to my life, the public’s not going to be behind me,’” he continued. “That will be my message to both the parties.”

Tornadoes are clearly not typical here in the Big Apple — though we had a similar if less serious incident with them earlier in the summer. But it does raise the question how much new preparedness attention should this hazard receive from the government, public and media going forward. I think there are four things (below) that can be done, which will improve citizen awareness and readiness without making too much of a big deal out of what will likely continue to be the exception rather than the rule here.

On Thursday afternoon, I happened to be in the hospital when I received this text alert from NotifyNYC:

Alert issued 9/16/10 at 5:35 PM. The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning until 6:00 PM in Staten Island and Brooklyn. Immediately go indoors and/or to the lowest floor of your building for shelter. Stay away from windows.

Similar to the previous incident earlier in the summer, there had not much media warning about the possibility of major weather though the forecast was inclement. As I wrote earlier (below), those emergency instructions in the text message may be familiar to those in the Midwest but not in New York. In fact, my guess is that most New Yorkers who received this notification followed instructions to move to their lowest floor or stay away from windows in large part because we’re not used to doing so.

Also, though the message was being sent out through text/e-mail only a minority of City residents (approximately 50,000) are subscribed to NotifyNYC, and not all traditional news outlets were distributing that same message. It’s a real challenge for the Office of Emergency Management: you don’t want spend too much time warning New Yorkers about a rare threat, and yet when it is dangerous when it does come (and you may not have much time to get the word out.)

So, from this situation and the previous incident, I would have four recommendations:

* put a little more public information/attention on tornado, twisters, strong winds without making too much of a big deal of it (integrate it into other related shelter-in-place/evacuation instructions);

* use this experience to emphasize to New Yorkers that to have the most up to date emergency information for you, your family and your workplace, sign up for e-mail/text warnings from NotifyNYC;

* government officials should work closer with the news media to make sure the communications messages are aligned and robust, particularly when surprise events occur; and

* maybe some limited practice or drilling — integrated into fire safety, shelter-in-place/evacuation — would be useful.

Tornado damage in Brooklyn (Photo: C. Voegel, The Gothamist)

Below is my case study/post from earlier in the summer, which comes to most of the same conclusions:

On Friday evening at 8:19 PM, I received the following notification (via both text and e-mail) from New York City’s NotifyNYC alert system:

“Alert issued 7/23/10 at 8:20 PM. The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning until 9:00 PM for Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx. Immediately go indoors and/or to the lowest floor of your building for shelter. Stay away from windows.”

Though thunderstorms had been predicted, a tornado warning — along with the urgent and specific instructions — was a bit of a surprise. I am sure I was not the only New York apartment dweller receiving a NotifyNYC alert that was a little perplexed what to do. Should we all actually be going to the lobby of our buildings? Should we be warning our neighbors (who aren’t signed up for the City’s alerts) to do so as well?

I happened to be watching television — “Friday Night Lights,” appropriately it turned out, as thunder was flashing through the Gotham sky. The local affiliate, WNBC-TV, cut into the show to announce the tornado warning. The meteorologist did not recommend any of the preventive actions mentioned in the NotifyNYC alert, though a scroll on the screen was suggesting that the safest place to be in a tornado was a basement, closet or hallway.

It was an example of how e-mail/text alerts can effectively relay immediate information directly to citizens no matter where they are. (And that people should be signing up for these free notifications.) But only a relatively small percentage of New Yorkers are enrolled (approximately 50,000 subscribers) so Friday night there was an information gap between those who receive the alerts and those who get their emergency information from the news media.

‘Friday night lights’ over Manhattan but no tornado (photo by Richard Caplan/WNBC)

Friday evening when the National Weather Service issued the tornado alert, the City’s Office of Emergency Management (NYC-OEM) faced an interesting (and new) communications policy question: should it send out the information (and the safety instructions) in a limited alert format to subscribers, which were going to come as an out of the blue surprise to us? (Tornado response may be second nature in the Midwest but not in Manhattan.). It would also mean that subscribers were going to know more than about it than the rest of the public.

I think they made the right decision to distribute the alert. However, the City also needs to make sure that whatever emergency information it is sending out through the e-mail/text NotifyNYC system that the same message is being communicated through the news media, which is still the main information medium for most of the public. Friday night, the messaging was not totally aligned.

It turned out that a tornado did not end up touching down in the Big Apple Friday night. But I thought this was an interesting case study of how government is disseminatjng emergency news to the public with its new tools. In fact, I would recommend the City’s OEM highlight this example publicly as a reason why more people should sign up for these alerts so they have the most updated information in a potential crisis situation.

The United States is particularly ill-equipped to give warning of close-to-shore tsunamis that arrive less than an hour after a seismic event such as an earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption or meteorite, according to the 266-page study by the National Research Council.

“If the source were so close to shore that only minutes were available before the tsunami reached the coast, the public would need to recognize natural cues — mainly, ground shaking from the tsunami-triggering earthquake — and know to evacuate even without official warnings,” the report says.

In the tsunami that devastated Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga last fall, killing nearly 200 people, a warning wasn’t issued until 16 minutes after an earthquake was detected, giving eight minutes’ warning to residents of American Samoa and 28 minutes to Samoa, the report notes.

“This is a major concern that can’t simply be dealt with by increasing our technical capabilities,” said John Orcutt, a seismologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and head of the committee that wrote the study.

Congress requested the study to review the nation’s tsunami preparedness after the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people. That disaster inspired a number of laws to strengthen tsunami detection, warning and education efforts in the United States, an expanded network of deep-ocean sensors and improved maps in several states showing vulnerable coastline and evacuation routes.

The full Los Angeles Times article can found here. An Associated Press story is here. A summary of the report can be found here:

(Photo: The Oregonian)

Exploring the Effectiveness of Transit Security Awareness Campaigns in the San Francisco Bay Area finds: ”none of the five agencies analyzed for this study measures the effectiveness of their campaigns. Whereas they all have a similar goal—to increase passenger awareness about security issues—little evidence therefore exists confirming whether they are achieving this goal.”

But also according to the report: “A positive finding of this research is the consistency with which Bay Area transit organizations address the need for passenger awareness as part of their overall security program.”

It is an issue that I have brought up on the blog previously. While the awareness of these “See Something, Say Something” campaigns are up, I have yet to see real data that indicates how well they are actually working — and could be improved. This study reinforces my inclination and the need for study and specific instructions.

The report offers some suggestions on authorities can better establish metrics for determining success for the awareness campaigns, including surveying customers. Thanks to Homeland Security Digital Library where I saw this study originally.

This day would be the time that we developed and practiced our emergency plans, filled our disaster kits and were briefed on potential threats. This would be useful for both first responders and the public. Both Japan and China have specific days — on the anniversary of major earthquakes — in which citizens undertake practice drills. (Some cities and states, such as Kansas, have also picked a particular day within National Preparedness Month to focus attention on the subject.)

The question I have been wrestling with is when that day should be. Personally, I’ve thought that September 11 would be the most appropriate day since it is when Americans are most focused on the issue and as a fitting tribute to those who died. A couple of preparedness officials I have spoken to object to 9/11, because it is too tied to terrorism rather than all hazards.

However, last week during a press conference call, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate mentioned a fact I didn’t realize — the “peak” of  the hurricane season is the 2nd week of September, precisely September 1oth. In fact, as Andrew Revkin points out, there are three hurricanes (a rarity) in the Atlantic this week. So, I would now suggest either the 10th or 11th which would combine attention on both types of disaster threats.

One of the FEMA/Ad Council Listo.Gov Spanish PSAs.

One of the FEMA/Ad Council Ready.Gov English PSAs.

The study, Bringing Youth Preparedness Education to the Forefront: A Literature Review and Recommendations, looks at best practices, scholarship and offers recommendations. It is worth reading for this interested in the subject.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Education, and the American Red Cross held the Summit, which brought together approximately 150 attendees from the fields of youth communications, programs serving youth, developers of youth preparedness education, practitioners from the state, tribal, and local levels, and academia — as well as abroad, including New Zealand, Chile and Israel.

The goal of the Summit is to synthesize input from all participants to develop a framework for a national strategy on grades K-12 preparedness education to increase youth preparedness knowledge, skills, and behaviors, and to address youth of all abilities and backgrounds.

The full report can be found here. The National Summit webinar can be found (and will be posted later on): here.

According to the Depiction website, the webinar will:

describe several discrete, concrete projects that volunteers can do using Depiction mapping, simulation and collaboration software to help their communities become more prepared, including: Building detailed maps of key neighborhood locations with an iPhone or other smartphone, creating YouTube videos to raise awareness of potential dangers to your community, building visual presentations about specific disaster scenarios to show to local government and other groups.

Volunteers who attend the webinar will also have the opportunity to receive a 50% discount on Depiction mapping software. There are other NPM Depiction webinars coming up and videos of previous ones listed here.

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (NYC-OEM) has organized an interesting partnership with several museums. Any New Yorkers who visit the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, or the FDNY Fire Zone this week get a discount on admission if they fill out and present a completed emergency reference card.

I wish that there were more institutions involved and the discount was a bit bigger, but this is a great and imaginative start by NYC-OEM. What’s also nice is that museums and other cultural venues should be considered when selecting a meeting place as part of your disaster plan.

Coston says not only isn’t it unfair or unethical to prepare but it’s important to do — both personally and for the community:

…the reality is that the more people who are prepared before a crisis, the fewer people that will need emergency assistance later. And by being prepared, you are in a better position to offer help to a friend, a neighbor, a relative, or your community.

Prepping is ethical. In October, 2008 I wrote a blog which highlighted the Johns Hopkins Study entitled “Ethics and Severe Pandemic Influenza: Maintaining Essential Functions through a Fair and Considered Response”. It included the following snippet from the summary provided on the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics website.

. . . individuals and families who can afford it should do their best to prepare for any disaster. The paper notes, the more initiative the general public exercises in stockpiling several weeks’ worth of food, water, paper goods, batteries medicines, and other needed supplies, the less vulnerable they will be to a break in the supply chain.

It is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.

I agree with Coston. It does make sense for those who can prepare do so not only for themselves and their families, but also because the more prepared citizens, the less burden likely on first responders in a crisis. It is a message that emergency management officials have sent out to the public, but they have largely done so in an indirect way.

Officials have somewhat softpedalled the idea that, as the Johns Hopkins report suggests, “it is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.”

Governmental emergency preparedness messaging generally does not explicitly tell those citizens who can afford to prepare should, because officials do not expect others who are economically disadvantaged or socially/language disconnected to do so. However, the fact is that while officials hope everyone will prepare, the reality is that they pragmatically don’t expect it — and plan the triage accordingly.

Yet, they believe it is too sensitive to state that point publicly. Disaster preparedness and response is generally viewed by the public and the media as program like Social Security — everyone is treated equally — but in the minds of responders they expect to be overserving underserved communities.

I think it is time that the authorities — as the Johns Hopkins report recommends — be more candid with the public and the press about how they look at the levels of readiness in different communities. Not doing so, in my opinion, just camouflages the situation and may be getting in the way of dealing with it.

By acknowledging the difficulty of reaching some areas and populations would also show the depth of the public preparedness challenge and underscores that taking on the issue fully will take focus, attention and a comprehensive approach. For example, at a South Los Angeles preparedness fair this week, Urban League spokesperson Adrianne Sears, said the event was meant to be a wake-up call to the African-American community, who she said “were not prepared for any kind of catastrophic event, whether it be a terrorist attack, major earthquake, wild fire or even civil unrest.”

Laying out the problem would make it more likely that policymakers would offer significant solutions — including preparedness partnerships with businesses and community groups (ie. the Red Cross of Greater New York is applying for a Pepsi Refresh Good Idea grant to provide preparedness training/supplies to 2500 members of “vulnerable communities.”) It would also might lead planners, the public and the media to look at creative grass-roots solutions such as “disaster buddies” and broad-based drilling involving all stakeholders together as a way to get all parts of the community prepared.

Finding a balance between the “have’s” and “have nots” is not new to U.S. preparedness policy. During the Cold War, one of things that hurt the civil defense effort was that while installing a bomb shelter was viewed as being responsible it could also seen as selfish (is there room for your neighbors?)

Granted, it is a tricky message to communicate to the public and the press. There is a risk that those who are expected to be prepared will object to the fact that the government doesn’t expect the same others (and consider it a ‘welfare’-type tiered program). We want to push personal responsibility, but is it only for those who can afford to do it? Yet, if you can’t discuss the full scope of the problem, it’s tough to prepare for it.