Highlights of National Preparedness Month
September marks National Preparedness Month. More than 1,200 national, regional, state and local businesses and organizations pledged their support and joined the 2008 National Preparedness Month Coalition. Sponsored by the department's Ready Campaign, National Preparedness Month helps to raise awareness and promote action by Americans, businesses, and communities on emergency preparedness.
Here's a Homeland1 snapshot of National Preparedness Month across the country.
Alabama: Grooming the next generation
 Be Ready Camp is an educational experience for kids that focuses on building preparedness skills for natural and man-made disasters. (ADHS) |
Leave it to the state that brought us Space Camp to be the leader of the pack when it comes to getting kids excited about disaster preparedness.
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security kicked off National Preparedness month by sponsoring 250 kids to attend "Be Ready Camp" in Huntsville, Alabama.
"Sixth graders spent a week learning about emergency response – how to be prepared, how to be ready, and also what emergency responders do," said public information manager Lauren Bethune.
At the end of the week, the youngsters participated in a mock-disaster, by stepping into the shoes of public safety professionals, such as police officers, firefighters, dive teams, doctors, soldiers and first responder volunteers.
"They learned what it's like to be in that situation," Bethune said. "The kids are the ones calling the shots on how they would respond, but emergency personnel are right there to help them."
 They were standing in line for Chuck Lewis' N4NM CW training, on a Be Ready Alabama Day, 2006. (ADHS) |
Be Ready Day
National Preparedness Month in Alabama culminates this Friday with "Alabama Be Ready Day," held on sprawling fairgrounds in Mobile.
A number of state and local personnel will be on site to talk to the public about emergency response — what they do, and how citizens can better protect themselves.
Headlining this year's event will be Alabama Homeland Security Director Jim Walker and Governor Bob Riley.
Michigan: CERT training for state personnel
The Michigan State Police Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division launched a CERT training initiative for state personnel to mark National Preparedness Month
This week, employees within the division, as well as partner agencies throughout the state, are taking part in a massive emergency response training course that covers nine different modules, including disaster preparedness, fire safety, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, terrorism-related protocol.
"This is a great opportunity for our state employees to go hands-on," said Heather Elisabeth, spokesperson for the MSP homeland security division, who added that they have not taken the training to the local level yet.
National Preparedness Month was the opportune time to begin the training, but, Elisabeth said, "If there’s more demand, we'll extend it another month."
Arkansas: Getting sports fans ready
What's a pre-game tailgate party without a mobile command unit?
Earlier this month, NCAA Razorback fans got to check out an on-site specialty vehicle and take home disaster supply kit information, thanks to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management — the first agency to take the www.Ready.gov message to a college arena.
"We passed out disaster supply kits and preparedness information as fans were going into the gates for the game," said ADEM Public Education Coordinator Renee Preslar. "We also dispatched local Boy Scout troops to help us with the handouts."
 The ADEM was a hit at the Razorback tailgate party. (Renee Preslar) |
Because Arkansas major and minor league baseball teams are affiliated with the Citizens Corps programs, the ADEM also went to two Arkansas Travelers games, where they showed 30-second Ready.gov clips in between innings, and likewise distributed materials to folks coming into the stadium.
The kids are all right
But to truly cover all their bases, the ADEM took what Preslar calls their "version of FEMA for kids" on the road to schools around the state. The program, called "Ark. Kids Are Prepared," offers schools an attention-holding round robin broken assembly into four segments: Fire, EMS, Disaster Supply Kit Info and Pet Safety.
As part of the program, local first responders put on interactive demos for the children. EMS groups brought projectors and slides to show how to treat different types of wounds, while firefighters used mats for "Stop, Drop & Roll" reviews.
This weekend, the ADEM will team up with the Arkansas governor's office and take the preparedness message to World Fest, a cultural diversity fair held at the Clinton Library in Little Rock.
"World Fest focuses on world culture and diversity," Preslar said, "So we’ll talk about how disasters affect every part of the world, not just Arkansas."
Arizona: Back to school
For many people, September is "back to school" month. To tie in with this, the Arizona Division of Emergency Management developed disaster preparedness educational tools for pupils, and their K-6 teachers. The online "Educational Toolkit" includes emergency preparedness word wrangles, vocabulary, pictograms and fact sheets, as well as emergency preparedness information that teachers can relay during the first week of school in conjunction with fire drills and other classroom protocol.
A first-annual poster contest was the highlight of Arizona 2-1-1's National Preparedness Month effort, according to Arizona Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Judy Kioski. "This was our first attempt and we’ll just try to build from here," she said.
REACT International, Inc.: All the way to the White House
 This month, REACT collaborated on blueprints for a large-scale earthquake simulation drill in Calif. (So. Cal. Earthquake Center) |
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It's been a busy month for REACT International, Inc., a nonprofit public service corporation devoted to public safety. REACT is a worldwide affiliation of individuals who help monitor emergency frequencies of various radio services to assist anyone in distress, particularly travelers.
REACT’s National Preparedness Month campaigns and achievements have included:
- Conducting "SOS drills" in three states, (PA, IN and HI) designed to encourage citizens to obtain Family Radio Service (FRS) radios, which are available at stores such as WalMart and enable communication between neighbors and rescuers during emergency situations.
"FRS radios are a simple way to help people in a serious situation like Galveston, when telephones are out," said REACT public relations chairman Ron McCracken. - Preparing for a massive earthquake drill taking take place later this fall. The Great California ShakeOut bills itself as "the largest earthquake preparedness activity in U.S. history," involving the participation of more than 3 million registrants in Southern California.
- Presenting a workshop at a leadership conference for South Asian countries.
- A Canadian REACT team receiving an $85,000 grant to purchase new radio equipment to better service its community.
 President Bush honored the work of America's "armies of compassion," including REACT, on Sept. 8. (White House Press Room) |
Earlier this month, seven years after 9/11, REACT was invited to a special reception at the White House.
The group earned considerable stripes on the homeland security front on Sept. 11, 2001, when a REACT team at Ground Zero volunteered their communications expertise to help Salvation Army canteens coordinate the delivery of supplies.
"We were very fortunate," McCracken said. "President Bush regocognized groups like ours who had been active on 9/11 supporting the authorities in New York City and Washington."
McCracken said that it is the first time in over thirty years that REACT has been invited to the White House.
"Our previous invitation came as the result of a Washington area REACTer being first to alert authorities to the tragic crash of an Air Florida jet into the Potomac River during a blizzard," he said.
That report earned REACT the "President's Volunteer Action Award" from President Reagan.
Agility Recovery Solutions: A few simple steps
Many of the 1,200 groups in this year's Be Ready campaign were private sector organizations.
For the past four years, North Carolina-based continuity company Agility Recovery Solutions has leveraged the low-cost reach of the Internet with a series webinars produced in conjunction with National Preparedness Month.
"We believe every business should have access to continuity services," marketing director Sandy Buzzard said. "A few simple steps can go a long way."
Business continuity has changed a lot over the years, according to Buzzard. "People used to think, 'I’ll just back up my data and I’m set,' but what good is data if your technology and employees are out of commission?"
- The company's webinars have included:
- 10 Steps to Business Preparedness
- The Human(e) Side of Crisis Management
- How Effective is Your Business Continuity Plan?
- Give Back! Easy Steps to Help Prepare Your Community
All webinars are archived, while presentation slides are available for download.
This year, 715 businesses registered for the webinars, up from about 200 last year, and the feedback has been fantastic, according to Buzzard.
"Our partners look forward to it every year," she said. "A lot of people asked why we pack it all into September, so we took note and decided to run an educational series throughout the year."
Are you a coalition member?
Help the READY campaign spread the word. Visit the Ready Council for more information.
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