Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Preparedness Report: Sharing General Views on Preparedness

There are commercial products available but are priced too high for small, rural agencies to purchased. The idea is that the federal government can leverage its position as a purchaser to make available a IM kit that contains bar code labels (or the ability to create them), a printer, scanners, and a virtual storage database. Any small agency, or rather, any agency, can bar code their inventory and used the scanners ...more »

Has the American Gov't really looked at the British was of coordinating volunteers from Britian during a disaster including domestic or foreign. It is a fabulous idea to avoid duplicaiton, increase financial accountability of monetary donations etc.

In all the brochures and websites CERT, VIP is recognized, but not the animal groups that are out there making sure people WILL evacuate. This is not right and these groups need to have federal recognition just like a CERT team. What has to be done to make that happen.

With the exception of sensitive items or national security, any advances e.g., blood clotting agents, protective vests, that originates, supports, and are used by the military should be made available for first responders.

Government "red tape" makes it very difficult for our government to quickly respond to a major disaster. If you are a government outsider, you need a directory to determine who must do what for any major emergency response. These steps must reportedly be undertaken to proceed in dealing with a disaster: 1) There must be an official declaration that any disaster is an Incident of National Significance (INS). 2) Full ...more »

In my opinion, based on five decades of actually using 72 Hour Emergency Kits in assorted disaster situations, worldwide, the Ready.gov kit suggestions are not complete ...and in need of better organization. Rather than having a random list of items, the kit items should be given by category using 15 categories known to be essential. To wit: 1) Health; 2) Communications; 3) Light; 4) Fire; 5) Warmth; 6) Cool; 7) ...more »

Retrofit the metal shipping containers (seen on the large boats) in bunk houses. Make sure that they are insulated for the winter or have A/C for the summer. Some closets for storing gear and clothes should be included. These can be sent throughout the country, or purchased, by EOCs that have the need for them. These sleeping centers can be moved around as needed or stay in one location.

One thing, when designing/building a new EOC, is to incorporate space for people to sleep in. For example, think of the bunks that are seen on a submarine. If something like that can be incorporated into the building for EOC personnel to sleep in, it would be great. It gets people away from sleeping the break room or other people's offices. Hospitals have rooms set aside for the physicians to sleep in why can't an ...more »

If it is at all possible, consider law enforcement having in the vehicles an automated external defibrillator. With their prior knowledge on first aid and CPR, LE usually arrives before EMS and made need additional tools to save a life.

Center's for Independent Living (CIL) have a consumer base of people with disabilities. Those vary people that come to the CIL are asking for help for housing, transportation, getting resources and assistance for a variety of needs to sustain their independence in the community on an every day basis. But, when a emergency or disaster strikes, people with disabilities are not sure where to turn or where to get services. ...more »

In the event of a major disaster, normal supplies of potable water may not be possible. For most homes, they have existing water storage in the hot water heater and toilet flush-tank. If relocation is required, you should be prepared to transport needed potable water or have the chemical or other recommended means to convert unsafe (or polluted) water into potable water. During a survival situation, a shovel, sterile ...more »

I'll address this from a public health perspective. Through the years, the grant deliverables has reflected a one-size-fits-all approach meaning that public health departments,regardless of location or size of the health department, would be tasked to complete activities identified in the grant. For example, mass prophylaxis planning. Every health department is required to have a plan in place to provide antibiotics ...more »

I was born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay and have lived all up and down the East Coast, and have been a member of the USCG Auxiliary for 22 years. I don't know of anyone who knows the water and when something seems out-of-place better than a crabber! And, they are out there 365 from bell to bell. The Auxiliary has everything it needs to connect with this group of potential "eyes and ears" on our waterways, any where ...more »

Similar to what the military is doing with joint bases, I propose that, when a military base has been decommissioned, that it be given to the State so that the State could have a location to train their first responders. This training area then could be used by Fire, LE, EMS, public health, CERT, etc. In this way, opportunities for training with your partners is facilitated. The State, along with the cities/counties, ...more »

Global warming, whatever the cause, has created a rapid melting of glaciers/ polar ice caps, and producing enough water to result in rising seas and threatened island nations as well as coast lines. At the same time, many areas of the world are experiencing extreme water shortages. Using advanced solar water distillation systems, located in coastal desert areas, the extra sea water can be efficiently and economically ...more »

In light of recent events (Katrina, Rita, and the snow storm in the NE - 2011), restoring basic utilities and reaching some victims takes well over 72 hours to accomplish. Why teach the American public to prepare a 72 hour kit when it will not be adequate to meet their needs in most disasters. Why not teach them the correct information in the beginning. Prepare a 7 day kit for each member of their group. If they follow ...more »

A few months back, I witnessed a demonstration of a new holography machine. For test purposes, the machine was creating 3-D, colored images of grocery store products that seemed to float in thin-air inside the store (with all the lights on). Why not use this technique inside Wal-Mart stores, and/or inside other stores, to promote a new 72 hour kit item every week. The stores could then run specials on those items. ...more »

Every government building should have rechargeable flashlights. These flashlights are the ones that can be plugged into a standard wall plug and as long as they are plugged in, they are in a charged mode. Have these flashlights where only employees have access to them, that is to say, these flashlights should be in the employee's cubicle, office, or breakroom

Consider having mandatory vaccinations for first responders on the premise that vaccinations can reduce infection and absenteeism among workers as well as prevent their co-workers from getting ill. A committee will need to determine what vaccinations are absolutely needed, maybe Health and Human Services, the CDC, or Institute of Medicine could assist on this. For those that have contraindications or religious exemptions, ...more »

I don't know if there is one currently or in development, but similar to the Medical Reserve Corp, the EMRC will be comprised of current, former EM professionals as well as like-minded individuals who would support EM during emergencies or disasters by volunteering their time and sharing their expertise. In small, rural counties you usually have minimal staffing levels (1 to 3 staff ) during normal business hours; that ...more »

Many of the ideas that I have read on this forum has referenced smartphones. While there are obvious limitations to this idea, there are some merits. Basically, it involves placing solar charging panels, storage batteries, identifying placard, and phone docks on emergency response vehicles. The solar panel is located on top of car (think Primus) and the charging station could be located on the back bumper. If someone ...more »

I think that the country needs a fuel rationing plan in place in case the Iran situation goes bad or the peak oil forecasts are right. Rationing would be a very complex operation, but emergency and law services, food production and delivery, etc. would need to have priority. I wonder if anyone knows how much fuel each of these critical sectors would need and how to make sure they received the fuel?

When an agencies computer or laptop gets replaced, consider donating this equipment to another agency. Prior to donation, make sure that any agency-related data is removed, but not any of the software programs e.g. Microsoft Word or Excel. There are many rural or small agencies that could benefit from such a donation. If, by chance, there are federal grant restrictions (or state or local restrictions) against donating ...more »

I would like to see a better link between Mitigation and Preparedness. There is a lot of "gray" area when trying to discuss one versus the other. That being the case, I think Emergency Managers should be trained on how to discuss both based on the audience they are speaking to. For example, someone affected by a disaster would be very interested in mitigation compared to someone who wasn't impacted. Mitigation and ...more »

Working for a state emergency management agency and having an amateur radio license, I have noticed little state effort to liaison with the amateur community. Employees and retirees with licenses are welcome to schedule use of the state's EOC amateur radio station but its technical support supervisor, who is their only agency contact, has no interest in radio amateurs except to disparage them at every opportunity. With ...more »