Current Needs vs. Future Disasters: Building in Tsunami Inundation Zones
My first thought after I saw Why Would You Build a Hospital in a Tsunami Zone was "who would knowingly build a critical facility in a inundation zone?" As I [...]
2015 Training Programs
When people are put under stress they fall back on one of two things; experience or training. Make 2015 the year that your organization offers current, relevant and engaging training [...]
Ants know how to plan. Why don’t we?
I once thought that a disturbed ants nest was a great example of high entropy. It's not. Don't believe me? Go kick a fire ant nest and stand there. A [...]
Week of January 12: Emergency News You Can Use
A weekly round-up of news, articles and surveys to make your next emergency better. Have a suggestion for the round-up? Contact me at abetteremergency@gmail.com. I vividly recall the morning after [...]
Playing the odds, what kind of event will be the “big one” for 2013?
I asked the question back last year, what type of disaster would we see in 2012? Natural disasters including severe weather, flooding, earthquakes, fires and drought were the most common [...]
Does it really take a panel of experts to state the obvious?
I find it interesting to see terms like "unexpected". I would argue that most consequences may surprise us, but they were predictable. Why not form a panel to evaluate who [...]
Do We Lack The Will to Prepare?
Bobby Knight once said "The key is not the will to win... everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important." I have to wonder [...]
Does Class Warfare Play Into Disaster Preparedness and Response?
Globally we know that the impoverished are disproportionately impacted by disasters both in direct affects and recovery. I have to wonder if the same holds true within the borders of [...]
The Emperor’s New Clothes – The Fallacy of Traditional Preparedness Programs Exposed at Y-12
Security was determined “excellent” and “good” in Y-12’s performance appraisal last year at a cost of $1.44 million. Yet on July 28, 2012 a 82 year old nun, who gets short of [...]
Consensus Standard Building – Pre-Event Generic After Action Report
In an attempt to help policy makers everywhere prevent allowing the same mistakes to be made on the next major event anywhere in the world, I propose the collective of [...]