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Note: The following text is a quote: Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101 A Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning Overview The FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness Guide, CPG 101 provides general guidelines on developing Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs). It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of planning and decision making to help emergency planners examine a hazard and produce integrated, coordinated, and synchronized plans. This Guide helps emergency managers in State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal governments in their efforts to develop and maintain a viable all-hazard EOP. CPG 101 continues the more than 50-year effort to provide guidance about emergency operations planning...

VIDEO: "Disaster Preparedness From Ready.gov" VIDEO DESCRIPTION - Snippet: "Three steps on how to prepare for an emergency or disaster."

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2008 – When Rosita, a Sesame Street Muppet, showed up at John Tyler Elementary School here today, she had a flashlight, batteries, a shiny new radio and a message for about two dozen of the school’s pre-kindergarteners: “Be prepared.” Sesame Street Muppet Rosita listens to pre-kindergarteners from John Tyler Elementary School in Washington on Sept. 17, 2008. After presenting Sesame Workshop CEO Gary E. Knell (left) with items found in emergency kits, she introduced the video included in "Let's Get Ready! Planning Together for Emergencies," an emergency preparedness kit. Defense Dept. photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click...

Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other's borders during an emergency, but some are questioning why the Harper government has kept silent on the deal. Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Forces announced the new agreement, which was signed Feb. 14 in Texas. The U.S. military's Northern Command, however, publicized the agreement with a statement outlining how its top officer, Gen. Gene Renuart, and Canadian Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, head of Canada Command, signed the plan, which allows the military from one nation...

THOUSANDS of Victorians are waiting more than 24 hours - in some cases longer than five days - on hospital trolleys before they can get a bed in a ward. Figures obtained by Fairfax newspapers show the bed shortage is creating a logjam across the public system. About 2700 patients are waiting longer than a day in emergency departments in the past financial year. The Brumby Government's target reveals no patient should spend longer than 24 hours in emergency before being admitted to a ward. And 57 patients were in an emergency department for three days or longer, the figures...

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20 Subject: National Continuity Policy Purpose (1) This directive establishes a comprehensive national policy on the continuity of Federal Government structures and operations and a single National Continuity Coordinator responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of Federal continuity policies. This policy establishes "National Essential Functions," prescribes continuity requirements for all executive departments and agencies, and provides guidance for State, local, territorial, and tribal governments, and private sector organizations in order to ensure a comprehensive and integrated national continuity program that will enhance the credibility of our national security posture and enable...

Minor League Baseball and Boy Scouts Step Up to the Plate to Encourage Families to Prepare for Emergencies http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1175712102184.shtm Release Date: April 4, 2007 For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: 202-282-8010 2007 Season Participating Minor League Baseball Teams and Schedule of Ready Games (PDF, 2 pages - 10 KB) Minor League Baseball and the Boy Scouts of America are teaming up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign for the fourth consecutive year to educate and encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies. Forty-nine baseball teams are joining many local Boy Scout councils in stepping up...

A system that provides electricity, refrigeration and water - the three vital elements of emergency situations such as hurricanes and war - has been created by two University of Florida professors. William Lear, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and S.A. Sherif, a mechanical engineering professor, combined a gas turbine power plant with a heat-operated refrigeration system. The cool air from the refrigerator makes the turbine more efficient and powerful, Lear said, while waste heat from the turbine then powers the refrigeration. The engine, which runs on conventional fossil fuels, biomass-produced fuels or hydrogen, also forms about one...

FORT LEE, Va., June 5, 2006 – Military families are being encouraged to "load up their pantries" as the Defense Commissary Agency launches an awareness campaign encouraging military families to keep nonperishable foods, water and other necessities on hand for emergencies. Defense Commissary Agency posters on the tell shoppers to stock up for this hurricane season, which started June 1.   DeCA is teaming up with the Armed Forces Emergency Services Branch of the American Red Cross to raise awareness of disaster preparedness throughout the military community. The "What's in Your Closet?" campaign kicks off this month and is intended...

Bill forbids taking of weapons during emergencies By HOWARD FISCHER Friday, February 17, 2006 8:25 AM CST PHOENIX -- State lawmakers want to make sure that state officials do not take your guns the next time a hurricane strikes Arizona. Or an earthquake, flood, invasion or pandemic. The Senate Government Committee approved legislation Thursday that would specifically make it illegal for the governor or any official to confiscate legally kept firearms during a state of emergency. The 5-2 vote sends the measure to the full Senate. Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said this isn't some academic exercise. He said that in...

Vanishing Automobile update #55 Lack of Automobility Key to New Orleans Tragedy 4 September 2005 Those who fervently wish for car-free cities should take a closer look at New Orleans. The tragedy of New Orleans isn't primarily due to racism or government incompetence, though both played a role. The real cause is automobility -- or more precisely to the lack of it. "The white people got out," declared the New York Times today. But, as a chart in the Times article makes clear, the people who got out were those with automobiles. Those who stayed, regardless of color, were those...

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Most U.S. states are unprepared for a biochemical terrorist attack or other public health emergency despite increased concerns about such threats, a new state-by-state survey found on Thursday. "Are we ready or not? The answer is not," Shelley Hearne, executive director of the nonprofit health advocacy group that conducted the study, Trust for America's Health, said in a statement. "Now is the time to get serious about developing an all-hazards approach to public health to ensure we are ready for the range of possible threats we face." Just more than two years after the Sept....

In a move that appeared to be linked to a possible war with Iraq, the State Department said it is taking steps to alert Americans overseas how to prepare for emergency situations.United States officials said that such advisories are sent out periodically and that the new alert was not necessarily related to developments in the Middle East.But officials were unable to say when the last such advisory was issued.State Dept. spokeswoman Susan Pittman said the alert 'summarizes general steps American citizens traveling abroad should follow to ensure that they are prepared for an emergency.'