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Index > Communications & Public Information: Public/Private Partnerships
January 2011: Australian government authorities are working overtime to try and help the communities of Queensland in the midst of epic flooding, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. More than 9,000 homes in Brisbane, the country's third largest city, are expected to be impacted by flood waters, while the city's downtown central business center cut it's electricity, the BBC reported. July 2010: In southern Alabama many shrimping communities along the Gulf Coast are populated by Vietnamese immigrants who do not speak English. Local officials have been working with BP and federal and state authorities to "connect emergency managers with Asian community leaders so they could get to know each other - and each other's needs," Daily Yonder reported. To help, BP recruited Mike Dillabler, "an expert in emergency management and a project director with the Community Foundation of Southern Alabama." Dillaber helped to pair Vietnamese translators with communities who spoke the same dialect so BP "could quickly begin interviewing and training local residents for work related to the spill." September 5 '08: As Tropical Storm Hanna heads toward the East Coast, federal emergency officials have announced a new partnership to spread information to the more web-focused populations who could be affected by severe weather. Agence France-Presse reported that officials at the Department of Homeland Security have partnered with the creators of Myspace to develop a widget that can link users to information about hurricanes, flooding, severe weather or other emergency alerts. August 29 '08: State and local officials in Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states have begun to make preparations for Hurricane Gustav as it begins to strengthen into a hurricane. In New Orleans, city officials have begun to make evacuation preparations on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Associated Press reported. And in Louisiana, the Getagameplan.org website, the product of a partnership between the United Way, the American Red Cross, the State of Louisiana and the Governor's Office of Louisiana, is live with up-to-date information for those preparing for the storm. July 24 '08: Last year, organizers from America's Emergency Network (AEN) announced a new public/private partnership providing a suite of communications technologies for the general public and state, local and federal emergency response officials and government agencies. AEN provides a website containing video feeds and bulletins issued by OEMs and other government agencies in addition to AEN-TV (for emergency response and government agencies) as well the radio based AlertFM warning system. April 15 '08: In a press release, a partnership was announced between LG USA and the Harris Corporation to deliver the MPH "in-band mobile" digital technology solution which will allow information to be sent to first responders and the general public through the digital spectrum and even when users are traveling at high speeds and using hand-held PDAs. March 19 '08: The Naples Daily News reported that local emergency response officials recently employed the help of local high school students at a nearby college when conducting an emergency response exercise simulating a crash. "The exercise," the Naples Daily News reported, "are also giving ... Lee County School District's three comprehensive high schools - a front row sear to the careers they've been training for in their schools' career academies." March 3 '08: Wi4Net has announced a new partnership with the City of Milwaukee to install wireless surveillance cameras and a network monitoring facility, a press release announced. Along with the partnership is Pivot3 Inc., makers of high capacity and high definition digital storage. February 19 '08: Wyoming officials have announced a new statewide interoperable communications system which will link first responders, emergency management and government officials together, the Torrington Telegram Online reported. The system is called Wyolink and it will be 80 to 85 percent complete by March this year. Eventually, officials said the system will be linked to other states' systems. February 13 '08: Several community-based avian flu pandemic preparedness sites have partnered to form a new family-targeted avian pandemic preparedness website called GetPandemicReady.org. The GetPandemicReady site was begun by the Get Pandemic Ready Team (GPR Team) and the website is hosted byNez Perce County in Idaho. January 15 '08: Hope Coalition America is an organization working to help mitigate the economic damages caused to families and organizations after a disaster happens. On their website, the organization said it also "serves as a resource network of companies, including banking, financial services, and insurance as well as government social service and emergency relief organizations that mobilize to respond to disasters." January 9 '08: In a press release Kentucky state officials announced a public/private partnership which would join members of the retail and pharmacy industries to help promote disaster and emergency preparedness education through brochure distribution. About 250,000 brochures were sent out to families with accompanying information at the state's family preparedness website. January 8 '08: The makers of the Hexayurt, a portable and quick-setup emergency shelter have been working on the Disastr.org emergency evacuation plan for cities and communities using a peer-to-peer resource allocation process which would provide sheltering for potentially hundreds of thousands of people. The value of having portable emergency shelters using scant resources was evident when the company participated in the 2006 Strong Angel III exercise, the New York Times reported. January 3 '08 In December, the New York Times ran a story covering companies and organizations' participation in working to help communities respond to disasters in the immediate aftermath. At the heart, experts told the Times that "managers and executives need to collaborate with outsiders like local officials and charities, ideally on a continuing basis, and not only in the midst of a crisis." January 2 '08 The New York City's Office of Emergency Management has begun an online community business resource tool to help during a response to a disaster. The Private Asset and Logistics Management System (PALMS) is a private sector registry resource designed to enhance the Citywide Asset and Logistics Management System (CALMS). December 17 '07: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will deliver the keynote address at next week’s National Congress for Secure Communities, a two-day forum dedicated to leveraging public/private partnerships for disaster preparedness and response at the community level. December 5 '07: The Medical University of South Carolina, a National Congress partner, announced in a press release earlier this fall, that they would begin a five-year study on the effects of disasters on mental health through a federal grant totaling $3.89 million from the National Institutes of Health. The study would coincide with the creation of the National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research with the cooperation of Dartmouth Medical School, the University of Michigan, Yale University and the University of Oklahoma. November 29 '07: In a press release, the Small Business Administration and Nationwide Insurance have announced a new set of disaster preparedness guides which will be available to small business owners. The announcement will be made next week in Washington D.C., the press release said. Officials from both organizations said that the guides will be in digital and physical form. November 14 '07: According to Science Daily, a new report released by the peer-reviewed International Journal of Emergency Management, has said that "an increase in the complexity of disasters [has made] it more difficult to manage a response" between local and state communities and the private sector. The report found, "It will be the responsibility of citizens and local government officials to work together to adapt the programmes [sic] to their communities' preparedness needs." November 1 '07: According to Government Technology, a new set of two multi-language preparedness guides in New York are working to elevate the level of children's preparedness in the city through a partnership between New York's local government organizations and the city's department of education, a press release read. October 1 '07: Volunteers, members of the Lehigh County Emergency Response Team and the Allentown Health Bureau in Allentown, Pennsylvania were on-hand at the local Wegmans Food Markets over the weekend, passing out emergency preparedness information and locally-produced emergency preparedness DVD's, the Morning Call reported. September 25 '07: A new report released by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's administration has outlined several steps the state can take to improve its homeland security operations, and response and recovery outreach to local business and residential communities the Boston Herald reported. September 24 '07: The Philadelphia Inquirer reported over the weekend that Drexel University, the National Resource Center Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities, and the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have partnered to release a new report looking at minority populations' preparedness and the ways in which those communities can become more involved in their larger state, regional and national preparedness programs. September 21 '07: Congressional Quarterly reported several pilot programs developed and organized by the Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association - a partner with the National Congress for Secure Communities - which are using existing relationships between businesses to help federal, state and local governments respond to disasters. September 14 '07: In Walnut Creek, California local city officials are partnering with the Red Cross and the Church of Latter Day Saints to hold an emergency preparedness fair at the Heather Farm Community Center, the Contra Costa Times reported. The fair was being held this week to commemorate the 6th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11. September 13 '07: In Elmira Township, Michigan a local amateur radio group is hosting emergency preparedness classes and expos to help educate the local community on ways to prepare and develop strategies to mitigate disasters, the Gaylord Herald Times reported. The radio group, called the Northern Michigan Amateur Radio Emergency Services Group will host the classes for free. September 13 '07: At Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois,, an emergency preparedness expo, hosted by the McCormick Tribune Foundation will work to help raise emergency preparedness issues for the local community, the Hindsdale, IL Suburban News reported. About 13 booths will display demonstrations and information on how to protect and prepare families. September 4 '07: A Department of Homeland Security press release announced the beginning of the fourth annual National Preparedness Month. More than 1,700 federal, state and local governments and private organizations, businesses and religious groups are participating in the month-long campaign. August 28 '07: The New York Times reported one insurance company helping to protect its clients' assets from wildfires in Western states by deploying fire prevention crews to spray houses with retardant. AIG Insurance "has deployed a crew to Idaho as part of its Wildfire Protection Unit for high-end clients who are willing to pay what the company says is an average of $10,000 annually for homeowner's insurance." August 22 '07: Inhabitat reported that in the aftermath of the 2007 Peru Earthquake which has already claimed 500 people, the architecture group Architecture for Humanity has begun to look for donations to help response and recovery efforts for more stable and safer buildings in the affected communities. August 14 '07: The Mid Hudson News reported that a group of four New York State colleges, Ulster, Rockland, Orange and Sullivan Community College have partnered to form the Hudson Valley Domestic Preparedness Community College Consortium which will allow for collaborative learning for people looking to receive an education in emergency planning, fire protection technology, emergency management and medical services among other disciplines. August 13 '07: On August 14 at the Middle Country Public Library on Long Island, New York, the Contingency Planning Exchange will host the Catastrophe Readiness Fair. The event seeks to help teach businesses how to respond and prepare for disasters. The fair anticipates September's National Preparedness Month the Long Island Business News reported. August 8 '07: August 7 was National Night Out and the Henry Daily Herald in Georgia reported local law enforcement efforts to engage the community "to learn how they can take a more active role in keeping their communities safe, while developing better relationships with the law enforcement community." August 7 '07: A local radio station in Santa Clara, California reported on a partnership that the school district is forming to prepare students for emergencies as they begin to head back to school. Through a press release, the district announced the creation of the 12 Months of Preparedness which will focus each month on a different disaster and the ways to prepare for it. August 6 '07: When the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis last week, regular citizens at the scene began taking videos and photos of the disaster and then posting that information and media to internet sharing sites, blogs and community groups. The Boston Herald reported that emergency officials in Minneapolis have taken that information and are using it - actively cooperating with citizens who recorded the media. July 31 '07: In Florida, a new state response center's grand opening was coupled with calls from Governor Charles Crist to the community to be prepared for emergencies, the Insurance Journal reported. The "Get a Plan Day" program focuses on ways families can prepare for emergencies by making kits complete with water, batteries, first aid supplies and disaster planning guidelines. July 25 '07: The Grand Island News Independent in Nebraska reported that the surrounding community will be host to an emergency preparedness forum delivered by Sam's Club through a program the company has begun to raise awareness about community preparedness. July 25 '07: In the United Kingdom, a partnership between academia, the scientific community and local emergency response organizations is working to "explore the interface between physical and social science approaches to managing disaster risk and uncertainty." The partnership, called the Science and POlice Interfaces for Disaster Reduction, or SPIDER Network, was founded in 2006 and is primarily focused on disaster mitigation research. July 16 '07: The Rutland Herald in Vermont reported that to help senior citizens after a disaster the Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL) has been holding community hearings built around providing information about disaster preparedness after a state-wide storm in April which left about 50,000 without power. July 13 '07: The Disaster Mitigation Planning Assistance website was begun as a cooperative effort between the National Endowment for the Humanities and a database resource called Hypatia to help museums, libraries, historical societies and archives prepare for disasters. July 12 '07: As the world's populations move toward urban areas, more than 60 percent of all people by 2030 will live in cities, the Rockefeller Foundation reported. To build more sustainable and prepared cities, the foundation sponsored the Urban Summit along with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Issues discussed included ways to increase the health and response mechanisms inside urban areas to help people face challenges such as droughts, disasters and emergencies, and changes to climate. July 6 '07: SavannahNow.com reported that the Minor League Baseball team the Savannah Sand Gnats are partnering with the Department of Homeland Security and the Boy Scouts of America for the fourth annual "Ready Night" to teach emergency preparedness in the community. July 3 '07: In East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, members of the local community have partnered with the Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness and the Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc. to help deaf and blind residents with emergency preparedness through a training event, the The Advocate reported. June 29 '07: The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness is hosting the June 28 '07: In El Paso, Texas, on June 28 a partnership between the city's mayor office, academia and the business community is partnering to hold an emergency preparedness seminar designed to help small businesses in the area, develop business continuity plans, the El Paso Times reported. June 27 '07: In Central Florida, a federal Homeland Security grant totaling almost $1 million will go toward training the LYNX busline employees to help train them to spot potential terrorists and criminals, the Orlando Sentinel reported. June 25 07: The IndyStar.com website reported that a suburb of Indianapolis, Beech Grove, has been working to build a city-wide WiFi network which will have a public safety portal and a public access network. The new network will be the second to be installed in the Indianapolis metro area, IndyStar reported. June 20 '07: A press release from the National Emergency Number Association announced a partnership designed to help maintain hearing impaired technology. The new partnership will target populations with emergency call services using the 9-1-1 centers equipped with the Positron Public Safety Systems technology. June 19 '07: In the Seattle metro area at the end of the week, telecom Qwest will partner with National Emergency Number Association for the Connect for Safety Initiative to help raise 9-1-1 call service awareness and best practices for families in the area, a press release announced. June 4 '07: Government Technology News reported that New York Governor Elliot Spitzer has announced the creation of two new web-based emergency alert systems for residents of his state. One of the systems, NY-DELIVER, will leverage public/private assets and operations while NY-ALERT will work to handle weather related emergencies, a New York State Emergency Management Office press release read. June 1 '07: New American Media, which focuses on minotiry-based issues in the U.S., reported that California electric company Pacific Gas & Electric recently partnered with the ethnic journalist community in San Francisco to hold a roundtable discussion about ways to increase the public education on energy conservation, climate change and the ways in which it will affect those communities' first response. May 31 '07: If a terrorist group were to strike the Los Angeles metro area, about half of the residents in the city would not follow mandatory evacuation orders issued by local officials, the Los Angeles Times reported. The findings were based on a poll conducted by the city's Department of Health Services and it was to be released on May 31. May 25 '07: In Philadelphia, city officials said they are hoping a public/private partnership to introduce a city-wide wireless internet network is one step closer to realization with the approval of a 15-square mile testing zone, Information Week reported. If the testing zone is successful, city officials will begin working to construct the larger 135-square mile WiFi network. May 21 '07: Community Emergency Response Teams have been forming in the Manatee area in Florida to prepare for the summer heat, fire season and hurricane season, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune report via LexisNexis. Art Wessan, a CERT volunteer in University Park told the paper the members of his community "are the firs responders in the event of a cataclysmic event that has 911 overwhelmed like a (Hurricane) Katrina situation." May 15 '07: World mayors gathered in New York City for a climate change conference focusing on ways that world's largest cities could work to prepare and respond to rising global temperatures, the Associated Press reported. The conference was hosted by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. May 10 '07: About one-third of Americans are not ready to respond to a disaster according to a new poll released by the American Public Health Association, the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy reported. In the poll most said that they knew they were not prepared enough. May 3 '07: In Terre Haute, Indiana, local city, medical, hospital and state officials have partnered to underwrite and film a pandemic preparedness video which will be put into DVD format for circulation throughout the state, the Tribune Star reported. Officials told the Star that after several discussions, a pandemic preparedness film would be the best way to reach a large audience. April 27 '07: Kentucky Department of Homeland Security officials have partnered with Wolf Creek Dam construction engineers in the southern part of the state to install a warning system to alert the 17,500 residents in the four counties under the dam in case of an accidental water release from Lake Cumberland due to construction, ComputerWorld reported. April 26 '07: Seismologists, state and local officials and other officials in California are considering a new plan for short earthquake alert systems which would send out a warning 10 to 20 seconds after the epicenter releases its first wave to outlying areas, the San Jose Mercury News reported. April 25 '07: The Huntsville Stars baseball team will partner with the Boy Scouts of American and the Department of Homeland Security on May 19, to help spread information about community involvement and preparedness. April 25 '07: CNET reported that the Federal Communications Commission will announce rules for a new spectrum auction soon so that guidelines can be issued to help rural locales, and small businesses gain access to the available broadband spectrum. The spectrum's availability comes as the federal government moves television from analogue into digital. April 23 '07: Washington DC's Neighborhood Corps has announced a new training academy for community preparedness the District Chronicle reported. The academy will be established by the District's Citizen Corps and it will be held at the Fire Training Academy. April 20 '07: Government Technology reported that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Fritz Institute will partner to coalesce public and private sector leaders' skills to increase the city's emergency preparedness and response capabilities through the Bay Area Preparedness Initiative. April 16 '07: A new community-based elementary school preparedness program, developed by Symetra Financial and the National Brokerage Consortium with help from the Department of Homeland Security's National Office of Citizen Corps, will be launched with the goal of helping elementary school students, faculty and administrators a press release announced. April 11 '07: Members of the University of Massachusetts' Medical Response Corps will participate in an emergency response drill with the cooperation of community and local health and government leaders, the Daily Collegian reported. The exercises will coincide with other similar drills in Western Massachusetts. April 11 '07: WiFi-Planet reported that in Richmond, Virginia emergency response service officials have been working with the communications technology company InMotion to create seamless wireless communications and data-transfer networks to help with response operations. April 10 '07: The National Fire Protection Association has released a new guide to help disabled persons safely evacuate an area in case of a fire. The NFPA Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide "was developed with input from the disability community to provide general information," to help during a fire emergency. April 2 '07: According to a new report released by the Government Accountability Office, the Emergency Alert System's primary actors - the media and the federal government - need to find a way to improve and integrate the system to help it become more effective in alerting the public during times of national emergency. March 30 '07: The nation's first state health information network soon will go online in Delaware, Government Health IT reported. The network will link the state's health and hospital officials together so that they can share data, toxicology results, X-rays, and other health-related information. March 5 '07: School officials at the University of California at Berkley have announced a new disaster communications system called the People Locator to help inform students, faculty and employees of the university The Daily Californian reported. February 27 '07: The Brandenton Herald reported recent efforts in the Lakewood Ranch area near Sarasota to organize community members to be prepared for disasters. Joan Robbins, a retired nurse who moved to the area in 2004 with her husband, has been credited with organizing the community's emergency preparedness committee and for mobilizing the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. February 22 '07: During a national or regional emergency, power will remain unavailable to residents for long periods of time. In addition to no electricity, general services such as telephone services would prevent people from calling emergency management officials. Cell phones would work only as long as they can hold a charge and so American Legion members in Palisades, California have volunteered to set up an amateur radio station to help with disaster communications for the community, the Palisadean Post reported. February 21 '07: In Burton, Michigan, students at Faith High School are working with local firefighters to train for the Student Emergency Response Team certificate in the hopes that they will be able to help first responders in the event of a disaster that affects their schools, the Flint Journal reported via LexisNexis. February 19 '07: In Bothell, Washington, the city council has announced a community-wide plan that will target every household to develop a broad foundational level of emergency response a press release announced. The plan, called "Operation: Every House Prepared," will begin March 3 with the city delivering 15,000 emergency preparedness informational packets to citizens in the City of Bothell, and the Snohomish County Fire Protection District #10 households. February 8 '07: In Nevada, several 4-H groups have developed a pilot plan that helps to train community children in emergency preparedness, the Nevada Appeal News reported. The program, called the Community Readiness Network, was begun in several western states through the support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security and 4-H. February 7 '07: A new Internet emergency preparedness and response information clearinghouse has been developed for school administrators and educators with a focus on school safety, eSchool News reported. The New School Actions for Emergencies Center (SAFE) is a joint project of the eSchool News publication and the International Society for Technology in Education. February 5 '07: A Dallas Morning News story reported in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services via LexisNexis found high school students in the Dallas area were helping first responders by learning to use and operate ham radios. The amateur radio club begun at Rowlett High School pairs the students with adult sponsors who teach the kids about the technology, how to communicate and the uses of the radios. January 8 '07: Recently, the Washington D.C. metro area received high marks for its first responders' ability to communicate and efficiently share information regarding a disaster. A press release detailed some of the reasons for the area's ability to become more flexible in sharing information citing low training thresholds and the ease with which the communications equipment can be obtained and distributed. January 4 '07: The Department of Homeland Security has announced its first annual University Network Summit on Research and Education that will join members of the private sector, academia and the public sector to promote the development of new ideas to protect the U.S. against the threat of terrorism and to prepare communities for disaster response. December 21 '06: The BBC reported Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission has announced its plans to build a broadband national wireless network which will interoperably link first responders to help bolster communication abilities during national disasters. December 19 '06: Through a collaborative effort to develop open-source software for the privacy, medical and security industries, seven universities and IBM are working to eliminate many of the legal boundaries experts say are hurting research and development as well as cooperative relationships. December 18 '06: Addressing the problem of emergency 911 call services for people using internet phone services (VoIP), Vonage has announced a new initiative that has covered 93 percent of its customer base under new federal public safety answering service regulations. Vnunet.com reported more than 170 local emergency call centers have been equipped with the technology to locate internet phone users. December 12 '06: Oklahoma homeland security officials and members of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets are cooperating on public service announcements urging residents in the state to be prepared and have a family emergency plan in case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack a OK Homeland Security press release announced recently. December 6 '06: Pennsylvania officials have been working to reduce the amount of identity theft in their state by giving citizens the tools to protect their financial and personal information. A new community-based website has been launched that will provide information "on how identity theft occurs, prevention tips, steps to take if you become a victim, statistics, and information for law enforcement agencies that investigate these types of crimes," a press release read Monday. December 1 '06: On Thursday, November 30, about 250 local government officials, first responders, medical response personnel, fire and law enforcement officials and members of academia gathered in Charleston, South Carolina's Gaillard Auditorium to discuss ways to develop a National Blueprint of best practices and private public partnerships. The NCORP Advisory Council was a joint-hosted event including members of the City of Charleston, Charleston County Emergency Preparedness, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. November 28 '06: When the Department of Commerce began to auction off analog radio frequencies, the proceeds were collected and then used to supply first responder and homeland security grants to state and local agencies that needed the money to boost their own interoperable and communications abilities. In Arizona, according to Nogales International, the first $1 billion went to help projects like the Collaborative Border Regional Alliance. November 21 '06: Dallas law enforcement officials, medical first responders, firefighters and aviation agencies will have access to a fully interoperable communications service which will allow video, radio, and data services to be linked via an interoperable network, Government Technology's Public CIO reported recently. November 17 '06: More than 600 fire, police, medical, and state and local leaders from around the country gathered in Washington DC for the inaugural meeting of the ReadyAmerica Initiative sponsored by the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness. October 31 '06: A new report on global climate change has found that severe weather causing droughts, flooding and rising sea levels could endanger coastal communities while putting severe strains on local economies, first responder organizations, business and government the BBC reported Tuesday. October 27 '06: The mental health of first responders during a disaster can be significantly damaged, like the victims of the disaster who the responders are trying to help, Homeland Response reported this week. According to mental health experts and first responder organizations, the stress of response can pose serious mental health risks. October 25 '06: Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush has said that one of the most important ways to help fight the growing threat of militant Islam and terrorism is to cut off the money supply that those planning attacks so desperately need. October 25 '06: State officials in Tennessee have voted to begin construction on an infrastructure modernization plan which would digitally connect the state's 911 and responder emergency systems into a centralized network, the Associated Press reported this week. October 23 '06: Local community governments, first responders and the academic community are cooperating in the Toledo, Ohio area to train citizens to become part of Community Emergency Response Teams, a local ABC news affiliate reported Sunday. Meanwhile in Jackson, Mississippi religious community organizations are working to improve emergency response and preparedness. September 28 '06: New York City officials and their emergency management counterparts have launched a city-wide citizen preparedness campaign during September which is National Preparedness Month, the city's Office of Emergency Management announced recently. September 21 '06: Teachers and school administrators in California's San Ramon Valley school district are learning basic fire-fighting, triage and wound treatment skills so that faculty will be able to effectively respond to an emergency situation, the Contra Costa Times reported earlier this month. September 5 '06: September will be the third annual National Preparedness Month according to the Department of Homeland Security. After the department's announcement of the updated Ready.gov site, a departmental press release said that more than 200 national, regional, state and local governments and organizations were cooperating in the September preparedness campaign. August 30 '06: Government officials and first responders organized a five-day simulation in California that "meant to showcase and test a new set of digital tools in responding to a disaster," the New York Times reported this week. During the simulation, a global pandemic was "compounded by a wave of cyberterror attacks that cut off power, phones and Internet access." August 10 '06: A new guide for local governments helping to identify the best ways to respond to an emergency situation involving people with disabilities has been published, a Justice Department press release announced Tuesday. August 9 '06: A new collaborative effort is underway in Louisiana to repair and restructure the healthcare system to help medical officials and responders develop more flexible ways to handle disaster and emergency situations as well as surge capacity mitigation. July 27 '06: State and local law enforcement officials in California have announced a partnership to create the Joint Regional Intelligence Center - a clearinghouse for state and local officials to access and share information about potential terrorist attacks in the region, the Associated Press reported Thursday. July 11 '06: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs is working with several Baltimore-area organizations to promote citizen preparedness through a campaign called Ready? Set? Good, the Johns Hopkins Gazette reported Monday. Using public service announcements on TV, radio and print ads, "the campaign will urge everyone to have an emergency supply kit on hand with a radio, flashlight and water (one gallon per person per day for three days)." James Williams, the associate director at the CCP said, "Having these supplies on hand will help them better cope during the first three days, while the first responders are busy addressing other aspects of a crisis." July 10 '06: Maryland officials are working with the state's private sector to help coordinate critical infrastructure information during a crisis through a system of business volunteers "from 17 critical infrastructures sectors to expedite office access to proprietary information likely needed during a national or regional emergency," the Examiner reported Monday. A liaison for the state office of domestic preparedness and law enforcement told the Examiner, "The structure [of the overall task force] is to work alongside the federal Department of Homeland Security to protect [the state's] critical infrastructure, which has many components." July 7 '06: Across the country, there are magnet schools help high school students hone their skills in math, science, the arts and other technical fields. The Baltimore Sun reported that now there will be a magnet school in Harford County which will focus on homeland security for "preparing high school students for careers in disaster response, high-level computer science and law enforcement." The curriculum is expected to be ready for the fall 2007 year and students will be given "limited security clearances" so that they can apply for internships at the nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground, a military test site for conventional and biological weapons. June 20 '06: The first 72 hours of a crisis are the most important times for a community to be prepared until federal, state and local emergency response operations can begin to help those residents in need. That was the message at the National Press Club on Tuesday when officials from local first responders and leaders of the private sector and academia gathered to discuss the creation and organization of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness. Former Virginia Governor James Gilmore said, "We need to have a plan for the first 72 hours," and that, "NCORP can push forward on individual initiative and not wait for anyone else to do it for us. ... We can't wait any longer. We cannot expect the federal government to help us in the first 72 hours. There is no 'they'." June 14 '06: During a recent gathering of state chief information officers, many of the country's leading information leaders said the country was not prepared any better for a national or natural emergency, even after last year's hurricane season, Washington Technology reported Monday. Attendees at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers "said they believe the federal government is no better prepared today than it was pre-Katrina. Only 21 percent agreed that the federal government is better prepared." Though there were exceptions - Washington DC and Utah were salient examples - many state CIO's believed that lack of federal funding to help state-based interoperability programs and coordination among the federal, state, local and tribal with the private sector were to blame. June 12 '06: New federal regulations promulgated by the Department of Homeland Security and the White House would give employers in the US the ability to register their workers using electronic forms for Social Security numbers in an effort to verify those working the DHS website read. On Friday last week, "the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced ... the release of two Federal regulations to help businesses comply with current legal hiring requirements intended to reduce the employment of unauthorized aliens." Government officials said the new regulations would help curb the amount of "no-match" incidents wherein the Social Security number of an employee does not match the name of the person who has registered under the number. May 24 '06: The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday the creation of the Ready Business Mentoring Initiative, a program designed "to help owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses prepare for emergencies." May 19 '06: Emergency management officials along with state and local authorities are holding Family Preparedness Day in New Orleans this coming Sunday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's website announced Friday. The event's goal is to help families plan "for the uncertainty of the upcoming hurricane season." May 10 '06: As federal officials plan for hurricane season - discussing ways to increase responders' abilities to communicate in times of crisis - the private sector has been mirroring those preparations in communications' abilities. May 8 '06: Students from the Baltimore area participated in community preparedness drills as well as programs designed "to promote awareness of the community's safety needs and encourage people to become involved in local public safety, disaster and emergency preparedness projects," the Baltimore Sun reported recently. May 4 '06: The effort to coordinate businesses with the public sector to help prepare for emergencies is a continual process which has been slow to materialize according to officials who told the Washington Post that more could be done. May 3 '06: Former Virginia Governor James Gilmore, Chairman of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness, addressed over 300 police chiefs, responders and members of the private and community sector at the Midwest Summit 2006 (www.midwestsummit2006) , stressing that the state and local responder community in cooperation with the federal government and the private sector is the most important tool in the fight to stay prepared against natural and national emergencies. April 10 '06: Federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and others have been spurring growth in universities around the country when it comes to national preparedness and counter-terrorism programs. March 22 '06: Emergency management officials in California are marking the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake by urging residents in the state "to be aware that a major earthquake can occur at any moment - day or night - and be prepared for it when it does," a Federal Emergency Management statement read. February 28 '06: Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will receive $3 million from the Department of Defense to research new methods for dismantling improvised explosive devices, also called IED's, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday. Using the federal grant, students at MIT will analyze "the molecular interaction of explosive materials," with the goal of finding ways to "short-circuit them before they can cause harm." February 22 '06: The Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council will unveil the Muslim-American Homeland Security Congress "to consolidate, expand and publicize Islamic efforts against terrorism," the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. February 20 '06: The Tennessee Department of Homeland Security will implement a new phone system to be used over the internet to help develop an emergency notifications system. The Nashville Business Journal reported Monday that the system, called the Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) "works through an Internet-based calling engine developed by Franklin-based DCC. February 3 '06: The Department of Homeland Security has announced the launch of Ready Kids - a program designed to teach children 8-12 years old about being prepared for national and natural disasters, USA Today reported Friday. January 23 '06: Some manufacturing companies with long histories of business in the Midwest have begun to make the switch from civilian consumers to federal contractors, the Rockford Register Star reported Monday. The Rock River Valley area paper in Illinois reported that one company has begun to produce what it calls a "Metalith" - a reinforced steel barrier which has proven to be useful in protecting against car bombs and suicide attacks. Through its usefulness in areas like Afghanistan and Iraq, the company that makes the Metalith has begun to try and expand to US federal agency buildings as well as civilian businesses. January 23 '06: A homeland security training center being funded by a private company has bought land in Ohio from the military and local city councils and will begin to offer training courses, the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus reported Monday. National Security Associates will establish the National Security Centre of Advanced Tactical Training and Research on the 693-acre piece of land. December 27 '06: The Associated Press reported Monday that nuclear industry officials are asking the federal government to require construction companies to change their reactor security construction plans so that the power plants are less vulnerable to fires, bomb attacks and terrorist strikes. December 21 '06: Consumer Reports has released a personal preparedness info sheet on their website to help families and individuals prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies. The goal of the website is to teach people "the needed steps to take, practice with your family, create a communications plan, stock supplies, and be ready to act." December 15 '06: 300 educators, police, firefighters and educators gathered in Missouri at the Lindenwood University in St. Charles for an organized summit to develop ways of creating preparedness plans addressing disaster, school safety, gang violence prevention and safe havens for school children, the St. Louis Dispatch reported Friday. December 14 '05: Two former homeland security and response officials have begun a new organization designed to help coordinate and assemble federal, state and local leaders and first responders to the threats to the population in California, according to the group's press release. November 28 '05: Coloradans and others in the US are taking homeland security into their own hands, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Citizen Corps, a federal program begun in 2002 under an executive order, was designed to help American citizens understand and prepare their communities for response and recovery in the event of a large emergency or disaster.
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