Humans struggled with various ways of lugging  their belongings with them for most of history before some brilliant person thought to put wheels on suitcases. The simple addition of wheels can transform your disaster response supply cache from a stationary asset into a moveable and immediately accessible treasure trove of preparedness.

Rolling carts, containers, backpacks, duffle bags, and suitcases come in a wide variety of sizes, materials, and wheel types. You can get them at hardware, luggage, and big box stores, or nonprofit thrift stores (i.e., Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, or Salvation Army).

Whether it’s personal preparedness items for individuals, an agency go-kit for a business, or a massive cache for an entire neighborhood: make sure you have rolling suitcases or carts handy to grab, roll, and go!

Tip: Backpacks with both wheels and shoulder straps make excellent agency go-kits!

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March 14th, 2011 | Tags: agency, clever, divergent, go kit, go-kits, Off-the-Shelf, personal, resources | Category: 2011, STAT, STAT 5MM | Comments (1)

Help your team fully embrace the importance of planning and prioritizing by starting the year with a quality calendar session. Invite everyone on your team to contribute to creating your 2011 preparedness calendar. You’ll want to plot out dates for: trainings, exercises, drills, rotation of supplies, changing batteries, updating contact info, renewing certifications, and dates that could impact your community (holidays, key anniversaries, and major events scheduled by other people). Be sure to include dates for applying for (or reporting on) funding and grants!

If you don’t have one already, consider creating an online calendar. Beyond creating a shared place for your preparedness and planning commitments to exist, online calendars allow everyone to access information while on the road, and you can automatically send reminders. Help everyone to master their own schedules, by creating powerful calendar habits and structures!

Tip: You can create custom calendars for use online and for posting on
bulletin boards by visiting calendar.google.com or timeanddate.com.

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January 10th, 2011 | Tags: agency, disaster, emergency preparedness, Preparedness, shared Calendar | Category: 2011, STAT, STAT 5MM | Comments (1)

Every year billions of dollars of products and services are sold using commercials. In one minute or less, companies use words, images, and music to tell a story designed to encourage consumers to feel something, think differently, and take action.  Whether or not you currently have a “commercial” for your preparedness program, you can reap the benefits of thinking about how to share your safety effort in 60 seconds.

Poll your team to find two or three commercials that most of you have seen and enjoy. Dissect the best commercial to determine what makes it memorable, and then stretch your brains around how you could use the same techniques to promote your preparedness programs. Have fun, act it out, and video tape your efforts!

Tip:  Check out the Clio Awards or search for “best commercials” for more great samples.

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October 18th, 2010 | Tags: agency, Couch Potato Preparedness, Preparedness, team, video | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

For many people, the hardest concept to grasp with social media is that Facebook, Twitter and other platforms aren’t simply new portals for getting the same old messages out – they are part of a fundamental shift in how people select, share, receive, understand, and interact with information. This shift also changes who and what are considered the best sources for accurate information on emergency preparedness, public safety, and disaster response.

Gone are the days where a well-written press release was the key to garnering public attention.  Changing your behaviors and mindset to succeed in this new social media environment can be a challenge – especially if you don’t know the rules. Help your social media efforts to avoid some known pitfalls by reviewing the basics of good social media behavior!

Tip: Share this video with your whole team. Make sure everyone understands the scope of the social media revolution and what it means for your organization’s preparedness and response efforts.

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August 30th, 2010 | Tags: agency, communication, community, FaceBook, social media, Twitter | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

Opinions vary on what constitutes a valuable measurement when preparing an agency or business for emergencies. Some people like to track and measure details such as drills or exercises performed. Others focus on physical indicators such as the number of radios, generators and kits, or they count how much information has been shared in the form of plans, binders or brochures. All of these measures together, miss one of the most important items to address: The confidence of the people responsible for putting plans into action.

Measure the confidence of your team. Take a poll, survey or just have an informal discussion about how confident they feel in their ability to take appropriate action and fulfill on their emergency response duties. Even a simple 1-5 scale (1=not at all confident, 5=very confident) will give you great insights on your team!

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April 26th, 2010 | Tags: agency, disaster planning, drills, emergency preparedness, key measurement, team confidence | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

Once you know WHO you should communicate with, and HOW you are going to get your message out, it is important to know WHAT to communicate. Some of the important messages to communicate will include, but are not limited to:

• A report on your agency’s operational status
• An assessment of any resulting damage to your facility
• What services are offered and whether changes in offering these services has occurred
• The necessary funds required by your agency
• Whether volunteers are needed and for what purpose
• The hours of operation for your business
• The  safety of your staff, volunteers, consumers
• Your agency wishlist
• Any other additional needs

Tips:  Create templates for basic messages so that you’ll be able to edit it and release your message quickly.

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February 12th, 2010 | Tags: agency, assessment, communication, message, report, Safety, services | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

The third Monday of every January is a U.S. holiday to honor civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Several community agencies urge making this a day of service, but many people who are interested in serving don’t know how they can help. Prepare your agency to receive the generosity of others by having a wish list ready. Include specific items for different skill levels – nonstructural hazard reduction, rotating disaster supplies, testing emergency equipment, cleaning out clutter, etc. Honor your volunteers’ service by having what they need to succeed: supplies, supervision and a flexible plan. Post your service needs with your local Volunteer Center, and be ready to hand out your list when someone asks “is there anything I can do to help?”

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January 21st, 2008 | Tags: agency, Hazard, volunteers | Category: 2008, STAT | Leave a comment