Born April 23rd 1564, William Shakespeare wrote some of the most famous plays in history: Hamlet; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet. His lyrical, evocative style is still appreciated around the world, despite using a vocabulary unfamiliar to many audiences. The less-lyrical vocabulary of emergency services is often burdened by acronyms and jargon. For insiders, jargon and acronyms can increase speed and comprehension. For guests and new people, they can alienate and make full participation a challenge. To reduce barriers when writing: use everyday language when possible; explain words and acronyms in the text; and include glossaries. When speaking, empower audiences to question unfamiliar terms, and list them at the front of the room. Help people move along the preparedness continuum by ensuring they can follow along.

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April 25th, 2011 | Tags: CARD, communication, community, emergency preparedness, Preparedness | Category: 2011, STAT | Leave a comment

April is Autism Awareness Month (and April 2^nd was World Autism Awareness Day), so it’s a great time to ensure that your preparedness efforts are inclusive of people with Autism in our families, staff/volunteer pools, and our community at large. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopmental disorders and people with ASD can exhibit varying degrees of difficulty with communicating, social interaction, language and learning.

Often people with Autism have greater capacity for pattern detection and thrive when set patterns and routines are in place. These traits can provide great learning opportunities for your whole team. During Autism Awareness Month, consider making a special effort to actively include people with ASD in your preparedness and planning events – remembering to highlight both their unique preparedness needs and their particular contributions.

Tip: View and post this TEDTalks video for an empowering presentation by Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D – a world-renowned Autism advocate, animal behavior professor, author, livestock handling facilities designer – who was diagnosed with autism as a child.

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April 4th, 2011 | Tags: ASD, autism, community, contribution, mind, special abilities, special needs, TED, TEDTalks, unique | Category: 2011, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment

With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s the perfect time to help your team practice articulating your preparedness and response efforts as an expression of love. Whether it’s love of friends and family, or love of community and personal interests, most people will be happier and more interested in participating in disaster readiness activities when the context and reason is wrapped around who or what they love.

A simple way to start is to ask each member of your team “who do you love?” Follow up with making sure they do something to increase the preparedness of the people they named. For some people, an easier question to open the discussion is “what do you love to do?” Together you can find ways to weave preparedness into whatever activity they choose!

Tip: To get everyone into the mood, share what you absolutely LOVE about preparedness, safety, and disaster readiness

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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February 7th, 2011 | Tags: community, Family, Holiday, love, personal, Preparedness, team, team-building, Teambuilding | Category: 2011, 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

Spring is upon us, so you’ll be seeing many more outdoor events and festivals. These outdoor activities provide a great opportunity to flex several preparedness skills and actions.

• Refine your neighborhood resources map – be sure to note open spaces, partner locations, vacant offices, hazards or danger zones.
• Set up a booth – if the event has booths for partners, give as many staff, volunteers and consumers the opportunity to be known in the community.
• Get exercise – help your team to be healthier by encouraging walking, stretching, cheering, clapping and simply breathing deeply at outdoor events.
• Encourage and support outdoor events happening in your community – they can help speed up safety improvements, build community and attract dollars.

A healthy, united, vibrant, funded community is a safer, more prepared community!

Tip: Check out the Oakland Running Festival, March 27 & 28, 2010 for an example of a positive event that will provide all of the above opportunities!

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March 22nd, 2010 | Tags: booth, community, festival, healthy, neighborhood, oakland, partners, spring | Category: 2010, STAT, STAT 5MM | Leave a comment