FEMA has just released the National Preparedness Report for 2012 and it makes for interesting reading. The NPR is intended to report on progress towards developing the capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Goal. This is the second year that the report has been published. What I found interesting was the summary of current capabilities. […]
SFFD Proposed Fireboat (SF Chronicle photo) According to an article in this morning's San Francisco Chronicle the San Francisco Fire Department has just lost out on a Federal grant for $7.8 million for a new fireboat because of "procedural delays." This is a big deal to us here in San Francisco. While others around the […]
One of the heroes of my teenage years was Doc Savage, a character from the age of pulp fiction who became popular through a re-release in paper backs. What was so great about Doc was that he was not a superhero but a man who had been trained to peak efficiency in all his faculties […]
Download The Power of the Tweet April 2013
What's the difference between education and training? A lot of us tend to flounder a bit on this one. Someone once facetiously suggested to me that you can understand the difference if you ask the question, "Do I want my daughter to have sex training or sex education?" Joking aside, we generally see training as […]
The twin explosions in Boston yesterday serve to remind us of the vulnerability of an open society. Despite the best intentions of our government, we can never completely prevent attacks such as this. The initiative is always with the enemy. They choose the time, the place, the method, and the target. We can't stop all […]
Portland's Neighborhood Emergency Teams use cargo bikes Photo: Ethan Jewett Two things are always apparent in disasters. First, people are incredibly creative in dealing with crisis. Second, simple solutions work best. Case in point is the use of bicycles in disaster. I recently came across a blog by Hamzat Sani on the League of American […]
Kona surveys her world from the top of The Mound Occasionally the Recreation and Parks folks drop a mound of dirt in the middle of the dog park where my dog, Kona, and I spend most mornings. Nobody really knows why they do it but does create a certain variation in an otherwise flat landscape. […]
Few people will remember that today is the 34th anniversary of the disaster at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Nevertheless, this was a focusing event that solidified resistance towards nuclear power in the United States and remains an example of how poor decision making and crisis communication can turn an emergency into a […]