Emergency Plans: Are They Really Necessary?
Download Emergency Plans Dec 2010
Is Macy’s Really the Grinch?
By now you may have heard of "Santa John" Toomey, the popular seasonal worker who played Santa for over 20 years at Macy's in San Francisco. Toomey was fired last week for allegedly making an off-color joke to an older couple. The story spread from the local papers to the Internet and Toomey just appeared on the Jay […]
Crisis Management: Transparency Provides Protection
My colleague, Johnathan Bernstein, recently ended a blog on the Chilean mine rescue with this comment: Truly successful crisis management does more than simply resolve the issues at hand. By making public the steps being taken to rectify and resolve issues, little room is left for damaging rumor and innuendo to creep in and stakeholders […]
Crisis Communications in the San Bruno Fire
For those readers who have been following the events following the explosion of a gas line in San Bruno, California, last month, it's now possible to access the dispatch communications from that terrible night. Dan Noyes, an investigative reporter for KGO 7, our local ABC affilliate, did an excellent report that captures the confusion and chaos […]
Internet Security and the Paranoid Mindset
Ever give much thought to cyber-attack? A lot of us are at least familiar with the concept but would we know one if we experienced it? As an emergency manager, one of the things I really worry about is the slow-onset disaster – the event that starts low key and progresses so slowly that by the […]
Pacific Gas and Electric another BP?
Many of you I know have been following the recent tragedy in San Bruno, California. This one is a bit personal for me as I frequently drove by the area damaged by the gas explosion, some of the dead were friends of friends, and many of my colleagues are working on the scene, either in their […]
Emergency Preparedness – Shifting the focus for emergency management
September is National Preparedness Monthin the United States and Mother Nature is certainly doing her best to remind us of the importance of being prepared. Since September 1st we've seen a hurricane along the East Coast, a tropical storm in Texas that caused tornado watches, and a major wildfire in Colorado. As I write this, […]