Insights

Paine Field Certified as 1st Non-Military Local Federal Staging Area

• John Cornelison
• 9/23/11

According to the Herald Tribute, Paine Field is the 1st non-military federal staging area to receive certification to launch evacuations or medical treatment for disasters anywhere in the U.S. See the Press release here.

CDC Report Released-- “Public Health Preparedness-- 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning”

• John Cornelison
• 9/23/11

"Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning," is the latest report by the CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response that evaluates the nation’s ability to respond to public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters. This report focuses on public health laboratories, which are critical for identifying and understanding health threats and disease outbreaks, and response readiness planning, which enables communities to efficiently distribute medicines and other supplies received from CDC’s Strategic National Stockpile during a public health emergency. The report compares recent data to past data indicating national improvements in these two preparedness capabilities.

Heritage Foundation Questions Effectiveness of UASI Grants

• John Cornelison
• 9/23/11

The Heritage Foundation’s David Muhlhausen challenged the efficacy of the DHS's Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program. While there may not be adequate independent review of the results, I know there is good competition for these funds in King County and they are going to solid programs. Read the interview at: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/many-dhs-grants-ineffective-lack-proper-oversight

Preparedness Considerations for the Pets, Livestock, and Animals in Our Homes and in Our Lives Webinar on 22 Sept

• John Cornelison
• 9/21/11

Connect to https://connect.hsin.gov/pets/ 1:50 pm (PST?) on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. (Enter as a guest.)

Vashon True Value Supports Emergency Preparedness

• John Cornelison
• 8/26/11

It’s great to note that Vashon True Value’s online store has a special section for Emergency Preparedness! (Hopefully they will soon round this out to include all the items from VashonBePrepared’s disaster checklists.) Other local stores also have dedicated sections for disaster supplies. Maybe we can develop a special listing on our new web site for all these efforts.

Significant Quakes Strike East Coast & Colorado

• John Cornelison
• 8/23/11

The region between Richmond and Charlottesville in Virginia received a 5.9 magnitude earthquake at 1:51 p.m. on Tuesday.

FEMA computer predicts massive damage from Seattle quake

• John Cornelison
• 8/13/11

• Tags

  Prediction , Events , Software , Fema , Seattle , Earthquakes , Study

The Associated Press came to this week’s 5th Annual Hazus conference held at the federal building and wrote up a nice piece citing (yet again) that we are not ready for the huge quakes possible from any number of faults, but especially the Seattle and Cascadia faults:

Latest on Auctioning of Public Safety “D” Block

• John Cornelison
• 8/7/11

• Tags

  Legislation , Federal , Communications

In case you are following the debate on auctioning off the “D” block – dearly desired by public safety officials for helping solve the interoperability issues so notable during the 9/11 attacks – check out this latest story by the National Journal which reports the legislation is definitely in play with the latest budget battles. (VashonBePrepared has not taken a stand on this issue, but knows many of you are tracking this issue!)

Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference 2012, April 10-11, 2012

• John Cornelison
• 7/14/11

Science & Analysis of Japanese Quake Paints a Grim Message for the Northwest

• John Cornelison
• 7/10/11

• Tags

  Cascadia , Oregon , Japan , Study , Earthquakes , Wa , Regional

Oregon and Washington are likely to have a very serious earthquake in future decades, according to a disturbing article in the Oregonian.

Federal Grant Period is Upon Us

• John Cornelison
• 7/9/11

• Tags

  Fema , Funding , Mitigation

FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs provide funding for eligible mitigation activities that reduce disaster losses and protect life and property from future disaster damages. Currently, FEMA administers the following HMA grant programs:

FEMA’s Fugate Refocuses on Disaffected, not Able-Bodied

• John Cornelison
• 7/9/11

The key Washington insider’s news organization has a new positive interview with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. It sounds like he wants to involve the community, and actually go beyond the lowest level first responders – and even beyond “able-bodied adults who have the financial means to meet basic needs“ – and instead focus on those the disasters typically impacts most: those less fortunate, pets and others they’ve had to previously specially address with annexes to the main plans. The new plans are supposedly much more oriented to those least resilient.