Preparedness is the phase of emergency management during which action is taken to ensure that individuals, businesses, and the jurisdiction/organization are ready to undertake emergency response and recovery. It includes planning, resource planning, volunteer management, training, exercises, public/stakeholder education, and maintenance and continuous improvement.
Preparedness Labs
Preparedness Labs has everything one needs to know about emergency preparedness. The principal researcher is Dr. Jeff Donaldson an Adjunct Professor in Emergency Management at Royal Roads University. He just launched the Journal of Preparedness in Canada. He has been writing and blogging about preparedness for the last few years. There is plenty of excellent material on his website.
Voyent Alert
Voyent Alert is the name of the mass notification system, that the RDN is using to give out mass notifications. This is the primary way that the RDN wants to contact you in the event of an emergency, to everyone’s benefit. The RDN will use other means of communication too, but I think that Voyent Alert is the RDN’s way of doing their due diligence. At some point, it becomes our responsibility to hook into these things and if we don’t the RDN can’t be held responsible for our costs created from our decision to not hook in. To me that is emergency management well done.
Everybody always repeats the advice to get Voyent Alert. Figure out how Voyent Alert can best work for you and sign up. For most people, download the App. I think I had to create a login and give the app a few permissions in the phone, but real easy to do. Other people may want to log in through the web site and set up alerts to their land line or email. Or not, that is your choice and responsibility.
Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Program
This is the thing that Shirley Nicolson has dialed in. She is in the forefront of it, with educating us about how to be resilient in a disaster.
In a major disaster, stuff is going to be happening and it probably doesn’t hurt to be prepared for that. First Responders will be busy and may only attend if they can and based on priority. Working with neighbors allows you to build up your own resilience through resource and skills sharing. This is what NEPP is about, encouraging connections within the community, to create resilience. Here again, I think that this is emergency management well done.