Emergency Preparedness

In the early 1990s I was a beach lifeguard for the City of Del Mar, in California, and "Baywatch" was the most-watched TV series in the world. Later, when I began teaching CPR to groups and businesses, students would ask me how similar my experiences were to the fictions promoted by actors such as Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff. My...

Learn about a great opportunity to develop an emergency management career. FEMA Corps is an AmeriCorps service program where teams of young adults from 18-24 receive FEMA training, equipment, and deploy on assignments across the country. Members work alongside FEMA staff to support disaster response, recovery, and preparedness. FEMA Corps: A Pathway to an Emergency Management Career Webinar Direct link...

We've shared information about Carbon Monoxide poisoning while discussing Smoke Alarms as well as Preparing for Winter Weather and how Winter storms and cold temperatures can be hazardous... But did you know that when power outages occur after severe weather (such as winter storms, hurricanes or tornadoes), using alternative sources of power can cause carbon monoxide (CO) to build up in a home and poison the...

We share a bit about Frostbite last year and want to remind all that it is a danger this time of year. Don’t let Jack Frost nip at your nose. Protect yourself from frostbite with information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Frostbite is an injury caused by freezing. It most often affects the nose, ears, cheeks...

When a disaster or urgent emergency occurs, being able to survive where you are or needing to bug out is the first big decision that needs to be made. We have a line of Emergency Survival Kits to fully cover these tasks. Whether it is a simple blackout, a classroom lockdown, fire, or flooding, we have all types of kits...

Smartwatches are becoming the next must-have gadget. You can receive notifications, answer calls, connect to your smart devices, track your fitness, listen to music and navigate your area. Smartwatches are reliable and easily accessible, which also makes them more useful than smartphones in dangerous situations. Let's take a closer look at the features that help keep you safe. Panic Button...

We've talked about Power Outages in the past ( What is the most common emergency? ) But have you considered how  Power outages can jeopardize the safety of the food stored in your home refrigerator or freezer. If you lose electricity, do you know how to determine if your food is safe to eat? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers...

FEMA is warning of extreme heat emergencies - we all know it is coming! If you are reading this pretty much anywhere in the U.S. right now, one thing is certain: it is hot and it's getting hotter. How hot you ask? A new interactive infographic from Climate Central has compiled a list of the hottest cities in the U.S. First place goes to...

A Plan of Escape if there is a Fire in Your Home... We've talked about evacuation before, as well as Emergency Planning and Evacuation Procedures for businesses, but what is the plan at home? If a fire starts in your home, you may have only one to two minutes to escape. Your ability to get out safely depends on having working...

Safe rooms have been around since the ancient Egyptians but became popularized in modern society after the movie "Panic Room", starring Jodie Foster, was released in 2002. Basically, a safe room is fortified space within a home or other structure that is used to secure people in the event of an emergency. There are a variety of benefits that are...