Homeland Security Dollars at work...sort of.

This article was released by The Denver Post the other day, as part of a three-part series to explore where, exactly, the $354 million in federal homeland security grant funds allocated to Colorado since 2001 have been spent. As a professional in this field, I admit I was apprehensive when the reporters first started showing up and asking some questions, and I still think some of the representations in this article are...skewed. Overall, though, I think its pretty well done and I think it is worth looking at.  I'll be focusing on specific topics in the upcoming days, so check it out for discussion. Plus, you might see some familiar faces in there!

Social Media Outreach is Growing

Social media is gaining traction in the emergency response and management world.  A few years ago, the use of Facebook or Twitter seemed like an unconventional and perhaps dangerous means of communication with the public...and I'll hazard to say many emergency management professionals were either totally unaware of, or only partially aware of, what those two sites were even for.  Now, the use of social media in the emergency management cycle is routine and expected.  The public turns to Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, online blogs, online news sources and other similar venues for status updates.  The expectation of real-time updates that are readily available is growing among all population and age demographics.

To help incorporate this new form of communication into the outreach networks, the Coalition driving National Preparedness Month created a list of pre-set Tweets and Facebook status messages as part of the toolkit distributed to participating members.  There is one for each day, and each coalition member is encouraged to update the Tweet or FB status with local information.  We, as leaders, are supposed to encourage our followers to re-tweet or re-post the status messages to increase the outreach and awareness. Some of them are a little cheesy, and I can see where thirty days of these might get a little old, but I'm going to do my best to participate anyway.

Besides...one update a day about preparedness can't be more annoying than the daily status updates some people have, right? Right??

Safety Girl Roadside Kit: I want one!

Hey! During National Preparedness Month, I'm in full-gear encouraging my friends, family, neighbors, and e-followers to build or maintain their 72-Hour Emergency Kits.  Kits should be included at home, at work, and one in the car. Do I have a kit? You bet! The one in my car is the least impressive though, which is kind of sad since I spend most of my time in the car.  I was working on some research for my next National Preparedness Month flyer at work, and I found this gem: The Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit. The contents are not all that remarkable, actually, but the container is awesome. I want one.