FEMA Disaster Preparedness Challenge
The gauntlet has been thrown—the Federal Emergency Management Agency wants to know how you can better prepare your community for disaster, and how FEMA can help make that happen. Using the new Challenge.gov format, FEMA will be collecting ideas and monitoring discussions until January 3, when it will pick an idea to hold up as the most enlightened.
Disaster Information Management Research Center
The National Library of Medicine has a new look and lots of new perks at its Disaster Information Management Research Center website. Visitors will find easy access to the center’s collection of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery resources, as well as timely features—such as on the Haitian cholera epidemic. Links to articles and tools in PubMed, the Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness, and a variety of other systems will help responders and caregivers easily find the information they need on the go.
UNISDR Making Cities Resilient Initiative
Is your city ready for a disaster? If not, you’ll want to check out this United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction site devoted to building local preparedness and risk awareness. Community groups, businesses, and local governments are invited to tap UNISDR resources such as workshops, media and outreach tools, and policy making experiences as they work toward making their hometown less vulnerable to disaster. The initiative is designed to be useful to every level of an organization, so get your group on board today.
Faces of Fire
Home fire extinguishers and smoke detectors can only help so much when fire strikes. That’s why the National Fire Protection Association wants to make homeowners understand the value of automatic sprinklers in saving lives. Faces of fire features real people telling stories of their fire experiences. From being horribly burned to losing loved ones, NFPA is hoping these accounts will educate people about one more way to stay safe. Fact sheets and advocacy letter templates are also featured.
Making Our Hospitals Safe from Disaster
Wanna show off your ninja-like reflexes and help make hospitals safe? Now there’s a Facebook page for that. The World Health Organization created the Making Our Hospitals Safe from Disaster page to spread awareness of hospitals' disaster vulnerability and how to make them safer. You don’t need to be on Facebook to read visitor comments and announcements, get tips on what you can do, or to test your skill at the React game (although you do have to log in for bragging rights).
Hurricanes: Science and Society
This newly launched website has lot to offer educators and others just beginning to explore hurricanes and how they impact coastal communities. While heavy on the natural science (it’s a little fluffier where societal impacts are concerned), there’s still a lot of well organized and easy-to-access information. Hurricane modeling and forecasting, mitigation and preparedness, and hurricane histories and case studies are among the resources offered.