Solutions can be found in Emergency Management principles, starting with “Unified Command” and “Unity of Effort” — Part 1 — So, here’s the bottom line up front: the current structure of command and control of the safety and security elements (i.e., the U.S. Capitol Police) at the U.S. Capitol Complex is a bureaucratic mess. The Capitol Police Board oversees the steady-state security and safety operations like a mythical Cerberus but…

March is Women’s History Month (btw we think every month should be) and today we salute Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, and former school teacher in New Jersey. Clara not only thought outside of the box, she lived outside of the box. If it were not for…

The rock band “The Clash” have a song entitled “Should I Stay or Should I Go” — which is about a relationship between two people. It’s also a quick summary of Emergency Action Planning — should you shelter-in-place or evacuate? The emergency management answer to this question is “Depends on…

By Michael Prasad, MA, CEM® I am one of the folks who volunteers with the American Red Cross, as a liaison officer (LNO) between governmental operations and the Red Cross operations, when larger scale disasters strike the United States. I have done this on successively larger and larger disasters, first…

By Michael Prasad, Senior Research Analyst While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around since 1990, there are still issues surrounding aspects of service animals in places of public accommodation. And lots of questions from both the public and business owners. I truly believe most people want to…

How the story of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ sounds a lot like what we do in Emergency Management Born on March 2nd in 1904, Theodore Seuss Geisel — known to the world as Dr. Seuss — wrote and illustrated more than 60 books for children. One of his best…

Please read before you put your kid in an N95 Barton Dunant — Emergency Management Training and Consulting recommends strict adherence to FDA standards for Personal Protective Equipment for Infection Control Jan. 17, 2022 (Fanwood, NJ) Update: July 12, 2022 — The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) is reviewing recommendations from the National Academies Committee on Respiratory Protection for the Public and Workers Without Respiratory Protection Programs at…

We have observed that the commonplace “Fire Drill” being conducted in many offices is painfully inadequate. Sometimes they are performed as part of an overall all-hazards emergency response planning structure, but mostly fire drills are held as a perfunctory item on one of many checklist items from local officials and/or…

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, we wish you all the best. Charles Dickens described the worst and best of all of us which can rise to the surface during a holiday season, in his classic story A Christmas Carol: “There are many things from which I might have…