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…

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 their Workplaces to begin further exploration of respiratory protection needs…

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…

To paraphrase Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good people to do nothing.” Evil intentions, evil thoughts, evil actions: when it comes to threats and hazards, acts of evil have a special place on our collective lists of bad things. Some of us…

You probably recall Charlie Brown yelling “Good Grief!” when something bad happens to him. While no one really wants bad things to happen (well, almost all of us — look for another post on evil threats and hazards), we all need to get through the bad things which happen in…

So, you have just won your first election to this office. Congratulations! Soon you will take your oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States — and the people that you will serve. There is so much to prepare, in the time around those…