popular logistics

The best overview of emergency preparedness is Irwin Redlener’s Americans At Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for MegaDisasters and What We Can Do Now. Redlener is particularly persuasive on the following critical points:

• Our post 9/11 policy changes haven’t done much and certainly not enough - to make America resilient to disasters.
• Our attention to safety and planning has been spotty and inconsistent
• The failures of our public health system - particularly the absence of universal health care - have increased our risk.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that real preparedness and resilience

• doesn’t require any new technology - but does require new ways of thinking about things - and increased cooperation
• Can and must happen at the level of families, friends, neighborhoods and communities.

Redlener is on the money about what’s wrong, and about what we need to do. If you already know your way around these issues, Americans at Risk is a good book to recommend to others, as a starting point for discussion.

Check out W. David Stephenson and Eric Bonabeau’s piece, “Expecting the Unexpected: The Need for a Networked Terrorism and Disaster Response Strategy.” Homeland Security Affairs III, no. 1 (February 2007). It’s short - and not only can they see the forest for the trees - these are the guys you want to be behind if ever want to get out of the forest.

Then what?

Then go to www.3steps.org - before you look at websites for FEMA, the Red Cross, or your local government emergency management agency.

We intend, before too long, to provide comprehensive resources on these pages - comprehensive and easily navigated. But Dr. Redlener’s Americans At Risk and Three Steps are still going to top our lists.