National Preparedness Month

September 2015 is the 12th annual National Preparedness Month and a good time to determine if you're ready for the various disasters or disruptions that could occur. This year's theme is "Don't Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today," and it's great advice. Ready.gov is urging everyone to make a plan including having an up-to-date contact list for everyone in your organization and establishing alternate methods of communication in case traditional methods are unavailable. And remember preparedness at home as well.

Ham radio might be a viable alternate communication system... check out this info. (Item #1)     The following information will help you better understand what happens to our communications systems during an emergency and how best to use our communications systems during a crisis or disaster. (Item #2)     Make emergency communications part of your plan to be prepared; it is likely that at some point you will need it. (Item #3)    

This Ready Business Mentoring Guide: User Edition is designed to help small business owners and managers take action to reduce the impact of natural or man-made disasters. (Item #4)     A new report looks at the preparedness lessons that can be learned from Hurricane Katrina. (Item #5)     This checklist provides general guidance that can be useful in developing a checklist appropriate for your business. (Item #6)    

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. How to communicate when the world goes silent

So how would you communicate with your family or get help if communications go down? If you found yourself in the middle of a wide-scale disaster such as a hurricane or other catastrophe and you had no government coming to help for a while, how would you communicate with your family or others? What if the power grid went down?
http://graywolfsurvival.com/2716/ham-radio-best-shtfdisaster-communication/

2. FCC Emergency Communications Guide

During emergencies, the importance of our country's communications systems becomes clear. These communications systems include the wireline and wireless telephone networks, broadcast and cable television, radio, Public Safety Land Mobile Radio, satellite systems and increasingly the Internet. Although our communications systems are among the world's most extensive and dependable, unusual conditions can put a strain on them.
https://www.fcc.gov/guides/emergency-communications

3. The Need for Emergency Communications

As the degree of emergency increases, so does the need for communication. Also...that cell phone you depend upon every day? Well...it can only take you so far. In greater emergencies, you will need alternative forms of both one-way and two-way communications. Here are some tips for getting through four common scenarios.
http://thedailycoin.org/?p=33208

4. Ready business mentoring guide - Preparing small businesses for emergencies

Ready Business, an extension of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Ready campaign, helps owners and managers of small to medium-sized businesses prepare their employees, operations and assets in the event of an emergency. Launched September 2004, Ready Business is funded by Homeland Security's Office of Infrastructure Protection. This Ready Business Mentoring Guide was made possible with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
http://www.ready.gov/document/ready-business-mentoring-guide-preparing-small-businesses-emergencies

5. Ten Years after Hurricane Katrina: Lessons in Preparedness, Response, and Resilience

The last week of August marks the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest storm ever to make landfall in the United States. In '10 Years After Hurricane Katrina: Lessons in Preparedness, Response, and Resilience', executives from Marsh reflect on how property insurance, claims, analytics, risk engineering, and crisis management have changed since Katrina; and explain what we've learned from Katrina and other disasters about protecting people, property, and profits.
https://www.marsh.com/content/dam/marsh/Documents/PDF/US-en/10%20Years%20After%20Hurricane%20Katrina-08032015.pdf

6. Emergency Response Checklist

As you work toward developing a comprehensive plan, you should establish an emergency response checklist to immediately guide your employees through the essential actions they should take to ensure the protection of the organization's assets and human resources, in the event of an emergency.
http://www.wcpolicy.com/Loss_Control/emergency/pdfs/ERchecklist.pdf