|
Dear Kathy,
E·SPONDER® is excited for spring and can't wait to help emergency management agencies prepare for events and festivals. In this issue, read about howUniversity of Georgia used E·SPONDER Express for the 2010 Stadion Athens Classic. But with those April showers come summer floods. So we've called in the experts to talk about great tips for flood education, flood response, using technology to coordinate and collaborate, and talk about hospitals getting connected...to each other! |
|
E·SPONDER EXPRESS GOES SEMI-PRO
 Semi-Pro golf that is. This past week, the University of Georgia Police Department used E·SPONDER Express to manage safety during the 2010 Stadion Athens Classic, part of the PGA Nationwide Tour. This is a huge event and public safety is the top concern. The event lasts for seven full days followed by a concert each night. UGA recruits hundreds of volunteer tournament workers to help run booths and tables. Needless to say, they have a lot to think about when it comes to collaboration and coordination.
"At UGA, we use E·SPONDER Express to keep track of everything that is going on around us. It helps us figure out where we need to place our people, how to allocate resources and most importantly, it gives us an easy-to-access communication tool so we can quickly send alerts and notifications to our police officers. The real benefit is that we can use E·SPONDER Express everyday but when we have a large event like a football game or golf tournament we can use it then too," Major Eric Gattiker, UGA Police Department.
|
|
|
FLOOD SEASON: PREPARING TO PREPARE
Many natural disasters like hurricanes, rain, thunderstorms, and melting snow, cause flooding. And flooding is more common than we think. According to FEMA, everyone lives in a flood zone - it's just a question of whether you live in a low, moderate or high risk area. To reduce the impact of a flood-related disaster, emergency management agencies may consider using Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) to develop a community-based plan. In addition to providing flood zone information, maps supply research for flood assistance funds available for your area.
Emergency management agencies should also prepare for flood season by talking to their communities about what individuals can do before, during and after a flood. If you're not sure where to start, check out the "Flood Recovery Booklet" from the Iowa Conservation and Preservation Consortium.
For more information on grants for flood preparation and recovery, (keep reading).
Contributed by Janet and Bill Liebsch, authors of "It's A Disaster" disaster preparedness plan books. |
|
5 REASONS AGENCIES SHOULD HAVE THEIR HEAD IN THE CLOUD
As emergency management agencies prepare for summer festivals, town BBQs and big sporting events, they seek ways to improve communication and collaboration. Cloud computing is among the many solutions to consider. Yes, it does mean integrating processes and communications online while storing data off-site but the benefits cannot be ignored (keep reading).
Contributed by Colin Nurse, Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft State & Local Government |
|
COLLABORATION: THE LATEST TREND FOR HOSPITALS
 Emergency management organizations and hospitals often work hand in hand, especially when it comes to managing large events with large groups of people. But even when they're not working closely together, hospitals and emergency management agencies both need to collaborate and communicate. Hospital systems are typically structured from several different organizations, owners and policies, they all communicate internally, employ similar processes to treat their patients, and utilize common materials and medicine. However, they often find it difficult to effectively communicate with each other during big events, emergencies or disasters (keep reading).
|
|
FIND US ON YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK
As always, we want your feedback, ideas and stories and the best place to share is online. If you haven't already joined us on Facebook and Twitter, we would like to extend an invitation. We provide once-a-day news updates, grant information, links to events and more. Just click on the links below.
|
|
|
|
NEW CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
Ehlanzeni District Municipality, South Africa |
|
GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Application Period Now Open.
Deadline for Application Submissions is May 28, 2010.
Current Grant Opportunities for Law Enforcement/Police
Current Grant Opportunities for Fire/EMS |
|
|
