Earlier this month at the 2010 National Hurricane Conference, FEMA got together with media members from CNN, the Weather Channel and various other outlets for a panel session aimed at improving public awareness of preparedness principles.
As most risk managers know, the core tenants of disaster planning are not rocket science. Sure, there are some very high-level endeavors going on with in fields including catastrophe modeling, GPS mapping and geoengineering, but the greatest benefits of preparedness can generally be attained just by following its literal definition: be prepared.
To that end, the administrators and journalists discussed how they can collaborate better and help educate the public — particularly the youth. Here a video with some on-site insight from some of the people who were there. (video via FEMA)
UPDATE: Here’s another FEMA video on preparedness, this one featuring Lt. Gonzalo Gerardo of the Calexico Police Department on scene after the 7.2 quake that recently rocked the California/Mexico border region. (h/t @TheFireTracker2)