VEOCI Software a Success During Superstorm Sandy

The New Haven emergency operations center (EOC) used new web-based software to handle over 900 reports of problems during Superstorm Sandy. The locally developed tool, called VEOCI, allows emergency managers to better communicate with one another in real time using smartphones, tablets, and computers. VEOCI's interface allows users to share messages, submit images, upload documents, telephone en masse, and automatically generate Google maps, among other things. To learn more about New Haven's use of VEOCI, visit http://tinyurl.com/VEOCI

Special Needs and Tornadoes: A Joplin Story

It has been almost two years since a devastating tornado ripped through the town of Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011. The community continues the rebuilding process with the help of programs such as The Independent Living Center -Joplin (TILC), a nonprofit organization providing a variety of services and resources to help individuals with disabilities live independently in their own homes. TILC is one of seven programs chosen as a promising example of FEMA's Whole Community Approach to emergency management. To learn more about TILC and how the tornado affected one of its former clients and now current employee, visit http://tinyurl.com/TILCJoplin

Hospital Active Shooter Exercise Series

The Caduceus Shield Exercise Initiative has two HSEEP compliant exercises specifically related to hospital active shooters. The Sickbay Security - An Active Shooter Response Exercise and the Medical Mayhem - An Active Shooter Consequence Management Exercise are both designed to provide an opportunity for hospital management and staff, along with a hospital's emergency response partners, to work through the myriad of challenges associated with responding to and recovering from such an event. The participation cost for each exercise is $500 for the entire Hospital Incident Command Team. For more information on this exercise series, visit http://tinyurl.com/hospitalactiveshooter

Catastrophic Power Outages Pose Significant Recovery Challenges

Power outages have become more prevalent during recent disasters. The Joplin tornado resulted in power loss to the city's hospitals as well as its water supplier. Superstorm Sandy took down large portions of power in the Northeast. The recent Snowstorm Nemo forced various healthcare and water pump facilities to rely on generator power to sustain themselves over the weekend. Many communities struggled for weeks to recover, however what if those weeks had stretched to months and encompassed entire regions? Catastrophic power outage is a real possibility, one that poses significant challenges to the emergency management community. Measures need to be taken now to avoid or at least mitigate the detrimental effects of such a power outage. These measures can include educating citizens, reminding them to keep electric devices charged, urging them to make partial conversions to solar energy in their homes, and alerting them in advance about locations of emergency shelters. To learn more about other measures to take, on the individual and municipal level, visit http://tinyurl.com/catastrophicpoweroutage 

Textizen - Engaging the Community
Textizen is a new software tool designed to engage citizens by eliciting feedback and input. The software, which is free during their public beta, allows users to create SMS-based surveys to disseminate to the public. This platform allows anyone with a basic mobile phone to participate in the survey. Textizen not only displays the survey responses in real time, it also catalogues them for future use. To learn more about this tool, visit http://tinyurl.com/textizen