Disaster Preparedness Daily News

Posts Tagged ‘Emergency Disaster Preparedness’

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today addressed presidents, provosts, chancellors, and deans from a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from across the country at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, Md.

The meeting — part of the second offering of an Emergency Management Planning, Preparedness, Training and Education Workshop for Colleges and Universities — is designed to provide schools and their leadership with an introduction to emergency management, a basic overview of EMI’s higher education programs and an opportunity to hear from  leading professionals in the field of emergency management. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite confidence in client loyalty, SMBs without effective disaster preparedness plans lose customers.

Symantec Corp. announced the findings of its 2009 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey, reflecting the attitudes and practices of small- and mid-sized businesses (SMB) and their customers toward technology disaster preparedness. The report shows a large discrepancy between how SMBs perceive their disaster readiness and their actual level of preparedness. The data also suggests SMB downtime costs their customers tens of thousands of dollars each year. As a result, the findings show that SMBs can - and often do - lose business as a direct result of being unprepared for disasters.

“The startling part of this research is the fact that SMBs don’t realize the impact their outages have on customers, particularly when they have tools at their fingertips to help them be prepared to deal with disasters,” said Pat Hanavan, vice president, Backup Exec product management, Symantec. “While no one wants a disaster to occur, the reality is that they happen. Rather than continuing to be unprepared, small and mid-sized organizations can take simple steps to protect their data. And, as companies communicate their plans to their customers, they strengthen those relationships and become a trusted partner.”

Confidence High Regarding Preparedness

The findings show that SMBs are confident in their disaster preparedness plans. Eighty-two percent of respondents say they are somewhat/very satisfied with their disaster plans, and a similar number (84 percent) say they feel somewhat/very protected in case a disaster strikes.

SMBs also believe their customers will be understanding and patient if there is a disruption to their computer or technology resources. In case of such an outage, only one-third (34 percent) of SMB respondents believe their customers will evaluate other options, including looking at competitors.

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Because acting quickly and effectively during major disasters often means the difference between life and death on a large scale, the federal government is looking for ways to improve preparedness and emergency response systems across the country.

As part of this effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $8.4 million over the next five years to the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to create a Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center. The Center’s experts will develop methods to evaluate emergency response plans and “best practices” to handle public health emergencies caused by the spread of infectious diseases, defective water and sewage systems, natural disasters or intentional acts.

“The capacity of local governments to respond to public health disasters varies greatly from region to region,” said Maggie Potter, J.D., principal investigator of the grant and associate dean and director of the Center for Public Health Practice at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. “We know the difference between a poor response and an effective one based on actual outcomes, but we know much less about the underlying reasons why some plans work well and others fail.”

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