Preparedness Grants can Fund Maintenance and User Fees

Did You Know that FEMA Grant Funds Extend Beyond Equipment Purchases?

Last November, Timothy Manning, FEMA’s Deputy Administrator of the National Preparedness Directorate (NPD) announced that prepared­ness grant funds can be used for fees associ­ated with equip­ment purchases.

An excerpt from the FEMA Grants Program Directorate’s bulletin released by his office:

“Effective [November 2o, 2009], the use of FEMA prepared­ness grant funds for mainte­nance contracts, warranties, repair or replace­ment costs, upgrades, and user fees are allow­able under all active and future grant awards, unless other­wise noted.”

How Does FEMA Define User Fees for Preparedness?

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Let the (Disaster) Games Begin

Now surely you’ve never thought to make a game of disas­ter prepared­ness!? Well … 2010 may be a good time to rethink your approach to improv­ing your business conti­nu­ity readiness.

Games are essen­tial to our human experi­ence and they form a part of every culture.

Defined as struc­tured activ­i­ties under­taken for fun, games are more and more being used as educa­tional tools. By making aspects of educa­tion and work fun through games, atten­tion and reten­tion among partic­i­pants can be greatly enhanced. The defense indus­try has under­stood this for many years — invest­ing heavily in gaming software to enhance soldier training.

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Operable or Interoperable Communications? The Chicken or the Egg?

Operable or inter­op­er­a­ble — which came first? A few defin­i­tions to get you thinkin’:

• Communications = a process of trans­fer­ring infor­ma­tion from one entity to another
• Operable = able to operate/perform your duties
• Interoperable = able to exchange and use information
• Interoperability = ability to work with each other

With all the talk of commu­ni­ca­tions inter­op­er­abil­ity and all the money we’ve spent since 9/11, you’d think this problem has been solved. Perhaps it has in some specific cases, but for the major­ity of U.S. commu­ni­ties — despite the best of inten­tions — inter­op­er­abil­ity as well as basic commu­ni­ca­tions operabil­ity is still lacking as a funda­men­tal corner­stone of our local, regional, and national preparedness.

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Comments Due on Private Sector Preparedness Standards

The Department of Homeland Security is solic­it­ing comments — by January 15 — on their proposed standards for the new Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep). Recommended by the 9/11 commis­sion, PS-Prep was devel­oped for private entities to receive certi­fi­ca­tion for emergency prepared­ness from DHS.

“Preparedness is a shared respon­si­bil­ity and everyone—including businesses, univer­si­ties and non-profit organizations—has a role to play,” said Napolitano when announc­ing the proposed standards in October. “Ensuring our private sector partners have the infor­ma­tion and train­ing they need to respond to disas­ters will strengthen our efforts to build a culture of prepared­ness nationwide.”

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Communications Portability

Much like having no potable water, having commu­ni­ca­tions assets that aren’t portable is not all that useful. Imagine if your cell phone were the size of your suitcase (or even as small as your laptop). Just how useful would that be?

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Are We Prepared? Why Bother?

Did  you ever think to ask your local first respon­ders (fire, police, emergency manage­ment)  how prepared we are for natural disasters?

Is your local commu­nity suffi­ciently prepared to meet the needs of you and your neigh­bors when a disas­ter strikes? Do you know who is respon­si­ble, what resources they can access, and how quickly they can respond?

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Timely Connections for Uncertain Times

OODAkits deliver phone and Internet services not subject to Mother Nature or geography.