Center for Disaster Research & Education

Emergency Management 101: Good people, who are well trained, will always rise to the occasion!  The New Yorker has a nice article by Dr Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto.  He interviewed some of the leadership in the emergency room at his hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (part of the Harvard Medical School), about what they did during the rush of patients after the horrific bombing last Monday.  The answer was quite simple and words to the wise for good leaders and those aspiring to be good leaders, “I mostly let people do their jobs.”  And further, “…everyone spontaneously knew the dance moves….didn’t have to tell people much of what to do at all.”   Not words you would expect to hear with the magnitude and details of what had happened at the Boston Marathon, but exactly the words good leaders would expect.  Why?  Because, good leaders don’t micromanage, good leaders train their people and then like a mother bird, when it is time, they let them jump out of the nest and do what they do…those are the good leaders.  The good leaders can do this because they have confidence in their people.  They have confidence because they have trained and nurtured those subordinates. They don’t have to worry about how they will perform, because they have gotten them ready long before they need to use these skills.  How?  The article does a great job, very succinctly, of explaining how when various events took place previously around the country, the personnel in these various hospitals, because it was not just this hospital that was prepared it was every Boston hospital, studied and learned lessons from those events.  They studied what happened, what went right, what went wrong and trained based upon these events.  Just like any good professional athlete, they “studied” film to be prepared for when and if the day came when they had to go to work.
Just like Boston, emergency mangers and emergency responders all around the world that study and learn from past events, while preparing for events that may have yet to ever been faced, will perform well….and it all starts with good leadership!

Most of us depend heavily on technology, whether we like or use technology or not!  Go to the store, use online banking, shop for your next vacation or even clothes…you are using technology.  The same technology that makes our lives easier, can also become a nightmare when someone gains access to our personal information and begins “shopping as you.”

We are told that we need to have passwords that are hard to break and different passwords for each of our various accounts, but how many of us don’t follow this advice?  How many of us have the list of passwords sitting beside our computers so we can remember them when we need to use them?  I know what you are thinking, who is going to have access to them at my computer?  Good point!  So, how do these identity thieves get your information? Easy, you give it to them, or they steal it from business computers, government computers, and from the open airwaves!

Free wi-fi is a wonderful thing, right?!  You save that data time on your phone bill by using it with your smartphone or laptop down at the local coffee shop or airport, and all is good.  But, what if someone is sitting in the coffee shop or airport with software that is capturing all your personal information?  Reading the news on your phone or computer is okay, but once you type in your username and password to one of your accounts, the chance is out there that someone just acquired your information.  Recently malware (software used for bad purposes), has been discovered at some of those “free” charging stations at airports.  You plug in your device to charge it before your flight, and the malware downloads all your private information for an internet thief to acquire.

Did you know that there are over 28.2 billion, with a “B”, attempts at stealing data every hour, and that there are 7+ million fake “IP addresses” on the internet.  These fake addresses are being used to “mine” for your data.  You receive an email from a friend or business telling you to update your data or check out the latest picture and you click on the “link” that seems like a legitimate link.  Either it takes you where you need to go and your none the wiser, or it does nothing and you think that it is a broken link, no big deal.  The problem is that your data has been acquired and your computer may now have software inside of it feeding your information to the identity thieves.

I was recently sitting in a conference with an internet security expert and he has solved this problem….never go on the internet!  Okay, so option A isn’t going to work, because even if you don’t use social media, or wireless devices, or shop and bank online, your information is still out there.  You reduce your chances of having it acquired by not doing these things, but in today’s society your information and the technology that “secures” it is everywhere in everything we do.

What can you do?  There is not much you can do about letting the bank, government, healthcare providers, etc. to have your information, but you can protect yourself.

There is software that allows these thieves to read the information from your credit card in your wallet as you walk by due to the chips installed in the credit cards.  Solution: buy a wallet or protective slips for your cards that shield them from being read.  How many of you knew this was even possible?!

Don’t use your work computer for social media, online services or with your personal information.  First it puts your personal information out where it can be stolen and second, it allows hackers to back door in to your work computers.

Make sure you always have passwords on your home and work routers.  Make sure the passwords you use are at least eight characters, use both an upper and lower case letter, use at least one number and use a character such as: #, $, &, + if the system you are using allows you to use these symbols.  Also, DO NOT use the same password for all your accounts.  Finally, if you are making online purchases, and it requires an email account, set up a gmail, hotmail or other free account that you use ONLY for these online shopping accounts.

Don’t make it easy on the people out there trying to steal your identity, use common sense and these few precautions. I will continue to provide updates and additional information in upcoming posts!

Be Smart, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

With the first day of the Sequestration upon us, this month’s book is a book subtitled: A radical new theory of collapse.   Rebecca Costa’s book, The Watchman’s Rattle is an intriguing look at problem solving and what prevents us from being able to solve problems.  Has technology outpaced our ability to solve problems that are created?

If you get a chance to read this informative and excellent book and you want to discuss or send me your thoughts, please send me an email at duane.hagelgans@millersville.edu

This month, I had a hard time deciding which of several great books to use for the book of the month. I have decided to share with you, “Predictable Surprises” by Max Bazerman and Michael Watkins. The authors make a lot of great points about what most of us would classify as “surprises” or “unknowns.” Using a lot of analogies and true stories, the authors explain how many times these “unexpected events” are predictable. As an emergency manager, a health and safety professional, or merely a person trying to work your way through each day, this is a good book about better planning and avoiding adverse outcomes.
When you have finished reading this book, drop me an email and let me know your thoughts: duane.hagelgans@millersville.edu

Introduction to Business Continuity Planning Management:
Millersville University in collaboration with Disaster Recovery International is sponsoring the 16 hour “Introduction to Business Continuity Planning Management Course this Spring.
This course will be offered in two formats, completely online or face-to-face in Harrisburg, Pa.
For more information, go to: http://www.millersville.edu/cdre/

All,

DHS released a new website dedicated to Active Shooter Preparedness. The site is located at the following link: http://www.dhs.gov/activeshooter . Please keep for your own personal reference and feel free to share with your partners and stakeholders as widely as possible.

The purpose and a list of resources currently included on the site are listed below:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aims to enhance preparedness through a ”whole community” approach by providing training, products, and resources to a broad range of stakeholders on issues such as active shooter awareness, incident response, and workplace violence. In many cases, there is no pattern or method to the selection of victims by an active shooter, and these situations are by their very nature are unpredictable and evolve quickly. DHS offers free courses, materials, and workshops to better prepare you to deal with an active shooter situation and to raise awareness of behaviors that represent pre-incident indicators and characteristics of active shooters.

The more awareness training we give, the better prepared all of us will be in dealing with any event.

News for Immediate Release

Jan. 10, 2013

Pennsylvania State Police Launch New “See Something, Send Something” App to Help Fight Terrorism

Harrisburg– A new smartphone application has been developed to help the Pennsylvania State Police receive reports regarding suspicious activity that may be linked to terrorism.

The new See Something, Send Something app allows suspicious activity to be captured as a photo or written note and sent to the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center (PaCIC).

“This App provides concerned citizens with an effective communications and reporting tool,” State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said. “The See Something, Send Something mobile app, developed by My Mobile Witness, sends terrorism-related tips directly to PaCIC where tips are evaluated by analysts and assigned for investigation as warranted,” Noonan said.

The application, which is available at no cost for iPhone and Android phone users, also includes information on what to look for and when to report suspicious activity, along with how to receive important alerts.

“No one knows what goes on in your neighborhood better than you,” Noonan said. “You may see or hear things that seem out of the ordinary and raise your suspicions — if you see something suspicious taking place, report it.”

“One tip from an alert citizen can prove valuable and protect Pennsylvania from a potential terrorist act,” Noonan said.

My Mobile Witness uses patent-pending privacy protection software for safeguarding the integrity of tips and citizens’ personal information. The system allows the PaCIC to engage citizens without tracking location or storing of personal information. Submitted tips are immediately removed from the mobile device and purged from the My Mobile Witness system once delivered to the intelligence center for analysis.

Factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious activity. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situations (e.g., an unattended backpack or briefcase in a public place) rather than beliefs, thoughts, ideas, expressions, associations, or speech unrelated to terrorism or other criminal activity. Only reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with local, state and federal partners.

“Prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” Noonan said. “We are one neighborhood, one state, one nation; and it is the responsibility of all to remain vigilant and to report suspicious behavior — one report can make a difference.”

In addition to the new mobile app, people can call the toll-free State Police Terrorism Tip Line at 1-888-292-1919 or email tips@pa.gov to report suspicious individuals or activity.

The Pennsylvania State Police have been receiving terrorism-related tips from the public since 2003.

In the case of an immediate threat or emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.