9/11 Drill Down For Safety – Getting America Prepared

It has been eight years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington killed some 3,000 innocent people. How soon we forget. Fortunately, there are people like Len Pagano who haven’t forgotten. Pagano is president and CEO of the Safe America Foundation, located in Marietta. On Sept. 11, Safe America rolls out a project called, “9/11 Drill Down for Safety,” a series of emergency drills designed to teach businesses and families how best to respond to emergency situations ranging from natural disasters to terrorist thuggery.

Former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta is the honorary chairman of the program, which has the backing of the National Association of Emergency Managers, the U.S. Medical Reserve Corps, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a host of corporate sponsors.

In a news conference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mineta said, “Safe America is championing this project because we believe we need to shift the attention from what government can or can’t do to what individuals and families can do on their own. If individuals are trained, they are just as likely to survive on their own than if they wait for first responders to arrive.”

Pagano estimates there will be as many as 200,000 people involved in the “9/11 Drill Down for Safety Program.” Among the drills will be efforts to test how special needs populations can be evacuated, determining the most effective way to communicate to high school and colleges students through text messages and looking at how to shelter people in a business location.

The drills will be as varied as the locations in which they take place. In Atlanta, UPS will simulate how to protect employees during a potential tornado. The Allstate Insurance office in Marietta will do an employee family preparedness plan. York, Maine will conduct neighborhood preparedness drills. In Washington, D.C., Howard University will carry out student pre-evacuation program planning. San Francisco will focus on day care centers.

Read Full Article

Safe America Foundation

Make The Pledge On Facebook

Twitter Could Help In A Disaster

Text messaging, Twitter and social networking Web sites could help families stay in touch in the wake of a disaster, a national safety group said Tuesday.
The Safe America Foundation announced a campaign to train families about alternate ways of staying in touch if traditional communication methods are not working. The Atlanta-based group is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on this “Drill Down for Safety” program to make people more aware of communication options during an emergency.

Read Article