Emergency preparedness is on everyone's mind now days. What with terrorist attacks, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural and man-made disasters a reality emergency preparedness means expecting the best but preparing for the worst.

Emergency preparedness also means response. How will we respond in a large-scale emergency? FEMA has been blasted by many critics for their handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Federal commitment and response at the highest level has also been called into question.

Many have decided to take matters into their own hands, so that they will be prepared the next time an emergency strikes. Notice we say 'next time' because there will be a next time. It took 40 years between when Hurricane Betsy struck New Orleans, and government officials resolved to never let the levee system fail again, to when Katrina struck and the system did fail.

But, these were not the only national emergencies of note. There have been literally hundreds of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados, power outages, airplane crashes and one notable terrorist attack that have put emergency preparedness to the forefront of many people's minds. And, these are just emergencies that we're familiar with since we have experience with these.

What will the next disaster look like? In 2001, FEMA stated that one of the three most serious threats to the nation was a major hurricane hitting New Orleans. The other two predictions were a terrorist attack on New York City and a major earthquake in San Francisco. Anyone say, "Uh oh"?

Besides the emergencies we're familiar with how about those with great potential that we've been lucky enough to avoid so far? Radiation emergencies from nuclear blasts, leakage or dirty bombs are one kind of example. Bioterrorism such as anthrax, plague and viral hemorrhagic fevers are other examples. Then we have non-terrorism types of outbreaks such as West Nile Virus, Avian Flu and Mad Cow Disease to ponder.

FEMA has put out an emergency preparedness document called "Are You Ready?" Be careful on the download, though, the PDF is a whopping 21 megabytes and that may just hurt you in and of itself!

The FEMA document outlines the reasons we need to prepare for emergencies such as, "Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of a fire and where to seek shelter during a tornado. They should be ready to evacuate their homes and take refuge in public shelters and know how to care for their basic medical needs. People also can reduce the impact of disasters (flood-proofing, elevating a home or moving a home out of harm's way, and securing items that could shake loose in an earthquake) and sometimes avoid the danger completely."

With Hurricane Katrina we saw first hand that the first responders to the emergency was primarily CNN News. This is an unacceptable first responder plan. The military, FEMA workers, EMT's, police, fire fighters, doctors, nurse and other medical personnel also have to be involved in the first response efforts. This may mean, though, that first responders such as these will need to be brought in from outside of the disaster zone so some of the first responders inside the zone can seek relief and safety for their own families. A large coordinated effort will be needed to put this kind of emergency relief in place.

The intent of this website is to address emergency preparedness and response in many different scenarios. It is our hope that we have addressed thoroughly the thoughts and concerns that people have and actions steps that everyone can take in order to be as prepared as possible in the case of an emergency situation. If you have any suggestions that you'd like to add, please feel free to send them in, as we would like to share good information with all.

Especially helpful will be tips and information on how to prepare for emergency situations so that you don't get caught off-guard. Or, if you've been caught off-guard, what you've done to get yourself and others out of a bad situation.

With global warming and worldwide climate change a real issue now days, it is very apparent that Mother Nature is creating more catastrophes than ever before. Tornados, floods, hurricane, tsumanis and other natural disasters are running rampant. And, let's not even begin to discuss terrorists.

It seems like every month, a large natural disaster (or man made) strikes somewhere in the world. It's only a matter of time until each of us is affected. Will you be ready? If so, what will you do to prepare?