The Preparedness Coalition was organized by the Emergency Preparedness Institute (EPI) in response to increasing evidence that while we were sleeping the world changed. We now find that traditional thinking about emergency preparedness and disaster recovery may be ill adapted to the new realities.
The compounding threat of terror, the growing frequency of disasters and the discovery of government's limitations as a first responder have all made it clear. The challenge of emergency preparedness is radically different from what it was when most traditional thinking about emergency management was developed and when many emergency agencies were formed.
Our Mission:
Believing that the new realities demand new strategies, EPI was formed to explore, uncover and spread the most effective emerging strategies and practices for saving lives and property during an emergency or disaster. Beyond simply collecting and disseminating the current "best practices" of the industry; EPI is vigorously engaged in discovering the "next" practices that will advance the discipline of emergency management in communities, businesses, and families. Our aim is to walk and talk with the thought leaders of emergency management to the leading edge of the industry and then hold up a flashlight to see a little further.
Our Goal:
To promote dialogue and build alliances among all stake holders. Through this process we hope to help solve the biggest problems in disaster prevention, emergency preparedness, and disaster recovery. Along the way we plan to become a leading source of fresh, forward-looking ideas and create an invaluable resource of emerging strategies for anyone interested in emergency management.
History:
The Institute was formed in 2001 to address the fact that most people were not prepared to help themselves in an emergency and that self-help is increasingly critical to any disaster recovery plan.
EPI began by working to help people help themselves by bringing family emergency/disaster planning into the community and workplace. Its programs were initially geared to empowering anyone interested in protecting his or her family and home to build a personalized emergency/disaster preparedness plan. But the Institute soon discovered that the preparedness message was falling on more deaf ears than attentive ones. This led the EPI to explore why so many people don't pay attention to preparedness initiatives and to ask what needs to be done to make preparedness messages more engaging and compelling.
The Institute began a study of the emergency management industry which ultimately led to the development of The Preparedness Clock (tm) to measure the effectiveness of the industry's emergency preparedeness initiatives and ThePreparedness Coalition to explore the next practices that will advance the effectiveness of emergency management. The Institute is located in Mt Prospect, Illinois.
For further information contact the Institute
email: info@getprepared.org or call toll free at 877.670.7444
