National Coalition of Emergency Managers Introduce New Tool in the Campaign to Prepare for Disaster

Preparedness Clock to measure success of a new approach to preparedness

September 27, 2007 -Chicago-Today the Emergency Preparedness Institute announced that a national coalition of emergency managers and preparedness experts has joined with the Institute to launch a new barometer of the national level of preparedness called The Preparedness Clock. The Preparedness Clock combines available public and private data on the approximate percent of businesses and families who are ready to manage disaste-driven interruptions to their businesses and their lives into a single representative index. The public data will be combined with data collected from a national network of over 65 professional emergency managers who will also help to set the hands on the clock. The Preparedness Clock, along with the Preparedness Bulletin, is part of a larger initiative examining the general efficacy of emergency preparedness campaigns.

Despite a number of historic disasters that have affected the country over the last decade, the data indicates that the overwhelming majority of American businesses, their employees and families have not responded to traditional preparedness campaigns nor embraced the need for preparedness.

"This data suggests that the current approach to encouraging preparedness is ineffective, and a new method of communicating and promoting the importance of developing business and personal preparedness plans is needed," said Norris Beren, organizer of the coalition and Chairman of the Emergency Preparedness Institute.

The clock is currently set at 40 minutes to the hour with 12:00 noon representing 100% preparedness. Though it is unlikely that the clock will ever strike high noon, movement to and away from the top of the hour will provide a useful reference point to measure the success of future preparedness campaigns. "Time is ticking away. Unfortunately, most Americans feel they can hit the snooze button when it comes to preparedness. The clock is ticking and the alarm is sounding. The Preparedness Clock makes sense," said Debra Robinson, a certified emergency manager at AMTI.

"The Preparedness Clock will give all stakeholders in emergency preparedness a tangible representation of exactly where we stand with our own readiness, " said Jeremy M Powell, Homeland Security Analyst with Flatter & Associates, supporting Headquarters US Marine Corps, Washington, DC.

About EPI

The Emergency Preparedness Institute (EPI) was formed in 2001 in response to increasing evidence that the nature and frequency of potential disasters had changed. EPI was founded on the belief that traditional thinking about emergency preparedness, emergency management and disaster recovery may be ill adapted to the new realities.

Believing that these new realities demand new strategies, EPI's mission is 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. The Institute is located in Mt Prospect, Illinois.

About the Coalition

The Preparedness Coalition was organized by the Emergency Preparedness Institute (EPI). The coalition is a collaboration of over 65 emergency managers and contingency planners from around the globe who are concerned about the efficacy of traditional emergency preparedness communication.

About Jackstreet Media

Jackstreet Media is a leading new media company specializing in combining traditional broadcasting with new media technology to package and deliver information to underserved markets. Jackstreet Media is based in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. .

For more information on The Preparedness Coalition or The Preparedness Clock contact Sara Bylak at info@getprepared.org