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

August 8, 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 disaster 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 50 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 Sara Bylak, organizer of the coalition and President of the Emergency Preparedness Institute.

The clock is currently set at 23 minutes to the hour with 12:00 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," 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, " Jeremy M Powell, Homeland Security Analyst with Flatter & Associates, supporting Headquarters US Marine Corps, Washington, DC

About EPI

About the Coalition

For more information on the Preparedness clock contact