About That Next Disaster ...
Michael Hart -- Tradeshow Week, 8/21/2006
Dear Editor:
Re: "Prepared Yet?" (July 31, 2006)
I enjoyed your editorial. You pose some interesting questions about facility emergency preparedness. Here is more information that may interest you.
In October of 2005 the Intl. Assn. of Assembly Managers Foundation was awarded $750,000 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to strengthen educational opportunities for emergency preparedness training for public assembly facility managers. The IAAM Foundation will use the funds to strengthen new and existing programs, such as the Academy for Venue Safety & Security.
The funds will also be utilized to raise awareness and train venue managers to use the Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (ViSAT), developed by the DHS using the IAAM Best Practices for Safety and Security. The tool is designed to assess and strengthen current emergency plans within public assembly facilities.
IAAM created the Emergency Shelter Task Force, headed by Greg Davis, director of the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., which worked diligently to gather best practices from facility managers that have experienced their facilities being converted to emergency shelters during national disasters. This 200-plus-page document is a comprehensive outline for facilities to prepare for an effective response in the event that their facility is designated to become an emergency shelter.
It is the result of countless volunteer hours given freely by vendors and facility managers that experienced 9/11 or the recent hurricanes, and care deeply enough to contribute to the national organization effort.
The link to this document is: http://www.iaam.org/members/Sec_pages/Mega-ShelterPlanning&Activation.pdf.
Mary Cusker, Marketing manager, Smart City, Las Vegas
Letters to the editor of Tradeshow Week are always welcome. Please send them to Editor in Chief Michael Hart (by mail) Tradeshow Week, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 120, Los Angeles, Calif. 90036-5804; (by e-mail) hartm@reedbusiness.com ; or (by fax) (323) 965-5306.
