Presidential Policy Directive 8

Lost in the media coverage of the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) budget crisis last week, President Obama signed Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8) - National Preparedness. This directive is an update on Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-8) signed by former President Bush in 2003.

The intention of PPD-8 is two fold, the first is an effort to galvanize the Federal response to All Hazards, whether its an act of terrorism, pandemic influenza or other natural disasters. The second mission of PPD-8 is to facilitate an integrated, all-of-Nation, capabilities-based approach to preparedness. To read the full text of PPD-8, please click here

The key point in my mind of PPD-8, is the term "all-of-nation". This coincides very nicely with FEMA Administrator Fugate's rhetoric discussing "whole of community" preparedness. The crux of the mission is that we need to do a better job at preparing the entire community. This is accomplished by developing custom preparedness messaging and preparedness activities. A one size fits all preparedness campaign cannot be effective.

At HandsOn Central Ohio, we provide a number of different trainings that are appropriate for all audiences. To learn more about available trainings, including Continuity of Operations Planning for non profits, Disaster Preparedness for Advanced Needs populations or to learn about our work with Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security in helping to prepare the Somali Community, please visit the Disaster Preparedness section of our website by clicking here.