Homeland Advisory Group Blog

AHA Heartsaver First-Aid/CPR/AED Certification – Hollywood Client

ciprian — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:39:24 +0000

CPR/First-Aid/AED Certification

One of Homeland Advisory Groups instructors stands aside and plays a scenario video from the American Heart Association for the clients Emergency Response Team (trained and developed by Homeland Advisory Group) during their Heartsaver CPR/First-Aid/AED certification.

Homeland Advisory Group offers the Next Generation American Hearth Association CPR/First-Aid/AED Heartsaver Training. Our First Aid, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillator) training meets the needs of workplace responders, school staffs, professional responders and healthcare providers, as well as the general public. Our classes are held on-site or at one of our training facilities. The course lasts 3 hours and is fully hands-on.

Los Angeles – Orange County CPR, First Aid and AED Training

Eric — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:55:39 +0000

CPR/First-Aid/AED Class Training Los Angeles & Orange County

Homeland Advisory Group now offers full service American Hearth Association CPR/First-Aid/AED Training. Our First Aid, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillator) training meets the needs of workplace responders, school staffs, professional responders and healthcare providers, as well as the general public. Our classes are only 3 hours and fully hands-on.

Knox-Box Installation Service – Special

Eric — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:06:04 +0000

Homeland Advisory Group Knox-Box Installation

Homeland Advisory Group only uses Knox-Box rapid entry systems for our clients.

As a professional courtesy, we provide Knox-Box rapid entry system installation service for a flat $100 fee anywhere in Los Angeles County.

Guest Writer Pamala M. on Pet Preparedness

Chase — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:50:51 +0000

Rescued Pet Disaster Shelter

Pamala M. had some great insight into pet preparedness in response to our Saving Pets During a Disaster post. We decided to feature her tips in her own post:

Ensuring that your animal is properly tagged and micro-chipped will go a long way in recovery of an animal that hides or flees in fear during a disaster event. It will also prevent accidental euthanasia of your pet as a “stray” or unowned animal! But, being able to contact the owner of the animal is also critical…

1) Assign an alternate emergency number to a person you would call or contact outside of your area if you had to evacuate…possibly in another state. Do not assume that your veterinarian’s office will survive a disaster event.

2) Do not assume your cell phone number will benefit you if you are in a disaster event. Cell towers may be compromised, just as LAN line can be. This is another reason why the alternate number is critical.

3) Keep your pet’s shots up to date! ALL OF THEM! This protects the general public that could have contact with your pet and it protects them in a situation where they are exposed to strays running loose or kenneled in a shelter with animals that have unknown health/vaccination backgrounds. It can save your pet’s life from diseases such as rabies, parvovirus, and distemper!

4) Keep a first aid kit in your vehicle, not just with supplies for yourself, but also for your pet. If your pet is injured or bleeding and needs care, muzzling may be necessary to provide that care. This can be accomplished with ace bandaging, small rope/cord, electrical tape, or first aid tape.

5) Other items to keep in your vehicle: flashlight with extra batteries; a leash or rope; small tarp, and a small blanket. These items can be used to locate victims, restrain an animal from leaving once captured, the tarp can provide a means of emergency shelter and waterproof surface to lay on, secured by the rope. The tarp can also be used as a drag device to slide a victim or animal to a safe area if too heavy to carry. Lastly, the blanket provides warmth to prevent shock and hypothermia.

6) Load pictures of your animals onto a central website such as Facebook, Yahoo!, or other networking website if not already available to a microchip recovery organization like HomeAgain Companion Animal Recovery system.

7) Your pet can usually survive quite a while without food, but will die without a good supply of water. Plan to carry enough water in your vehicle for the people and pets in your household for 3 days time (1 gallon/person/day)

If you have the ability to evacuate your animals completely out of a disaster area to be kenneled elsewhere for a period of time, that is ideal. If you must return, return at first without the animals to lessen the burden on your community and protect the animals from lack of resources. Have a plan on where you can take your animals and a backup…many municipal shelters outside an affected area have the ability to provide emergency placement services, expand capacity for disaster recovery. Ask for foster assistance.

I hope these hints help.

Pamala M. currently works with rescues and animal non-profits in the Dallas, TX area. She has provided support for wildfire/ flooding operations for the American Red Cross in West Texas, and has supported recovery efforts for Hurricanes Andrew, Katrina, Rita, and Ike.

Washington Monument Might be Tilting after Earthquake

Eric — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:33:20 +0000

Washington Monument Tilting

Reports say the Washington Monument may be tilting after the 5.9 Virgina Earthquake

UPDATE: Megyn Kelly just shared word that a D.C. police officer told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may tilting following a 5.9 magnitude earthquake.

UPDATE: Seismologist John Rundle joined Kelly on her show and confirmed that the Washington Monument could very well be tilting as a result of the earthquake and the structure should be checked out.

Two nuclear reactors have reportedly been taken off line near the epicenter of the earthquake.

Rare 5.9 Earthquake Strikes Virgina

Chase — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:23:39 +0000

Virgina Earthquake Intensity

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake centered near Mineral, Va., rocked the mid-Atlantic states and was felt as far north at Manhattan and as far south as North Carolina.

This is a good reminder that earthquakes can strike throughout the entire USA, not just the West Coast. Its important for all large buildings and facilities to have an earthquake section of their emergency & evacuation plan.

It’s reported that that JFK airport has been shut down. That is ludicrous. There has been no loss of communications or infrastructure and the associated losses for an avoidable airport shutdown are enormous. By having a comprehensive emergency response plan with simple evacuation/shutdown decision triggers can save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Homeland Advisory Group Selects KNOX-BOX®

Eric — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:40:47 +0000

The 2012 International Fire Code requires business with restricted entrance control or gated facilities to install a key box to allow emergency services access to their property in an emergency. KNOX-BOX® Rapid Entry Systems have set the standard since 1975 and is approved by over 11,500 departments nationwide. This is why Homeland Advisory Group trusts and installs KNOX-BOX® products for all our clients.

How It Works

KNOX-BOX® identifies the responding agency for your jurisdiction and keys your box to match that departments KNOX MASTER key. The only person with access to your box is the responding agency. During installation, your building entrance codes, cards, and keys are placed inside the box and a department representative locks the box on site. In the event of an emergency, the responding department will have the KNOX key to open your box and access your facility. This improves response time and prevents expensive property damage.

Below are some sample installation photos and the excerpt from the International Fire Code

506.1 Where required. Where access to or within a structure
or an area is restricted because of secured openings or where
immediate access is necessary for life-saving or fire-fighting
purposes, the fire code official is authorized to require a key
box to be installed in an approved location. The key box shall
be of an approved type and shall contain keys to gain necessary
access as required by the fire code official.

506.1.1 Locks. An approved lock shall be installed on gates
or similar barriers when required by the fire code official.
506.2 Key box maintenance. The operator of the building
shall immediately notify the fire code official and provide the
new key when a lock is changed or rekeyed. The key to such
lock shall be secured in the key box.

Emergency Communication Planning

Eric — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:37:03 +0000

Homeland Advisory Groups Emergency Communications Case - For Agencies and Businesses

Many clients ask us for our Emergency Communication Cases to use as a field deployable solution. What many of our clients overlook is the associated Emergency Communications Planning & Training that is vital to get the maximum value from their cases.

Understanding how to properly operate, speak and use our radios is a must to mitigate any confusion when in the heat of a deployment. The most advance radio is worthless if the user is not familiar with basic programming and functions used to operate the radios.

Homeland Advisory Group offers radio operation training and emergency communications plans. with each Emergency Communications case we sell.

Event Emergency and Evacuation Planning

Eric — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:05:53 +0000

Lack of Evacuation/Emergency Planning in Indiana causes the stage collapse disaster

On August 13, 2011 at approximately 8:45 pm EDT, Indiana State Police said that a warning was issued to the crowd in the grandstand suggesting that they may have to take cover due to the incoming severe weather. However, witnesses reported that those in the direct path of the collapsing fly system did not evacuate per the announcement.^[1]

Approximately 10 minutes later, strong winds caused the stage to collapse, killing 5 people and injuring 45 others.^[1]

According to Fox News, the existing emergency plan for the Indiana State Fair and event staff was just one page long. This is purely gross negligence on their part. Any knowledgeable Emergency Manager knows the capability of severe weather on temporary structures.

A statistic comes to mind, “For every $1 spent on emergency planning, $4 is saved in recovery” – U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Indiana’s event staff had no excuse to avoid the expense of a comprehensive Event Emergency and Evacuation Plan. Any reasonable planning expense is worth saving the lives of those killed in this tragic event.

Homeland Advisory Group – Newest Contractor for County of Los Angeles

Eric — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:31:03 +0000

Homeland Advisory Group is now the official supplier of Emergency Communications Cases to the County of Los Angeles’s Health Department. The cases, although confidential, will be self-contained turn key 2-way communication hubs for use in disaster/emergency deployments. Homeland Advisory Group closely works with our engineering teams and the Pelican Products factory to develop the finest all-weather field deployment Emergency Communication Cases in the nation.

These same cases are now available to businesses and organizations who are ready to take their Emergency Communications capabilities to the same level of the finest emergency response agencies in the USA.