Coping with Stress during Wildfires The past few days in Monterey County have been incredible. Three fires burning, two caused by lightning storms and one was arson. The River Fire, Carmel Fire and Dolan Fire. Here in the community, we have grown accustomed to watching, with concern, other counties be affected by the devastation of …
Disasters don’t take a day off, why should I? Many people ask me about Peace of Mind Preparedness and how we can help them become disaster ready. We do so in many ways. We visit families with one-on-one-sessions, give presentations on preparedness to businesses/service organizations and we do special projects/contracts with partnering agencies with the …
Pet Preparedness for July 4th July 1st is here and we say goodbye to June where we learned the importance of Pet Preparedness. Now, we are days away from July 4th. In all of my years of having pets, I have yet to meet one that enjoys fireworks. If you live in an area that …
Disaster Preparedness What have we learned from COVID-19? It was mid March, right before the Shelter-In-Place was enacted here in California. That seems like a lifetime ago. Do you remember the panic? The grocery store shelves being cleaned out, the emotions we experienced, oh, and the toilet paper! I am still trying to understand that …
We are a well informed society. News at our fingertips and screens. On demand, 24 hours a day. We are talking to our friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers and the lady in line behind us at the grocery store with 85 cans of chicken soup. Many are asking, “What is going on?” I don’t know …
It’s March 2020. Shelter-in-place orders have just been instituted in Monterey County, California, and the Carmel City Council realizes this new reality could have serious consequences for at-risk populations. Jeff Baron, Carmel City Councilman, knew the organization needed credible, trained experts to organize a concerted effort to care for the community, and he contacted me …
In all my training and years of emergency management experience, I would never have imagined that our global community would be in the position it’s in today; hiding in our homes, afraid of our neighbors and friends, in fear for our jobs and our livelihoods, and unsure of what might come next. I’ve become acutely …