The "McMuffin" of Emergency Preparedness Apps

Just when you thought there were enough apps in your mobile App Store, the Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) has begun development on a public preparedness application all its own. There isn’t too much to say about the app just yet; the project is in its infancy. But like the Emergency Kit Cook-off held last National Preparedness Month, we want to include you in the design of what we hope will be the "McMuffin" of emergency preparedness apps.

We’re taking a user-centered approach to the design of our app. To ensure ADEM designs a user experience that exceeds user expectations we need to involve the user throughout the process, beginning with a few questions. Makes sense, don't it?

Your involvement begins with answering a few questions.

Would you download a free ADEM emergency preparedness app?

What functionality and/or content do you expect in an emergency preparedness app?

If you downloaded the ADEM app, what would make you want to delete it from you smartphone?

What functionality and/or content would you want an emergency preparedness app to include?

We’ve sketched preliminary wireframes of what an ADEM emergency preparedness app might look like. Some of the features we thought would sustain user interest in the app include a 72-hour kit checklist, location-based alerts, and a few other functions to give the app some added value.

We’ll posts to the Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN) blog from time to time with development updates. Whether it be workflows, wireframes or content taxonomies, we’ll make a point to share it all in the hopes of hearing constructive feedback from our Facebook fans, Twitter followers (#ADEMapp) and Blogspot subscribers. And when it comes to field testing the app … we’re thinking of ways to involve you in that process too. Stay tuned.

ADEM Preparedness App

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'Remember that big storm a couple or 35 years ago...?'

One of the more interesting stories I covered back in the day as a newspaper reporter was about the weather. I still remember the headline: “What’s With the Wacky Winter Weather?”

I’ve always been a sucker for alliteration.

That ran in my college newspaper one year when Flagstaff was hit by La Niña, which was 1995 or so. Winter that year was extremely mild, so much so that it was a frequent topic of conversation. I remember the temperature that whole season seemed to hover at 50, day and night, for months. I’m sure the temps varied but it barely snowed if at all, and there was a constant layer of thin clouds overhead, just enough to make everything look washed out.

La Niña is a weather phenomenon characterized by cool, dry weather conditions in this part of the world. It sure was sedate circa 1995. Maybe saying we were “hit” by La Niña is a little like saying we were swamped by a vacuum.

The heavy hitting actually comes from El Niño, the cranky brother of La Niña that brings untoward weather in the form of heavy precipitation.

Two years ago, we were seeing just how headstrong El Niño could be. From Jan. 18 through Jan. 23, several feet of snow and many inches of rain – up to 10 inches of rain in some areas – fell in Arizona, causing devastation to life and property. The Navajo Nation was buried under snow, requiring aerial relief for residents in remote areas. Flooding washed out homes in Black Canyon City in Yavapai County, along Tonto Creek in Gila County, and in Wenden in La Paz County. (Left: The entrance to Gisela, one of the Gila County communities affected by flooding during the winter storms in 2010.)

The National Weather Service has published an assessment encapsulating this storm. It's perfect for fans of weather data and can be found here.

This weather event was the biggest disaster I encountered since joining the Arizona Division of Emergency Management in March 2006. Besides being deployed for the first time with the state all-hazard incident management team to Wenden in response to flooding there, I became very familiar with other parts of my home state I’d never visited before, like Punkin Center and Gisela. (Left: Centennial Wash flooding Wenden in January 2010. Photo courtesy La Paz County.)

Growing up in Flagstaff meant knowing about (or, in my case, living through) the Great Snowstorm of 1967. This benchmark snowstorm was actually a couple of storms that basically ran into each other over Arizona. Flagstaff recorded 86 inches of snow; that’s more than 7 feet, although local lore would have that snowstorm dumping 12 feet of snow on us. I was a little kid, so 7 feet might as well have been 20 feet. (Right: Northern Arizona as seen from the air on Jan. 25, 2010.)

I was surprised to find out that even Gila Bend and Wickenburg got a few inches of snow from that storm.

Two years ago the third biggest winter storm hit Arizona, and my memories of it are becoming as blurry as the one that I saw firsthand when I was 4. The biggest difference is I can’t say I don’t know how to handle the next one that comes.

For winter preparedness tips, check out the links below as found on the Arizona Emergency Information Network:

Personal Preparedness

Home Preparedness

Winter Heating

Flu Info

Winter Flooding

Driver Safety

Pet Safety

Severe Weather Forecast

Preparedness Comes in Many Forms

I recently hiked the Grand Canyon with family and friends. Even though we planned this trip well in advance (13 months in order to reserve cabins at Phantom Ranch), it turns out preparedness was the key to our success.

Our Grand Canyon hike preparedness came in 2 forms; training hikes to ensure our ability to handle the South Kaibab and Bright Angel trails and shopping to ensure we had the right gear to endure adverse weather.

All that preparedness paid off.

We were well versed on the weather conditions. I checked the weather forecast for the Grand Canyon a couple times a day . . .hoping the cute little snowflakes would disappear. Since they showed no sign of disappearing, I was prepared with water resistant pants, jacket and gloves. Thankfully, I did not need to put this apparel to the test . . .but better warm than a soggy mess.

The trails that we traversed 2 miles below the rim of the Grand Canyon were covered with snow and ice. Luckily we were prepared with cramp-ons that attached to the bottom of our shoes and gave us a Spiderman-like grip of the icy trail. Ok, that may be an exaggeration . . .but they really did help and certainly improved my confidence as we walked on the slippery trail.

Other preparedness items we carried are similar to what you might find in your personal preparedness kit in your car or at home; duct tape, first aid kit, food, water, flashlight and Swiss army knife. We put all of these to use on the trek.

(Note photo of my brother with duct tape holding together his lunch bag)

While I look back on this adventure with fondness, perhaps the next vacation should involve less preparedness and more relaxation.

In Which I Wave to Winter From Afar

I recently came off a splendid 10-day holiday. It was really a stay-cation spent mostly near Bethany Home Road in central Phoenix, but stay-cation sounds more elegant if I refer to it as being on holiday.

I don’t like to plan lots of things for my holidays, like long trips to the beach, preferring instead to be spontaneous and cheap. I do enjoy going out to local eateries I usually don’t have the chance to visit for lunch during a regular work week, and this means I can take my time and splash my food with abandon.

(I’m not really exaggerating. I went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch on the last day of my holiday, and I’m pretty sure the fact that I splashed a lime wedge in my pho twice, leaving puddles on my communal table and spots on my shirt, is the reason the guy facing me on the other side of the dining room left abruptly.)

I was on the tail end of a sickness, too. Don’t worry, it wasn’t that bad. It lasted the whole month of November and through my holiday but the worst part of it were the first few days when it started. I was worried that it was the flu, since it is flu season. In fact, last week was National Influenza Vaccination Week. I tend to get my shots as early as they are offered but this year was different and I am lagging. Even as I wrote this I thought I was too late, but apparently this is the time of year to get one if you haven’t already. I suppose it could've been RSV. I've never had that before (that I'm aware.)

I contemplated going to Flagstaff for a day or two during my holiday to see and feel winter up close, but honestly, one of the reasons I left Flag in the first place almost 13 years ago is because of this:












And this:











Sure, snow is gorgeous to watch when it’s fluttering down and forcing you to hum “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” (I’m partial to the original Andy Williams version.) Snowfall can be surreal, especially at night, when the sound of everything outside is muffled yet you can hear when a big, wet snowflake hits your ear.

Watching snow coat the countryside and flirting with a heart attack while shoveling said snow are mutually exclusive, though, at least in my humble opinion. The exact moment I decided I’d had enough snow came during one of the last winter storms I would endure in Flagstaff:

I was in my upstairs apartment, likely drinking hot apple cider. It had been snowing all day long, those big flakes that look like dandelion seeds. My apartment faced a small, quiet residential street just north of the Northern Arizona University campus, so the sound of a high-revving engine stuck out conspicuously. I suspected some poor college kid from Phoenix got a Honda Accord high-centered in the snow on that side street, not unusual since those were the last streets that got plowed.

Not one to turn my back on a chance to build some karma, I threw on my heavy coat and gloves, and went outside to help someone push a car over a snow bank. This is what I saw stuck outside:











“I hope they have someone to call,” I muttered to myself as I took off my heavy coat and gloves while heading back inside to my hot cider.

Is there a moral to this story? Maybe. It might be something like be prepared. Or check the National Weather Service before driving places where it might snow. Or be aware of the effect freezing temps can have on your water pipes.

My own moral: You don’t have to shovel sunshine.

The Trouble with Turkeys

Thursday is Thanksgiving, an opportunity to give thanks, gather with family and friends, and if you’re not careful start a cooking fire.

According to one news report, firefighters respond to something like 1,000 house fires every Turkey Day. Unattended cooking is the top cause of fires in the home.

Entranced by stories of a moist, flavorful turkey in a fraction of the time, frying the Thanksgiving turkey is becoming increasing popular; unfortunately, it’s a dangerous cooking method if not practiced with caution.

You don’t have to take my word for it, but maybe you’ll heed the warning of America’s favorite Starfleet captain and turkey-fry survivor William Shatner, star of a new State Farm video, “Eat, Fry, Love,” about the dangers of Tribble ... I mean turkey frying. Watch the video below.

“Fire, metal, oil and turkey are glorious when in harmony,” an enlightened Shatner intones. “But their power are unrelenting in careless hands.”

Admittedly, I know nothing about frying a turkey. I’ve never tried it; it sounds like too much clean-up.. The top safety tips, reports NBC News, for deep turkey fryers

* Thaw the turkey before you put it in the oil. A frozen turkey can cause hot, bubbling oil to flash over. The National Turkey Federation recommends refrigerator thawing and allowing approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of bird thawed in the refrigerator.

* Don't over-fill the pot with oil before putting the turkey in. Determine the amount of oil you’ll need before putting the turkey in the fryer.

* Turn the flame off before you put the turkey in the fryer.

* Use the fryer outside, away from the house, the garage, and wooden decks and porches.

* Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher at the ready. Don’t use water to put out a grease fire. If the fire is too big, call 9-1-1.

* Never ever leave the fryer unattended.

I hear a deep-fried bird is tasty, but I’ll stick to making filling balls (you heard me right, filling in ball form. It’s a Pennsylvania Dutch thing) and letting someone else cook the turkey in the oven.

For cooking tips or additional information on turkey fryer safety, visit the Scottsdale Fire Department’s website at http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/fire/turkeyfryersafety

So if you’re in charge of cooking the turkey this Thanksgiving and are thinking about frying that bad boy, we ask that you be safe about it. In the sage words of Bill Shatner, “How do you plan to keep yourself, your family and me safe from turkey fryer fire?”