http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html
The Department of Homeland Security released its citizen preparedness website, Ready.gov <http://www.ready.gov> , in February 2003 and completed a large-scale update in July 2006. The Federation of <http://www.fas.org> American Scientists compared the new site to an archive of the previous version and carefully evaluated the content for accuracy, completeness, comprehensibility, and applicability. This analysis exposes numerous inadequacies in Ready.gov. The Federation of American Scientists recommends that the information on Ready.gov be updated as soon as possible with the assistance of scientific, military, and emergency response experts. The following is an overview of the analysis. Download <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/Templates/pdf/full_analysis.pdf> the full analysis. (pdf <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/Templates/pdf/full_analysis.pdf> PDF, 4.5MB) (.doc <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/Templates/pdf/full_analysis.doc> , 5.8MB) We found incorrect information throughout the site in addition to several other common problems, including: * Generic advice <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#generic> * Unnecessarily <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#lengthy> lengthy descriptions * Repetitive <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#repetitive> details These problems were identified on many pages, particularly: * Disabled and <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#disabled> Special Needs * Biological <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#biological> Threat * Chemical <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#chemical> Threat * Influenza <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#pandemic> Pandemic * Nuclear Threat <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#nuclear> * Radiation <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/analysis.html#radiation> Threat These issues were still present after the July 2006 update of Ready.gov, although valuable information was added including: * Information for seniors and pet owners * More state and local information * Summaries of information for twelve natural disasters * Changes to color and layout, making the site significantly easier to navigate Generic Advice * Many recommendations provided by the Ready campaign guidelines are not applicable to specific scenarios. For example: <http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/stayingput.html> Example of generic advice from Ready.gov: <http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/stayingput.html> Deciding to Stay or Go [D <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/descriptions.html#generic> ] * These instructions are useful but do not tell you when creating a barrier between yourself and contaminated air would be the best decision: "sheltering in place" is not effective for nuclear or indoor chemical attacks. Unnecessarily Lengthy Descriptions * Unnecessarily lengthy descriptions make informed decision making difficult. * Many pages could be greatly condensed, for example: <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/cleanair.html> Screenshot from Ready.gov showing lengthy descriptionfrom Ready.gov: Clean Air <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/cleanair.html> <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/cleanair.html> <http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/stayingput.html> [D <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/descriptions.html#lengthy> ] After one or two lines, it becomes difficult to focus on and remember the information, especially when reading it from a computer screen. Below is the same information, modified for the internet: * Snugly cover your nose and mouth with a face mask, available in any hardware store (an N95 rating is best) * Make the best fit possible for both children and adults to ensure that air comes through the mask or cloth and not around it * It is also important to protect your eyes and cuts in your skin * You may need to improvise with anything that fits your face snugly, such as dense-weave cotton material * Something over your nose and mouth in an emergency is better than nothing This format is easier to skim and easier to remember. Repetitive Details * Multiple pages contain the same information verbatim, making it hard to determine where and in what order to look. For example: Screenshots showing repetitive information on Ready.govfromReady.gov: <http://www.ready.gov/business/plan/emerplanning.html> Emergency Planning for Employees and Ready.gov: <http://www.ready.gov/business/talk/involvecoworkers.html> Involve Co-Workers [D <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/descriptions.html#repetitive> ] Disabled and Special Needs "If planning does not embrace the value that everyone should survive, they will not." - National <http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/saving_lives.htm> Council on Disability see <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/disabled_archive.html> archived Ready.gov "Disabled and Special Needs" page There are only twenty-one lines of generic information describing how to prepare for an emergency if you are disabled. * Questions like these are not answered: * How do you plan to evacuate a multi-story building in an emergency if you have a mobility disability? * How will you know to evacuate a building if you are unable to hear an alarm? * The same amount of information available for preparing your pet for an emergency is available for preparing yourself and your family if you have a disability: screenshots from Ready.gov showing how there is equivalent information for people with disabilities and petsfrom Ready.gov: Disabled <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/disabled.html> and Special Needs and Ready.gov: Pet Items <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/pets.html> [D <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/descriptions.html#disabled> ] * Specific information and instructions catered to special needs, including how to create a support network to help in an emergency or what special considerations to make when developing evacuation plans, is necessary for adequate preparation. * The Department of Homeland Security has made invalid claims that this kind of detailed information is accessible. * In 2004 and 2006, DHS announced that Ready.gov had new and updated information for individuals with disabilities * This is a misleading claim: a comparison of a 2003 archive of Ready.gov and the new page indicates that the only updated information related to individuals with disabilities is a single link at the bottom of the page * It is important to ensure that equivalent information is available for individuals with disabilities since 19.3% of the American population over 5 has a disability. Biological Threat see archived <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/bio_archive.html> Ready.gov "Biological Threat" page * The first three paragraphs in Biological <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/bio_archive.html> Threat are lengthy and could easily be condensed to two or three bullet points. * There is obvious advice, such as "if a <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/bio_archive.html#sick> family member becomes sick, it is important to be suspicious" or "use <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/bio_archive2.html#common_sense> common sense to determine if there is immediate danger." * An entire page devoted to symptoms <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/bio_archive4.html> and hygiene warns, "If a family member develops any of the symptoms below, keep them separated from others if possible." * The symptoms include headache, sore throat, cough, and other indicators of the common cold. * This could cause more anxiety than providing information. Chemical Threat see archived <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/chem_archive.html> Ready.gov "Chemical Threat" page * The following <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/chem_archive.html#shelter> advice is incorrect: "If you can't get out of the building [under chemical attack] or find clean air without passing through the area where you see signs of a chemical attack, it may be better to move as far away as possible and 'shelter-in-place.'" * This response is appropriate for outdoor chemical attacks, but not for chemical attacks inside. Sealing a room and "sheltering-in-place" could trap you with poisonous chemicals. * Other <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/chem_archive.html#sick> advice in this section is misleading, such as "many sick or dead birds, fish or small animals are also cause for suspicion," which could cause needless alarm since it is not uncommon to see a dead animal. * The page also instructs <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/chem_archive.html#sick> : "quickly try to define the impacted area or where the chemical is coming from, if possible." This is confusing advice that undermines the urgency in responding to a chemical attack. * It is not essential to "define the impacted area" when the most important thing is to find clean air as quickly as possible, which Ready.gov does effectively emphasize. * This <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/chem_archive.html#get_out> advice is both confusing and inaccurate: "If you are outside, quickly decide what is the fastest way to find clean air. Consider if you can get out of the area or if you should go inside the closest building and 'shelter-in-place.'" * Attempting to get away from a chemical cloud could take you into harm's way, since it may be impossible to determine the direction the cloud is moving. Influenza Pandemic see <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/pandemic_archive.html> archived Ready.gov "Influenza Pandemic" page * There should be specific details about how to respond, including answers to questions like: "Should you expect to stay at home?," "Should you go out and purchase masks?," and "Is a vaccine available?". * Phrases <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/pandemic_archive.html#govt> like "the federal government, states, communities, and industry are taking steps to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic" do not describe a pandemic flu and how an individual or business can act to prepare for it. Nuclear Threat see archived <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/nuclear_archive.html> Ready.gov "Nuclear Threat" page * Ready.gov instructs <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/nuclear_archive.html#take_cover> concerned citizens to "Take cover immediately, as far below ground as possible, though any shield or shelter will help protect you from the immediate effects of the blast and the pressure wave" * An individual likely won't have sufficient time to do this. * This page undermines the urgency of the situation and leaves <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/nuclear_archive.html#shelter> it to an individual to 'consider if you can get out of the area; or if it would be better to go inside a building and follow your plan to "shelter-in-place.'" * The visual <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/Templates/pdf/nuclear.pdf> guide for nuclear attacks understates the effects of a nuclear bomb, which would have a radius of destruction of at least a mile. A graphic, shown below, depicts "you are here" next to a nuclear blast, and recommends running around the corner. <http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/nuclear.html> Nuclear escape graphic- go around the corner if there is a blast from Ready.gov: Nuclear <http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/nuclear.html> Threat <http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/pets.html> * The first <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/nuclear_archive.html#first> piece of advice given in the Ready.gov guidelines instructs "quickly assess the situation," which could be replaced by a more useful recommendation, since an individual who sees a mile or more of their downtown disappear will automatically assess their surroundings. Radiation Threat see <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/radiation_archive.html> archived Ready.gov "Radiation Threat" page * Ready.gov recommends <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/radiation_archive.html#inside> , "If you are already inside check to see if your building has been damaged. If your building is stable, stay where you are." * Later <http://www.fas.org/reallyready/archive/radiation_archive.html#shielding> on the same page, Ready.gov instructs citizens to "think about shielding, distance, and time," where the farther away from the blast you are, the lower your exposure. * This advice is contradictory and based on emergency response for laboratories handling radioactive materials. In an attack situation, the most important thing to do is avoid radioactive dust. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
