FEMA's Public Relations Campaign

In the past couple of years the terms Criminal Justice, Homeland Security and Emergency Management has started to blend together.  A good example, is that I just finished my Masters degree in Criminal Justice, but my specialization was Homeland Security Administration, meaning all my classes dealt with Terrorism, Infrastructure, IT Security and Emergency Management.  

I'm sure there are a great number of Law Enforcement professionals that have had "First Responder" added to their job description.  With that concept in mind, the majority of my entries in the Criminal Justice online blog will deal with First Responder issues.

With that being said, I wanted to direct your attention to some of the Public Relations tools that FEMA has started to use.  Just this past week Director Paulison held a press conference, on Twitter!  I followed the press conference on my twitter account.  The idea that everyday citizens could ask a high ranking Federal Official questions is fantastic, the format could use some tweaks, which FEMA themselves agreed will take place in the near future.  Also, FEMA has developed its own You Tube channel (www.youtube.com/fema).  Their newest post was from today (1/14) and it is Director Paulison discussing the many improvements that has taken place to FEMA since he took over following Hurricane Katrina.  

Again, for those you that have first responder duties included in your job description, FEMA is a fantastic starting point for a great deal of interactive material.  They also have independent study courses that you can take online and get FEMA certification for.