So yesterday we had our first notable earthquake in generations, and suffice to say, we didn't handle it very well. Next month we've got the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and this weekend we're now being told to batten down the hatches in preparation for the possible arrival of Hurricane Irene (the city's tips on preparing are here!). But all of these visions of cataclysm have us wondering...has anybody actually bothered to make one of those "go bags" that we're all supposed to have? more ›

While the sky continues to spit down miserable gray drizzle upon New York, we're faring far better than Joplin, Missouri, which was ravaged yesterday by a tornado that destroyed much of the town and has left at least 89 people dead. more ›

If the President wants to send you a text, you'll be required to receive it on your smart phone under a new emergency alert system that the FCC and FEMA are rolling out in NYC and D.C. by the end of the year. Announced today, the new Personal Localized Alerting Network [PLAN] lets customers who own an enabled mobile device "receive geographically-targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area." If you don't want The Man telling you there's an imminent threat to your safety, you can opt out of a second tier of alerts, such as warnings about less catastrophic natural disasters or AMBER Alerts. But the messages from Obama are going to be shoved down your cell phone's throat, just like health care! more ›

Medics are claiming that they may have been able to save people like a 75-year-old Queens mother who died during the storm had the 911 lines not been clogged with prank or just plain stupid phone calls. EMS units claim one man called complaining of a stomach ache, but later admitted that he had eaten a whole pizza about 20 minutes earlier. Other units responded to a call of a sick child in Brooklyn only to find that his parents were just hoping EMTs could make him finish his homework. more ›

According to a new study, sluggish emergency workers are taking longer to get to some NY areas. Of course it’s all relative: the worst delays are in Carroll Gardens where distressed New Yorkers waited an average of 33 seconds longer in 2009 and in the Bronx’s Highbridge neighborhood (near Yankee Stadium) where wait times increased by 27 seconds. Thirty four other police precincts also saw longer reaction times, reports the Post, though many stayed steady and 42 precincts cut their delays. Though the increases may seem tiny, Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice stressed their significance. "This is a huge issue," he said. "For people who have a critical need for the police, any increase is alarming." more ›

Officials have confirmed that human error was to blame for a mis-dispatched ambulance whose would-be passenger died while waiting for its arrival Thursday. At 9:04 a.m. Mariela Lazaro called 911 and said her son’s nose was bleeding, but she was too upset to give her exact cross streets. While searching for the address in the database a 911 worker hit the wrong key and located Avenue C in Brooklyn, though Lazaro was actually calling from Avenue C in Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town. An emergency crew rushed to the outer boroughs address, but quickly realized something was wrong. Less than twenty minutes after the original call another crew found its way to the correct home, but by then it was too late, the boy was dead. more ›

An 11-year-old boy perished in a high-rise fire in Coney Island on Tuesday when he was left alone in his family's apartment. The fire broke out on the 15th floor of the Ocean Towers building on W. 24th street at around 12:15 pm, according to the Daily News. The boy's grandmother had left the apartment to go to the store just before the blaze broke out, and reportedly "broke down and wept when she returned home and saw the boy's lifeless body." The boy's name has not yet been released. "They were pumping his heart," witness Elphine Ahrendts, 14, told the tabloid. "His eyes were red [and] he only had on underwear ... He wasn't breathing ... They couldn't help him." more ›

The fire department has eliminated regular maintenance of its defibrillators — prompting concern among some medics that the machines might fail. more ›

Governor Paterson has declared a state of emergency over swine flu. The AP reports, "The executive order means that far more health care professionals -- including dentists -- will be permitted to administer vaccines with only brief training. The order is needed to suspend provisions of state law.State officials say the number of vaccine doses is also being increased. The federal government is ramping up availability of the vaccine, allowing the state to order twice as many doses as a week ago, a trend that's expected to continue." President Obama declared swine flu a "national emergency" a few days ago. more ›

Aww: A six-year-old Brooklyn girl called 911 when her mother had a seizure in the middle of the night. Little Ciara Rogers told WCBS 2, "There was nobody else - she was on the floor, and [little brother] Luis was crying in the crib, and I was crying so much that my head was hurting. I took a deep breath and I called 9-1-1." more ›

Awww—the FDNY made 5-year-old Tahlique Garay a "junior paramedic" for his informative—and life-saving—call to 911 when his pregnant mother passed out in their Queens home. You can listen to the 911 call here: Tahlique says, "My mommy, um, passed out a little bit," and was able to give his address, explain that she gets seizures, and unlock his door for medics. His mother, Jennifer Garay, has suffered from seizures before and explained that she prepped him just in case, "I didn't want to scare him but I had to tell him what to do if I got sick." By the time EMTs arrived, little Tahlique showed them where his mom was and explained her medical history; Jennifer Garay, who was taken to the hospital for severe dehydration, said, "He not only saved me, he saved his sister as well." And Tahlique said he'd teach his new sister and friends about 911, "Make sure to call 9-1-1 if you have an emergency or you are hurt." more ›

We're getting preliminary reports about an "aircraft emergency" this morning at LaGuardia airport, where an incoming American Airlines flight was hit by a bird strike when coming in for a landing. No injuries are being reported, but paramedics were called to meet the plane at gate 10, apparently as a precaution. The pilot also reported a "hydraulic leak in the nose gear." The incident comes as the city moves to euthanize 2,000 geese within 5 miles of airports during their molting season, in an effort to prevent another crash like the one that befell Flight 1549. more ›

Almost a year-and-a-half-long pilot program in four neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Staten island, the city has announced that its message alert system, NotifyNYC, will now be rolled out citywide. Notify NYC services are available by email, text message and voice message to home, office and cellular telephones. According to the press release, starting on May 28, "Residents in all five boroughs will now be able to register multiple email addresses, text message accounts and phone numbers to receive Notify NYC advisories about events in up to five zip codes." Subscribers will get emergency alerts (hello, military plane that was supposed to fly over the Hudson), like AMBER Alerts and ones about natural disaster. Plus, you can sign up for Significant Event Notifications for less-severe situations (like brush fires, extended disruptions of mass transit services and major utility outages), Public Health Notifications and "non-emergency advisories about unscheduled suspensions of alternate side parking rules and public school closures and delays. more ›

The number of homeless families with children entering New York City shelters has risen dramatically in recent months, hitting an all-time high in November, when 9,720 families were reported in the municipal shelter system. According to figures released by the Department of Homeless Services, 1,343 new families were accepted into the shelter system last month, a 43% increase over the 935 who moved into shelters in November 2007. more ›

One Park Slope resident emailed us to describe a surprising scene unfolding this morning on 4th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

I went out for my coffee around 10am and there were 4 white undercover SUVs, an NYPD emergency truck and a large, black DEP/HAZMAT truck/mobile unit parked on my street! When I came back from my coffee run I saw a Fire Dept. SUV parked at the 6th Ave end of the block and a car from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner… A moment ago I saw a few passersby noticing the high volume of vehicles and they pulled out phones and cameras. Someone in the Medical examiner's car honked the horn and shouted out "no pictures." I asked the people from the ME's car what was going on, but they said they couldn't say anything and that I should call the 78th Precinct for more info…There's also an ambulance now.

On the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, NYU officials announced yesterday that the university is "exploring installing an unprecedented security system involving an electronic remote lockdown system that would shut down classrooms and entire buildings" in the event of an emergency. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Office of Emergency Management have announced 10 winners in the contest to design temporary housing for the thousands of New Yorkers who might be displaced in the event of a catastrophe, like a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane. The 117 submissions from 30 countries had to create quickly assembled housing for 38,000 families from Prospect Shore, a fictional neighborhood set along a mile of the New York City coastline. more ›

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,... more ›