PEPCO Offers A Quick Online Video With Tips For Dealing With Electrical Power Outages

Did you know that there are lot of steps and precautions you can take to help ease the burden when your electrical power goes out at work or home? PEPCO with over 789,000 residential and business electric power customers in the Washington, DC metropolitan area has a brief online video that offers several strategies and tips to help you deal with a loss of electrical power.

Check out their video at: http://www.pepco.com/welcome/news/videos/lightsout.aspx.  You can also listen to a past Code Red! radio show interview featuring Clay Anderson, Senior Media Representative with PEPCO as we discuss the issue of, "Preparing For Weather Emergencies And Dealing With Power Outages During Bad Weather Events."

To listen to this thought-provoking interview please visit: www.bit.ly/CRRS-ClayAnderson.

Til Next Time,

Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

Alfred McComber, Personal Safety Guy

Can YOU Spare 25 Minutes To Save Your Child's Life?

     During the month of May, thousands of communities across America, Canada and even all 290 U.S. Embassies around the world are holding special events as part of the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children's fifth annual Take 25 National Child Safety Campaign that culminates on National Missing Children's Day this coming May 25, 2011.

     According to statistics, almost 800,000 children a year (over 2,000 each day), are reported missing in America. There are immediate and FREE steps you can take to help keep your children safe and secure in today's often dangerous and very violent world.

     Take 25 minutes out of your life and visit a special website from the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children at: www.Take25.org to learn 25 ways you can help make your kids safer beginning right now.  Don't wait til it's too late! Give yourself and your children the information they need to increase their personal safety, security and emergency preparedness whether you are around or not.

     For even more direct assistance and ideas to effectively protect your infant to college age children, be sure to visit: www.MyKidsBodyguardSolution.com.


Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

Alfred McComber, Personal Security Guy

Have A "Plan B" In Case Your Property Is Stolen Or You Experience Other Disasters!

Did you know that there are approximately 5 Million burglaries each and every year throughout the United States resulting in over 4 Billion dollars in losses? As of 2009, 87% of these burglaries remain unsolved.

While there are numerous steps you can take to reduce your chances of being a burglary victim, you should “Have A Plan B” just in case criminals do make off with your property.

First, make sure you mark your valuables so that you can easily identify them if they are recovered by law enforcement. You’d be totally amazed at the amount of property that police do eventually recover but, often the property never gets returned to the rightful owner because there is no way to determine who owns the property.

There are special engraving tools that can be used to mark your property and many times these tools are available for loan from your local police agency. I recommend discreetly marking your personal property using what is known as an Invisible Ink I.D. Pen with UV Light like the ones available from my private firm, Security Intelligence Bureau at: http://bit.ly/PropertyIDPen.

It’s also very important to make a complete inventory of the property within your residence and even your business or workplace. This inventory should include photographs, receipts and even video so that you have a full record of your items not only in case of a burglary or other crime but also other incidents such as fire, severe weather and flood damage where you’ll need to provide certain details about your property to your insurance carrier for any claims. Of course, you’ll want to store your inventory record in a safe place somewhere outside of your home or business location.

Also consider checking with your insurance agent to see if they have any checklists or software that can help you with your property inventory. There are also FREE Inventory Software solutions available on the internet such as: http://www.whatyouown.org.


Til Next Time…

Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

Alfred McComber, The Personal Safety Guy

Can Police & Fire Rescue Personnel Get To Your EXACT Location In Case Of An Emergency?

In case of any emergency at home or work, it's a good idea to make sure that your residential and workplace telephone numbers as well as your physical addresses for these locations actually shows up in the dispatch records system of your local Emergency Communications Center (EOC).

Unfortunately many times home and even business telephone numbers and physical addresses may not be up-to-date in the emergency communications dispatch center computer system and when seconds really count, knowing exactly where you are calling from can help police and fire first responders get to you as quickly as possible.

Another reason for making sure your exact physical address actually shows up in the communications center computer system is so that in the event you are dealing with say, an intruder, a fire or medical emergency in your home or workplace, merely dialing "9-1-1" and not providing any verbal communication will most likely result in the authorities being dispatched to your location anyway to investigate what is commonly referred to as an “Investigate The Unknown Trouble” call where police officers will actually show-up just to make sure everything is okay.

As a police officer, I get dispatched to these types of calls on a regular basis and it is better to have the police respond and make sure everything is okay than not taking any action at all. Also keep in mind if you live or work in a building with lots of tenants, this could pose an additional problem for first responders because even when they arrive at your building's address, they still need to ascertain exactly which residential unit or business suite is involved and then determine how they will approach that location based on the nature of the call.

In order to make sure that your home and/or business telephone number along with your exact physical address actually shows up in your local Emergency Communications Center system, simply call the non-emergency phone number for your EOC and let them know that you want to test your residential or workplace telephone number to make sure it shows up in their emergency communications system in case of any emergency. They'll be able to instruct you regarding their exact procedures for conducting the test. Keep in mind, that this strategy only applies to actual landline telephones, NOT cellular phones.
 
Til Next Time,
 
Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!
 
Alfred McComber, The Personal Safety Guy

A FREE 2-Minute Online Video Can Help You Prevent An Electric Space Heater Fire In Your Home...

Did you know that statistics reveal that over 65,000 fires occur each and every year in the United States involving home heating equipment?  It is the second leading cause of residential fires in America and over 21,000 of these fires are attributed to issues involving electric space heaters.

Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) based in Rosslyn, VA recently released a 2-minute, ESFI Space Heater Virtual Demonstration Video that is packed with smart, life-saving information that can help you prevent a space heater fire in your residence or business.

You can check out the video online by visiting: http://bit.ly/ESFI-SHSafetyVideo

Til Next Time,

Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

Alfred McComber, The Personal Safety Guy

Red Cross Power Outage Checklist Available Right Here...

Sudden electrical power outages can be very frustrating and troublesome especially when they happen for an extended period of time. 

The American Red Cross has developed a quick read, one page checklist to help you be prepared BEFORE a power outage as well as what you should do DURING a power outage and important items to keep in mind when the electrical power is actually restored.

To download your copy of this FREE Power Outage Checklist visit: http://rdcrss.org/PowerOutageChecklist 

Til Next Time,

Be Vigilant, Be Prepared, Be Safe!

Alfred McComber, Personal Security Guy

Colleges Re-Examining Safety after Arizona Shooting Rampage

Colleges Re-Examining Safety after Arizona Shooting Rampage