Fairfax, Va. (Sept. 16, 2008) – The American Red Cross in the National Capital Region, Homeland Security & Defense Business Council and Homeland Security Today co-hosted a highly successful Partners in Preparedness Symposium and The CEO Summit Tuesday, at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel. This annual event has become the benchmark event to raise awareness amongst high-level executives in the Washington, D.C. area and to encourage them to prepare their companies and employees for various possible disasters.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff delivered the opening Keynote to the group of 150 executives, discussing the importance of having viable business continuity plans. Chertoff illustrated his point with a story from 2005 when Hurricane Wilma hit Texas. Local gas stations did not have generators to keep them going in a power outage, and there was a domino affect that prolonged the emergency for the entire region—Power workers could not get to the plants to get the power back on because gas stations did not have power to work the pumps.

Partners in Preparedness also included top-tier panels discussing the role and responsibilities of the media in reporting on disasters; expectations regarding government assistance in a disaster and how to protect your workplace and employees from a pandemic illness. Each participant received the invaluable Emergency Preparedness Tool Kit for Small to Medium Sized Organizations which gives step-by-step guides and resources to help businesses prepare.

This year, in conjunction with PiP, the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region launched its Ready Rating™ program. This program provides a framework for businesses, organizations and schools to be prepared and to help their employees get prepared at home. Organizations who enroll in the program and verify they have taken steps to be prepared in an emergency will receive the “Red Cross Ready Rating” seal to assure current and future employees and clients that they have made an on-going commitment to preparedness and will be more likely to survive a disaster.

The Homeland Security & Defense Business Council is a distinguished group of senior industry representatives with a vested interest in safeguarding our nation. The Council is comprised of leading companies who are solutions providers of homeland security-related services, technologies and products. The reach of the organization’s membership is federal, state and local and global, and its activities focus on identifying and promoting strategies by which industry can contribute to critical homeland security missions across both the public and the private sectors in the U.S. and abroad.

The American Red Cross in the National Capital Region is a volunteer-led organization that provides relief to victims of disaster and empowers people in the D.C. Metro Area to prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and other life-threatening emergencies. Financially supported by the generosity of the local community, the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year responding daily to local disasters while continuing to build its capacity to effectively prepare for and respond to the next major disaster to strike our community. The region consists of the National Capital Area chapter (the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery and Fairfax; the District of Columbia; the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and field offices at Fort Belvoir, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, National Naval Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health) and chapters in Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William.

For more on the services offered by the American Red Cross in the National Capital Region, contact Kathy Thompson, director of communications and media relations at 703-584-8412 or ThompsonK@redcrossnca.org or contact Kim Covington at 703-584-8455 or CovingtonK@redcrossnca.org. For details on the Homeland Security & Defense Business Council, contact Kristina Tanasichuk, Vice President, KTanasichuk@homelandcouncil.org.

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