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Southport man crafts Web site, book on how to deal with emergencies
By Harold Davis
Special Correspondent
August 22, 2007
From Hurricane Katrina to major floods in Oklahoma and Texas to the recent tornado in Brooklyn, N.Y., there's no telling what natural disaster will hit next.
Should a horrific event hit your back yard, would you be ready? Entrepreneur Sam Brown hopes his launch of www.YourSurvival.com and a book of the same name will catch on with the public and spur people to action.
"Whether it's due to global warming, I don't know, but the weather patterns have changed," said Brown, chief executive officer of Your Survival in Southport.
Brown said the concept of "Your Survival" took about two years to come together. The founder of successful telecommunications businesses such as Alliance Group Service in Westport and Network Control Corp., sought to develop a tool like "a Consumer Reports of emergency preparedness."
He searched the Web sites of the American Red Cross and other organizations for disaster preparedness information, but Brown said he "saw nothing proactive."
"There was nothing that offered the comfort or skill set to really prepare," he said. So Brown aimed his new company at filling the gap.
Besides what you and your family should or shouldn't do in an emergency, Brown wanted YourSurvival.com to include information on dealing with post-disaster issues, such as insurance.
"What about the aftermath? How do you deal with the insurance company? You'd better be prepared for that too," said Brown, whose Web site provides advice from insurance experts.
On the print side, Your Survival's 160-page manual features the advice of Dr. Bob Arnot, former chief medical correspondent with CBS and NBC, as well as some 50 contributions from disaster survivors and other experts. The book will be accompanied by a 90-minute, advice-laden DVD.
Brown hopes the book will be in stores in early October. The Web site goes live next week.
"Certainly, the challenge was putting together a comprehensive package for the public and not (be) too technical. This is not a military manual for survival - it's very practical," the Southport resident said.
The "Your Survival" book is published and distributed by Random House and Hatherleigh Press, and will retail for $24.95. Most of the information on YourSurvival.com will be free.
Brown also is working with LexicommGroup in New York City to help develop and propel "Your Survival" as a brand. The book and site will be promoted nationally in print advertising, and in outdoor ads in metropolitan areas. Brown and LexiCommGroup hope to be featured on talk shows.
Kristina Tanasichuk, director of government and industry relations with GovSec, U.S. Law & Ready! in Alexandria, Va., said it is laudable to produce materials that are useful to the public for emergency situations such as natural disasters. Recent events such as Katrina have shown that people are often on their own.
"The public is more aware that the government is not going to be able to respond in an emergency. They will have to be responsible for themselves for 48 hours or maybe up to a week," she said.
Tanasichuk said interest in disaster preparedness is not a trend, but more a movement. She said that many people are getting involved in organizations such as Citizens Corps, a federally sponsored program that encourages people to be prepared, get training in first aid and emergency skills.
Brown expects to continuously update Your Survival's products and information. He also hopes to launch a secure server where people can upload important documentation online to back up their computer drives in case of a disaster.
"We hope to offer an entire menu of services from SMS (short message service) alerts that you can receive anyway you want, via e-mail or cell phone," Brown said.