Experience: Cities’ Readiness Initiative

John Guilfoil testified in the 2012 Boston Cities’ Readiness Initiative Tabletop Exercise, as the representative of Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Office.

The Cities’ Readiness Initiative, or CRI, calls for the United States Postal Service to deliver medicine directly to residents in the event of a biological incident.

The philosophy behind CRI is that the Post Office is the only entity that has a network — letter carriers — capable of carrying out such a task on short notice, given their numbers and familiarity with neighborhoods.

At the 2012 exercise, Guilfoil emphasized the need for an active “Joint Information Center” consisting of state, federal, local, medical, and law enforcement public information resources, in the event of an incident.