One-Stop Shopping for Emergency Preparedness

Most people live their lives hearing on the news about disasters, both natural and man-made, and thinking that such situations will never happen to them. They prepare for cuts and bruises by stocking bandages and medicines, but they count on public services such as EMS and fire departments to take over if a major disaster comes their way. Businesses pay more attention to safety preparedness, both because of governmental regulations and because of protecting the company from liability should employees be injured on the job. And public services must be prepared at a moment's notice for any emergency that may occur. No matter whether you are an individual, an employer, or a public service, there are numerous emergency response online stores to fulfill your needs, and many of them are provided by Crisis Management Systems (CMS).

CMS was founded by Julia Moore and Steven Hull in 1991 as a consulting firm with the mission of providing disaster training, planning, and consulting services for businesses. At the time, public and corporate attention to emergency preparedness was sporadic at best, because the economy was booming and terrorist attacks on American soil were unheard of. But the Loma Preata Earthquake - called the San Francisco Earthquake by most people - had caused great destruction just two years earlier, and the previous year more than 8,000 homes had been destroyed in the Oakland Hills Fire Storm. Moore and Hull knew that their particular type of disaster experience and training would prove to be invaluable to all size companies. Read more on list of natural disasters.

Over the next few years, CMS began to see a shift in the needs of their customers, receiving numerous requests for custom-built emergency response systems. So in 1995, SafetyStore.com was launched. Initially designed as a 5-page online store providing 40 hard-to-find business and home preparedness products, SafetyStore.com has now grown to a 400-page site with more than 5000 products. Their product line has been expanded through the years by listening to their customers and striving to fulfill their needs.

In 1999, CMS expanded their business model to offer customers telephone and Internet ordering, as well as wholesale and retail pricing. Four new websites were created to offer specific industrial safety products, service-specific patches, decals, and pins, tools and implements, paramedical gear, and first aid EMS supplies. In 2005, CMS completely rebuilt their Internet systems to give their websites a new look and improved navigability. Additional websites are still being added to help customers find exactly the specialty products and services they need.

A true pioneer in Internet e-commerce, CMS has found unique methods of helping customers meet their needs for safety, emergency, and medical response and preparedness products and services.