Mark Cerney

Mark V. Cerney (born April 10, 1967 in San Diego, California, U.S.) is the founder of an American nonprofit organization. He is best known for creating the Next of Kin Registry (NOKR) model.

Mark V Cerney
Mark Cerney (left) at the 2007 Emergency Preparedness Conference with Governor Mark Sanford (right)
Born (1967-04-10) April 10, 1967
San Diego, California United States
NationalityAmerican

His background includes graduating the St. John's Military School and serving with the US Marine Corps 1986–1993. He is married and has three children. The Next of Kin Registry became internationally known after appearing on CNN and Larry King after Hurricane Katrina. NOKR is an international free resource for the public to register emergency contact information that is only accessible to emergency agencies during times of urgent need. The organization was founded in 2004 and has been a resource used during Hurricane Katrina, the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the Asian tsunami, the 2012 Aurora shooting, Hurricane Sandy,[1] the Orlando nightclub shooting,[2] Hurricane Harvey,[3] Hurricane Irma,[4] Hurricane Maria,[5] the 2017 Las Vegas shooting,[6] the 2019 Virginia Beach shooting,[7] the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19,[8] and other disasters to include daily emergencies. The NOKR organization has volunteers in 50 US states and 87 countries. NOKR is the central depository for emergency contact information in the United States. The NOKR resource is used by more than 400 million registrants.

In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Senator Barack Obama (now former US President) introduced the National Next of Kin Registry to the 109th United States Congress in S.1630, The National Emergency Family Locator Act. The Next of Kin Registry was referenced in this bill as a standard for the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider in establishing the National Emergency Family Locator System.

In 2006 the American Red Cross partnered with the Next of Kin Registry.[9] The American Red Cross, along with many familiar partner agencies, such as FEMA, the United States Postal Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, wanted to ensure that families have a bevy of resources and options to use in order to communicate in times of disaster.

In 2007 the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) consulted with the Next of Kin Registry in an effort to answer HR5441 (Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007), SEC. 689c. NOKR put forth the requested solution for the National Emergency Family Registry and Locator System (NEFRLS), which was established in compliance with Congressional legislation SEC. 689c of H.R. 5441 to help family members separated after major disasters to communicate with one another.

Mark serves as the President of NOKR in Washington, D.C., a non-profit public benefit resource used globally by emergency agencies to reunify families when emergencies happen or national disasters occur.

Early life

In 1989 Mark Cerney worked at the San Diego County Medical Examiners office. Cerney is shown removing the bodies of Dan Broderick and Linda Broderick on this San Diego KGTV 10 news clip, [10]. Mark Cerney is the front person handling the stretcher for the San Diego County Medical Examiners office[11]. Betty Broderick was convicted for this double murder that took place on November 5, 1989 at 1041 Cypress Avenue in the Marston Hills neighborhood near Balboa Park in San Diego.

International usage

In recent times, the NOKR resource was used during the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami,[12] the 2010 Haiti earthquake,[13] the 2010–11 Queensland floods, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,[14] the January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides, the 2011 Norway attacks, the 2012 Costa Concordia disaster, the 2012 crash of Dana Air Flight 992, the 2017 Saint Petersburg Metro bombing,[15] the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing,[16] the 2017 London Bridge attack,[17] the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire,[18] and the 2017 Central Mexico earthquake.[19]

Management and organizational history

In July 2009, Michael D. Brown the former Undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R), a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a position generally referred to as the director or administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) became the Chief Executive Officer of NOKR.

Partnerships

On February 4, 2013, Microsoft officially partnered with NOKR to link the international resource with Microsoft HealthVault.[20]

Department of Motor Vehicles

The Next of Kin Registry model is now being used by many state Department of Motor Vehicles in the United States. These states have opted to create legislation and use an in state only version of the Next of Kin Registry South Carolina,[21] Colorado, Delaware,[22] Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey,[23] Nevada[24] and Ohio.[25]

Personal life

Cerney and his wife Kerri Jo of FEMA have three children. [26] Mark V Cerney is also a cousin of the late actor Michael Landon. Landon is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). [27] Cerney is also the brother in-law to Stephen Richards the lead singer of Taproot (band).

Notes
  1. http://www.prlog.org/12011291-catastrophic-hurricane-sandy-could-be-comparative-in-its-devastation-to-hurricane-katrina-prepare.pdf
  2. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/742020015075909632
  3. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/902593813092470784
  4. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/905930898754981890
  5. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/910283930875645952
  6. https://twitter.com/nokr/status/914827491096825856
  7. "Free next of kin registry aims to notify families minutes after emergency".
  8. "NOKR Official Twitter Site".
  9. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Partnerships+Help+With+Communication+During+Disaster.-a0147700406
  10. "Dan Broderick home". Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  11. "Growing up in San Diego".
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2012-03-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. http://www.prlog.org/10487310-haiti-earthquake-locating-and-reunifying-family.pdf
  14. "Massive quake, tsunami slams Japan List Your Emergency Contacts find Family".
  15. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/848914748590743553
  16. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/866809522379247616
  17. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/871147988978212864
  18. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/874963158435332097
  19. https://twitter.com/NOKR/status/910218710463451136
  20. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dataart-enables-next-of-kin-registry-and-microsoft-healthvault-to-unite-national-emergency-contact-updates-2013-03-04
  21. "Wsav-Tv". Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDJDk7dngzU
  23. "Sara's Law creates next-of-kin registry". 2011-04-12.
  24. http://openstates.org/nv/bills/77/SB204/documents/NVD00010630/
  25. "State of Ohio BMV".
  26. {{cite web |url= https://nokr.org/nok/restricted/staff.htm |title= NOKR Volunteer Staff and Volunteer Advisors |
  27. "Growing Up In San Diego". Mark V Cerney. Retrieved June 9, 2019.

References
  • Fearn-Banks, Kathleen. Crisis Communication: A Casebook Approach Lawrence Erlbaum; 3 edition January 29, 2007. ISBN 0-8058-5773-7.
  • CNN NEWS. Katrina: CNN Reports: State of Emergency by CNN News. Andrews McMeel Publishing October 1, 2005. ISBN 0-7407-5844-6.
  • Moyer, Susan M. Stories of Rescue, Recovery and Rebuilding in the Eye of the Storm. Spotlight Press LLC, September 25, 2005. ISBN 1-59670-030-0.
  • Christopher, Michel P. A Comprehensive Guide to Your Military and Veterans Benefits. Simon & Schuster, November 29, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-6946-2.
  • Military Family Network (MFN) Your Military Family Network: Your Connection to Military Friendly Businesses, Resources, Benefits, Information and Advice. Capital Books (January 18, 2008). ISBN 1-933102-35-7.
  • Douglas B. Reeves, Elle Allison Renewal Coaching Workbook. Jossey-Bass Books (March 2010). ISBN 978-0-470-41497-2.
  • Douglas B. Reeves, Elle Allison Renewal Coaching Fieldbook, How Effective Leaders Sustain Meaningful Change. Jossey-Bass Books (November 2011). ISBN 978-0-470-41498-9.
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