Author Archives: rusnivek

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Emergency Services

August is going to be tight!

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Can’t believe it’s August already. Seems like summer just got here!

First week: COOP class and functional exercises as we prep for upcoming activations. COOP-a-Roop baby!

Second week we got another ICS-400 class then an activation for the BMW Classic PGA tournament. My position? Deputy Intelligence Branch Chief and PIO (I know, you are shocked huh?)

Third week will be back-to-back-to-back with a debris class, Basic PIO class, and JIC/JIS class.

Fourth week, I’ll finally get to take that NDPTC flooding Course at our office. Lord knows how much flooding we’ve had across the country including Illinois.

A busy month indeed with tight schedules in 5, 10, and 4. Not much room for error but hoping to make the magic happen for our public safety partners.

Hope to see you out there.

@rusnivek

TacoTuesday and Iā€™m hangry already!

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Sometimes people stress eat. And sometime people just get real hangry. Either way, being hungry isn’t a good situation.

Speaking of hungry, it’s #TacoTuesday.

That’s why today might be a good day to assess your options in your preparedness kit or else this….

I don’t need you mouthing off to me. If you had the time to prepare, I will not be responsible for your hunger pains. So take a good look at your preexisting kit.

Double check for expiration dates.

Always consider packing fresh snacks. #SNAX

Hot sauce always works (I keep a big bottle of Sriracha in my desk at work and in my deployment kit).

Some favorite beverages will compliment that dry granola bars.

Sporks work well in a kit.

Can/bottle opener is equally important.

Maybe even refreshing your MRE cache…making sure you have the right flavor is totes important.

Let’s be real honest, once you review your preparedness kit, you’ll always revamp a few other things too.

So don’t delay, double check your preparedness kit today!

@rusnivek

Take a bite out of worrying in disasters #SharkWeek

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Take a bite out of worrying.

Don’t forget to pack games for your kids. It will help occupy time as you are stuck in traffic or waiting for stuff to happen.

Additionally, simple games like this could help adults pass the time…and yes, I just transported you back to your youth.

Also gives you approval to give advice on love, career decisions, etc…

So get your origami on and pack it in your preparedness kit today!

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the new 2019 ICS-400 course

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Day-2 of the new 2019 ICS-400 here at the Illinois Air National Guard.

Working through the new capstone class activity on an incident complex with everyone here…on Aloha Friday.

Lots to do between State, County, and city agencies during a Cat-2 Hurricane strike. Priorities and impacts are critical decisions that needs to be addressed by all participants.

Many thanks to everyone who attended the first rollout of the new 2019 ICS-400.

Proud to serve those who protect the best country in the world.

Now use your ICS powers for good!

@rusnivek

Rolling out the brand new 2019 ICS-400: Advanced ICS at the Illinois Air National Guard

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Goooooood morning all! Reporting live from the Illinois Air National Guard base for the new 2019 ICS-400 course!

Proud to partner with our Department of Defense assets from the US Air Force.

Outstanding kickoff from Chief Otto this morning as we continue to enhance the skills of everyone from across the State of Illinois.

As we kick off the class, it’s great to see participation from various agencies. Lots to discuss as logistical challenges between DHS vs DoD that clearly extend beyond resources and cost funding allocation.

Learning through realistic training helps concrete concepts presented…esp scenarios on area command.

Love seeing the familiar faces as we continue preparing our disaster responses pros from across the State of Illinois

Group work allows for all parties to contribute and openly discuss challenges they have seen with disaster operations.

It’s rare that locals get to partner and train with regional assets. In fact, in our new training, we get to showcase the skills of other larger national assets who focus on logistical support…like the Illinois Air National Guard – 182nd AirWing.

We close out the day talking about the importance of the EOC and how it supports the roles of Unified Command (UC) or Area Command and all the Incident Command Posts (ICPs) in the field.

Sharing the importance of good situational awareness and a common operating picture is critical in the success of any emergency response and the recovery of the community.

We often find that communities successfully recovery after a disaster much quicker if they are better prepared and exercise their plans…..yep, that’s called community resilience.

Proud to share our response successes with all of our participants from across the State of Illinois.

More tomorrow!

@rusnivek

All five phases of Emergency Management in one picture

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One way we can teach our community (using Emergency Management concepts)…..is flooded roadways. Yep, that’s right, we often have the general public drive their cars through flooded roadways and get into trouble, injured, or die.

So lemme break it down in our five phases of Emergency Management

Statement: One of the common emergencies Emergency Management see during heavy rains is flooding.

Mitigation: In past flooding, Emergency Management have identified areas that are susceptible for flooding that is unsafe for any safe passage under this bridge.

Preparedness: Emergency Management has painted a highly visible ruler on the bridge pillar to help public safety (or anyone) to address and evaluate the water levels.

Protection: By identifying the dangers, Emergency Management is better able to coordinate resources used to protect the public as we can now focus our efforts on barriers, caution tape, road closures, etc…

Response: During terrible weather, Emergency Management can share critical safety messages with the public and allocate more resources used to rescue individuals who did NOT heed the warnings.

Recovery: Thanks to proper preplanning, Emergency Management can reference pictures of this flooded area that can be leveraged against non-disaster time pictures which can provide good background for windshield surveys and damage assessments for state, regional, and Federal partners.

Boom.

Good way to improve the safety of your municipality.

Great way to enhance your operational coordination and recovery efforts.

Outstanding way to improve the resilience of your community.

Can you do this in your community? You sure can, just contact your local Emergency Management Agency for more details.

@rusnivek

Monday fun as I sit through the Illinois ICS Instructor rollout

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All the fun one could want in an ICS Instructor update.

Good Monday Morning all!

Good to see Doug and Matt again. Let’s talk ICS!

Aside from a few major Illinois variances from national practice, not many changes in course content from national ICS Instructor update from FEMA EMI.

Though, TBH, I had to eat my words from May 2019 to my Region 5 peers as I didn’t think I was required to take a statewide. 3 hour drive, 8 hour class, and 3 hour return drive was more than enough time to eat humble pie.

Lots to do as we continue to enhance the skills of our public safety partners.

First rollout of the new 2019 ICS class is this Thursday!

@rusnivek