Where is @rusnivek?

Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

About rusnivek

Emergency Services

FEMA Basic PIO Day-2 with Media panel!

Posted on April 3, 2019 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer’s course here in Summit County, Ohio! Starting off discussion on body language and non-verbal cues from Bosso.

I was fortunate to have a few of my media peeps stop by to say hi.

Cleveland 19 News (@Cleveland19news) Director of Digital Content Amanda Harnocz (@AmandaHarnocz)

News 5 Cleveland (@WEWS) Reporter Meg Shaw (@MegDShaw)

So glad to hear their insights to news media engagement and interactions.

We opened the floor to questions and our new PIOs had some deep questions on conflict resolution and maintaining relationships.

Proud to have media members attend all my classes as an integral part of getting the message out.

A hallmark sign of a solid PIO? Always building media relationships BEFORE an emergency.

Thanks you Meg and Amanda!

In the afternoon, we had a quick public safety panel from

Cleveland Police (@CLEPolice) PIO Sgt Jennifer Ciaccia

Cleveland Fire (@ClevelandFire) PIO Lt Michael Norman

Outstanding to hear from working PIOs who have worked so hard to improve the image of their departments during challenging times.

And finally, to close out the day, we had a quick visit from Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office (@CuyahogaSheriff) PIO John O’Brien (@jobjr)!

Providing solid media interactions and being firm on your stance as a PIO is critical in assuring your agency is seen as a trusted and guaranteed source of information. Thankful to hear positive stories from John for all of our class today.

I am proud to be able to share and open connections for these new PIOs from across the state.

Tomorrow we take them from single role PIOs and form up Voltron in the JIC!

@rusnivek

FEMA Basic PIO Day-1 at Summit County (OH) Public Health

Posted on April 2, 2019 by rusnivek

Another fine start to the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer class here in Summit County, Ohio!

Many thanks to the pros at the Summit County Health Department who are hosting this week’s class.

Outstanding hospitality as always!

And of course special thanks to Jena Beckett and the team from Summit County EMA for enhancing their team’s knowledge on the fun of being a Public Information Officer!

We are in the command room this week so you know it’s serious!

As always, we lay the groundwork for successful operations for any PIO.

But we also share real-world experiences that could help in their daily routines to better their visibility. And yes, of course we still do all the media mock interviews.

Public health is a great partner when it comes to outbreaks and opioid intervention tactics so many of our participants opted to test their media skills on an outbreak and response.

Also great to have former Columbus newsies Rachel Feeley on our PIO side (now with Ohio Department of Health) as we continue our mock interviews for everyone.

See, deep down inside, some reporters want to be public safety PIOs. 🤣

For those newly assigned PIOs, we get them on camera as soon as possible!

The whole idea is that we expose new PIOs to this kind of media interview(s) so they aren’t shocked the first time they do it in real life. It’s always a bit more nerve racking when you are n00b PIO and have a bunch of mics and high intensity lights shoved in your face during the start of a major disaster or crisis.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, a big shout out to my team across this great nation as FEMA turns 40 this week!

Here’s a quick video that External Affairs put together.

Proud to work along side all of you through countless disasters.
@rusnivek

April might be manageable

Posted on April 1, 2019 by rusnivek

As we start to sprint into 2Q 2019, it’s hard to believe we are already in April.

First week, I’ll be checking back in with my friends from Summit county as we pop another FEMA Basic PIO course there at the Health Department. I hope Jena doesn’t try to steal my mic again-HA!

Second week will be in teaching another Advanced ICS class in the EOC. I should have a few more videos completed for #MediaMinutes too. You’ll know Paris and Chris by the end of April.

Third week includes a quick meeting w/ FEMA Region V peeps as well as some final prep work for the FEMA COOP class

Fourth week will be an ICS for executive leadership class and then the formal FEMA COOP class at the home office on Thursday and Friday.

Hope to catch all of you in April!

@rusnivek

PIO Hood rat stuff in Cleveland

Posted on March 31, 2019 by rusnivek

When the squad calls and say they wanna do some hood rat stuff…you show up ready to do some hood rat stuff.

Glad to see these smiling faces this evening.

#WheresCiaccia

@rusnivek

FYI – D200 Full Scale Exercise today. #Training #drill

Posted on March 26, 2019 by rusnivek

Reminder to the media and the general public: Full Scale Exercise Training today in Wheaton, Illinois with the D200 schools.

This is only a drill. Training.

For more information, follow on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram: @ProtectDuPage

@rusnivek

Saturday thoughts: Your Tacticool pants

Posted on March 23, 2019 by rusnivek

Saturday thoughts: USE YOUR POCKETS!

We talked extensively last week in our IMT LSC course, Operational readiness, and EOC course about what you should bring during a disaster in the response phase. Particularly, I get sooooo many inquiries on what to bring and have on your person 24/7.

What do I carry in my pockets? Usually I carry:

My left bellows pockets, I carry my FEMA official book as well as a printed copy of the current Incident Action Plan (IAP).

My right bellows pockets, I carry my coffee/water cup.

You paid good money for them and they are not just regular pants. Y’all got these #tacticool pants – SO USE THEM!

Again, use all the pockets!

Do not be afraid to use your equipment to it’s fullest extent.

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA EOC Management and Operations course (G775)

Posted on March 22, 2019 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA EOC Management & Operations course here at DuPage County OHSEM.

Bonus points, I got to introduce our new Ops Chief to everyone today. Welcome Joe Jones!

We also talked a bunch about responder safety and how to bring a few moments of zen to the pros working your EOC. I think these comfort/therapy dogs are the best.

Timely post from FEMA on the work these dogs do for responders.

Trust me, they were a very welcome sight in the midst of chaos of a national disaster.

Glad to have so many pros from across Illinois for attending our class.

And yes, without a doubt, it is #AlohaFriday.

@rusnivek

Day-1 of the FEMA G775 EOC Management & Operations Course at DuPage County OHSEM

Posted on March 21, 2019 by rusnivek

Starting out the official FEMA G775 EOC Management and Operations course today.

And if you didn’t know what EOC was…..

And now you know.

In this class, we are fortunate to talk about our fine partners in public safety represented in 15 different ESFs. As an example, the biggest nerd….I mean guru on radios is everyone’s favorite Comms guy, ladies and gents, put your hands together for John Neeeeeeeeeeeebl!!!!!!

Happy to give the floor to him to share the efforts of the ITECS trailers and the COML function with everyone.

We also discussed a ton on positions and what is done to serve the EOC. We talked a bit on plans and how they drive the train along using the planning P as a guide to the formulation of the IAP.

Now, your EOC is waaaay more than just getting a few computers.

Yikes. That’s right, you can’t have everything on computer, you need ACTUAL human beings running the show.

Not only a warm body, but also highly trained individual and pros that possess knowledge and experience to make critical decisions to support operations as well as support the ongoing operational periods. So basically we need peeps that know how to work a disaster.

So to help put things into perspective, we showcased our own EOC too.

Honestly, we hope that you know our EOC because if we spin up, we want you to know our setup so that we can all function well TOGETHER. Again, the EOC should be used as a coordination center for our all-hazards partners.