Day-5 of the DHS/FEMA Master PIO….it’s been a long week for us.

Lots of great work and solid discussion amongst the pros above.

Now that we have discussed, and solved a few PIO problems along the way, we can all breathe a bit easier.

As we all step back and admire our accomplishments, we also take time to acknowledge our efforts for the entire nation.

There are 11 new DHS/FEMA Master PIOs finishing up activities this week.

And now the DHS/FEMA Master Public Information Officers (MPIO) graduating class of 2018:

• J. Brooks (Colorado)
• M. Brooks (Oklahoma)
• M. Coppin (Missouri)
• C. Hunt (Maryland)
• R. Moreno (Texas)
• R. Reith (Indiana)
• K. Sur (Illinois)
• T. Taylor (Arizona)
• M. Trost (Colorado)
• J. Willard (Florida)
• J. Zidek (Alaska)

<APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!>

I am so proud to be one of them.

Whohooooooooo! But now…the hard part starts.

Through our EVERYDAY work, we must lead, challenge, and inspire others to carry on and continue to push the envelope further. We shall work tirelessly to serve others and continue to serve our jurisdictions with pride and honor.

Reporting live from FEMA EMI, I’m Master PIO Kevin T. Sur…

@rusnivek

Day-4: DHS/FEMA Master PIO

All the Public Information Officer funs here in the day long DHS/FEMA Master PIO Exercise!

Shhhhh, I’m trying to concentrate!!!!!!

@rusnivek

Day-3 of the 2018 Master PIO Program and today we are discussing a whole bunch of field tactics and Public Information Officers’ actions. Leading discussions today is Dr. Joe Trahan discussing war time strategy.

The communications challenges and the role of the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) during the Civil War.

Yes, screaming was involved.

But more importantly, the discussion point of perception vs reality. Which was more important?

President Abraham Lincoln used the telegraph like how we use the twitter but in the 1860s.

And now we Master PIO discussion ensues, focusing in on the inverted pyramid, have now changed as it relates to Civil War telegraph and how information is being sent.

Reflecting on it now, we still only pay attention to the first few seconds…then tune everything out. Hmmmmmmm.

High risk = high reward. But most real PIOs are open to high risk but low reward and pay because of political exposure. Do we as PIOs and PAOs serve at the behest of the agency lead? Or do we serve the mission objective?

I had an Assistant Fire Chief that always told me that we all “serve at the behest of the Mayor’s pleasure!” I HATED that phrase! Partly because I think it was a lie and because we don’t serve only the Mayor, we serve the community, the public, and their best interest in mind. We as public servants don’t serve just one person (slavery abolished in the US).

The Master PIO class discussed a few other topics including on December 20th, 1860, the State of South Carolina decided to leave the USA.

What the?!?!?

Just imagine being the South Carolina PIO and what kinds of things you would need to prepare for that kind of media frenzy. Yikes.

Speaking of incident command and the command and general staff, we talked a ton about how history often repeats itself.

This included heavy discussion of Sickles freelancing from his command orders including direct verbal command orders in front of his entire staff. But self-promotion of his injury and political ties changed the narrative on disobeying official orders.

Cemetery Hill provided some incredible moments for education and reflection today. *The effectiveness of a coordinated offense with their “fish hook” line. *The surprise element of a well positioned coordinated offensive force behind the low wall. *The coordination of a small well-trained force to dissipate the larger and better trained force.

Despite being over 150 years old, our review of these #CivilWar #tactics challenges us as #commanders and #leaders of our organizations. We must review the historical events so that we can learn and enact better operational plans today. This “lessons learned” is an inherent process ingrained in #EmergencyManagement.

Even 150 years later, an After Action Review (AAR) of events is critical for any professional. Command & General Staff USA assess how their actions affected mission success including completion of SMART Objectives.

And if you were wondering which discipline does the best kind of AARs? Why yes, Emergency Management is primary because they do the coordination and have the best all-hazards understanding of roles and responsibilities for all involved in the tactical operation including all the Emergency Support Functions and Command and General Staff.

Reporting live from the field history class…

@rusnivek

OMG. Be still my heart!

*blush*

This is why we train so aggressively.

This is why we need to continually coordinate with each other.

This is why we collaborate so frequently.

This is why we professionally share our success stories and our failures.

This is why we exercise with clear goals.

This is why our mission for disasters is so clear: help people before, during, and after a storm.

Train like you fight!

❤️ my peeps in North Carolina.

Quote me on this one: “This is what we train for, this is what we do!”

@rusnivek

After Action Reviews (AARs) and Improvement Plans (IPs) are critical to any agency. Particularly geared toward Emergency Management, we as chaperones of the process have a solid way to discern problems and find collective solutions.

While not as exiting as other events or activities, our methods in problem/solution aka initial findings, cause, analysis, and recommended actions can make the difference for your ongoing operation.

And if you are wondering, this AAR/IP process encompasses all hazards providers from any background. No matter how small or how big of a stake they have in the process, it is imperative that officials capture all the details.

If you want to know more about this common sense ongoing training, exercise, and evaluation process, I’d encourage you to talk to your local Emergency Management agency that can help guide you through this process.

Best part? It’s all documented.

@rusnivek