Where is @rusnivek?

Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Assigned to Aurora Police for the day

Posted on January 19, 2020 by rusnivek

This past week, I got a chance to spend some time with Aurora (Illinois) Police.

Like a good guy, you never want to show up empty handed. So yeah, I brought donuts for everyone.

Like lotsa power rings!

Lots of love to all our partners in public safety.

Rolling out with PO Weaver and instantly, we head out!

For those that were wondering if we did some karaoke?

Hmmmm, well you know we talked about TikTok.

But yeah, we did discuss lots on protocol and training.

Then roll call with Sgt Gallardo and the second shift crew.

Love the collaboration and shared deets – definitely embodies the situational awareness/common operating picture.

As we rolled out of the station, we were called to another call with a bit more challenges.

Involving Fire, EMS, Police – all safety forces were engaged on this complex situation.

Great to see all pros working together onscene!

At the end of the day, lots of discussion on training and exercises specifically addressing ESF15 and the JIC actions.

For those that want more details from Aurora (Illinois) Police, here’s how:

Twitter: @AuroraPoliceIL

Facebook: Aurora Illinois Police Department

Instagram: @AuroraPoliceIL

Special thanks to the Aurora Police for the fun stuff.

Stay warm and keep up the great work!

@rusnivek

18 years ago

Posted on January 18, 2020 by rusnivek

18 years ago…

“STAT MedEvac-8, STAT Page: Lake West Hospital, destination UHC…”

Maybe sharing the story with others helps me.

Maybe it inspires others to help those who need it the most.

Honestly, I wish that night never happened.

@rusnivek

Final day teaching ICS-300 at FEMA Region V

Posted on January 17, 2020 by rusnivek

Final Day of ICS-300 as we roll along with resource management, prioritization, demobilization….

….and of course the new recovery support functions. All aimed to help communities recover from any disaster.

We are all working hard to enhance the preparedness level of many of our critical staff – building a culture of preparedness.

Reporting in from FEMA Region V…

@rusnivek

Day-2 of FEMA ICS-300 here at FEMA Region V in Chicago

Posted on January 16, 2020 by rusnivek

More fun as we continue through day-2 of ICS-300 at FEMA Region V.

Today’s convo will be dominated by the Planning P and how integral the cycle is to our operational rhythm in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or the Joint Field Office (JFO).

Also a great time to talk about resources and the need for more as we progress along in the disaster. As you know, ordering stuff (single point vs multi point) isn’t easy, accounting for the resource, tasking the resource, and justifying the resource is harder than it looks due to the restrictions that inbound resources have. As always, great discussion today from all participants!

Throwing the shaka cause I know tomorrow is AlohaFriday!

Reporting live from FEMA Region V!

@rusnivek

FEMA + Region V + ICS-300 = Meeee!

Posted on January 15, 2020 by rusnivek

Good morning FEMA Region V!

Time to get my ICS-300 on because I am teaching ICS-300 with one of my Plans Section Chiefs Mark Ballard!

This one is an all Federal class here as we serve our DHS partners and various other organizations in learning about the Incident Command.

You know what day it is. On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

Reporting live from the FEMA RV RRCC…

@rusnivek

Acting Secretary Wolf Statement on the Confirmation of Pete Gaynor:

Posted on January 14, 2020 by rusnivek

Acting Secretary Wolf Statement on the Confirmation of Pete Gaynor:

Release Date: January 14, 2020

“Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Pete Gaynor to be Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As Acting Administrator of FEMA throughout 2019 and into 2020, Gaynor led the agency’s recovery efforts for many devastating disasters, including the California wildfires, tornado outbreaks, severe storms, flooding in the Midwest, and the Puerto Rico earthquakes. And as Deputy Administrator for the 2018 hurricane season, Pete guided FEMA through some tremendous challenges to provide much needed assistance to disaster survivors across the country. Pete’s experience as both a state and local emergency manager, combined with more than two decades of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, have made him an invaluable leader of the agency. I look forward to continuing to work with him to support the men and women of FEMA as they carry out their incredible work.”

Congrats to FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor on his confirmation today!

@rusnivek

Proud to be a part of the national FEMA cadre

Posted on January 13, 2020 by rusnivek

Proud to be a part of the national #FEMA cadre.

Looking forward to onboarding a new bunch of @FEMA #EmergencyManagement pros at @CDPfema in February.

DTS=✅

@rusnivek

Phil Politano 😢

Posted on January 12, 2020 by rusnivek

Earlier this week on Thursday, I was informed of the passing of Phil Politano.

😢

Just like the PIO world, the news came with an embargo as I was told to hold on the distro of Phil’s passing until more details were released.

I was not ready to hear this.

Then FEMA EMI pushed the info out.

😞 😔 😢 I’ve known Phil for years. 😢

I cherish all my conversations with Phil, bending his ear on ideas, strategies, and how we can better serve our communities as leaders and still be innovative by stretching and setting the bar higher for others to achieve more.

Phil pushed me to do more.

I openly share info and talk about my duties as a PIO.

Again, Phil pushed me to do more.

I told my story about PIOs and how critical they are to the success of our mission in Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

Phil said you can empower more.

I increased my exposure and worked/traveled/trained more public safety PIOs across the country.

Phil smiled and said in his loud booming voice, “Well done man!”

Over the years, I have literally trained thousands of pros. There is no doubt in my mind, each one of them knows the importance of getting the right message, to the right, people, at the right time.

Phil’s oversight to my official FEMA PIO duties and actions helped make me a better PIO. He was always watching me.

Phil was always watching what I was doing.

Speaking of watching, I knew Phil was always watching me, this turned into a little game called the SURprise. Here’s one time I SURprised Phil at a secure USCG Base in California.

That was a good one.

Another time, I caught him delivering an exercise inject, eating a salad in the sim cell during a functional exercise.

A salad and Sur…who could ask for anything more!?!?!

<Sigh>

In 2018, Phil handed me my FEMA Master PIO certificate.

<sigh>

I was hoping to catch up to him at the end of the month at EMI. However, it seems that God needed a PIO and Phil got the ultimate deployment resource request.

Gonna miss his booming voice….

Gonna miss that side eye…

Gonna miss that PIO guidance…

I’ll just settle for that award winning PIO smile.