Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s November ICS-400 class in Belmont County

Kicking off Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) ICS-400: Advanced ICS this morning in Belmont County, Ohio.

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Great to see so many familiar faces from the previous ICS-300 class too!

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Diverse participants from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia makes for a great class.

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Additionally, participants represent local, state, and Federal Officials – this makes it an incredible group.

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Dynamic activity discussion on Area command as well as spirited discussion on resource allocation for priorities – all the hallmarks of a great engaged class.

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Looking forward to Friday – the final day!

@rusnivek

 

November includes the 2016 World Series too #GoTribe #RallyTogether #Windians

October was great but a busy November is here!

First week, I’ll be supporting the Cleveland PIOs during the 2016 World Series. Later in the week, I’ll be in southern Ohio teaching ICS-400 in Belmont County (Ohio).

Second week will be a few social media classes in SE Georgia who are still in recovery operations from Hurricane Matthew.

Third week will be all Arizona.

And then the Fourth week will some Thanksgiving fun.

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Who’s excited for Turkey in November? Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And for tonight’s World Series Game-6 Cubs vs Indians: #GoTribe #RallyTogether #Windians

@rusnivek

 

#AlohaFriday for paperwork and meetings at OhioEMA

On this #AlohaFriday – I report to the OEMA mother ship!

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I had to take care of some TPSReports for ICS classes. Talked about upcoming October/November schedules with both SAAs on a few ICS-300 and ICS-400 about registration issues as well as my packed IMT class for FEMA’s USAR Ohio Task Force-1 (OH-TF-1).

I was fortunate to visit with good friends Jerry and Sima. Hilarious!

Lots of discussion on the RNC as well as National Preparedness Month.

And yes, all done with the Aloha Shirt on.

@rusnivek

 

Using ICS for wildfires and NIMS common terminology #NatlPrep

CalFire is working a coordinated ICS system to support ground operations #NatlPrep

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As you guessed, CalFire has followed NIMS ICS for decades. Based out of McClellan Airfield, they can coordinate tanker/tender operations.

If you’ve ever been in command of an emergency or disaster, it’s hard to coordinate everyone together. This is why it is imperative to collaborate before an emergency. With wildfire operations, you have so many intricate parts over such a vast area – it really is a well orchestrated response.

Providing safety for all professionals is a must. To all the responders out in the field, keep up the good work!

Continue being vigilant in safety peeps.

For those that need some help w/ resource identification and why it’s so important, here’s a quick example of common terminology is SO important these days.

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These are TANKERS

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These are TENDERS

Get it? Got it? Good.

**If you still don’t get it, please review IS-100, IS-200, IS-700, IS-800, ICS-300, and ICS-400.

Don’t wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today.

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@rusnivek

July 2015 has crazy-town written all over it

June 2015 turned out to be pretty crazy…and July 2015 has crazy-town written all over it.

First week: I’ll be working on a few things for NW Ohio and their recent flooding. Most likely Public Information Officer response stuff. At the end of the week/weekend, I got a special project with Cleveland Police K-9 Teams, SWAT, Bomb Team, Air Unit, and Mounted Units. Finally back in Region-5!

Second week: I’ll be teaching the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s Basic Public Information Officer’s Course and Joint Information Center/System in Medina County. Working the PIO magic for the state!

Third week: I’ll be teaching a weekend ICS-300 and a weekend ICS-400 in Ohio. If possible, I might sneak away during the week to Frankfort, Kentucky to pilot a new FEMA PIO Course in Region-4.

Fourth week: I’ll be finishing up the ICS-400 course and then coordinating a site visit and functional exercise for our NE Ohio PIO Task Force (NEO-PIO-TF) to one of the local news stations in the Cleveland area.

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It’s still a bit hectic, but I am hoping to see some peace to my schedules soon.

@rusnivek

Teaching ICS-400 on behalf of Ohio EMA at Seville Guilford Fire Department

Breaking down another ICS-400 class today at Seville Guilford Fire Department.

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Teaching on behalf of Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) in Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) always brings a good mix of participants from all over the state. Fairly large crowd this morning which was filled with a bunch of great interactions.

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Looking forward to the afternoon session. Bring on the coffee!

@rusnivek

Saturday and Sunday = My nose in books!

Spent the day reviewing and researching.

Digging into my C&GSF instructor books, all my position specific books as well as referencing my ICS-300 and ICS-400 manuals.

And for good measure, I also referenced my OSC, PSC, LSC, and LO instructor books too.

Yeah I know…geekish.

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Doc Lumpkins would be proud (I think)

Glorious weekend indeed.

@rusnivek