Tag Archives: Agency

Last day of #preparedness talks in Georgia in Glynn County

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Another great day in Georgia talking about preparedness to various pros.

Special thanks to Glynn County (GA) EMA Director Jay Wiggins for hosting the class…

…and special thanks to Laura Ginn who coordinated efforts on behalf of everyone in City, County, and State of Georgia.

Glad to see so many participants here to learn but more importantly, share information and challenges and success stories they found within their community. Espically when it comes to senior care and supportive care – these issues need to be talked about openly and various members of family and staff need to be aware of challenges they may face when disaster strikes.

Aside from www.ready.gov program – there are a ton of other agencies to follow to ascertain great and trusted information.

Remember, a short time ago, this entire area was hit by Hurricane Matthew with MANDATORY evacuations.

Building these kinds of relationships before a disaster can only strengthen our efforts in response and recovery.

Plus, it’s super awesome to hang with like-minded individuals who are so dedicated to preparedness.

Be safe peeps!

@rusnivek

 

Day-3: 2 PIOs inbound to Branch 2 – south side!

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Day-3: FEMA External Affairs PIOs (MRSP) heading out to the south side!

Nikki with 2 Ks and Kevin with 1 K.

On the docket – coordinated messaging, pressers, VIP visits, and media interviews.

Rolling 2 deep for Branch-2!

@rusnivek

The smell of fresh EOC in the morning…for a brand new Social Media course in Colorado  

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“I love the smell of fresh EOC in the morning…”


Let’s get our social media on!


Say #Aloha to the brand new FEMA / NDPTC Social Media Engagement Strategies class!


Reporting live from the State of Colorado Emergency Operations Center…

@rusnivek

Trust me, I read through ALL my evaluations

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Monday morning..in the office.

As an Emergency Management Instructor, I read through all my evaluations. Like ALL evaluations.

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It helps better my instructional delivery as a professional as well gain valuable insight to how participants perceive our enabling learning objectives and key points.

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The comments below are from a course I taught last week.

“I have taken a couple dozen or so FEMA classes and these two are the best pair of instructors I have had!”

And of course commentary like this makes me smile.

"More Kevin"

“More Kevin”

Glad to know the things that we do make a difference.

@rusnivek.

Another G0291 JIS JIC course for PIOs in Athens County #Ohio #AlohaFriday

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Leading off another Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) G-0291: Joint Information System / Joint Information Center Planning for Tribal, State, and Local PIOs.

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We have a few new additions to our class – who hail from across Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.

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Glad to have so many pros with us in class…esp for #AlohaFriday – yeah baby!

PC: J. Beckett

PC: J. Beckett

Always an Aloha shirt on Fridays.

Lots of group work and discussion as everyone contributes information to better their communities.

img_6153It is helpful because our participants have diverse backgrounds.

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Almost all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) were represented.

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This allowed us to have an in-depth discussion and think outside the box to solve various in class table top exercises.

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Instructors we able to facilitate discussion among groups providing the opportunity to enhance their response with immediate communication strategies and tactics for emergency notification.

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Also lots of discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of the JIC vs the JIS.

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Additionally, the class wanted to see a few pictures from our Joint Information Center (JIC) during the 2016 RNC (2016 Republican National Convention).

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We obliged and showed a few pictures.

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Glad to have the chance to present before the PIOs from Athens County and beyond.

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Special thanks to Dan in coordinating this training with Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

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Proud to have so many different agencies represented.

Looking forward to working with each of these PIOs in a JIC!

@rusnivek

Day-2: Basic Public Information Officers Course #PIO #PAO

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Day-2 of FEMA / Ohio EMA Basic Public Information Officer course.

Many of our participants wanted to know what is was like to implement a media pool for an international audience so we obliged by showcasing the May 2013 landmark case of the Cleveland Survivors’ Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight.

After discussing interview tips, we reviewed all media interviews. Everyone got a chance to openly review their newly acquired PIO interview skills.

PC: E. Creech

PC: E. Creech

Sharp PIOs providing some sharp witty responses to the fictitious disaster.

Great discussion on redirection…


…and phrasing…


…and transitional phrasing or bridging…


…and reversing a negative…


…and of course the “no comment” conundrum.


All these in class activities help better our PIO on camera TV interviewing skills.

Meanwhile, a few participants tried to manually control the interview by holding my mic hostage.


Fun times.

Looking forward to our G291: Joint Information System / Joint Information Center class tomorrow on #AlohaFriday.

@rusnivek

 

Great first day of Basic Public Information Officer #PIO Course in Athens County Ohio

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Kicking off another solid FEMA / Ohio EMA Basic Public Information Officer’s course.

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We have participants from across the state of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia!

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So Region-5 and Region-3 are well represented.

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Proud to have a diverse class this week in Athens County, Ohio.

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Lots of class engagement with several opening activities assessing preparedness levels as well as gaps in PIO responses.

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Addressing difficult situations (aka anticipating media questions) with PIOs or agency heads before they happen is a critical skill that every PIO should master.

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Deep discussion on how all-hazards PIOs could support various operations with public safety. Also dissecting how Strategic Communications play a crucial role in planning.

#StratComms4Lyfe

#StratComms4Lyfe

On camera mock media interviews in the afternoon with focus on answering questions, talking points, redirects, and of course preparedness. Great time to hone the skills of every PIO and agency head.

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Show and tell on preparedness kits and PIO go readiness kits.

PC: E. Creech

PC: E. Creech

Including my famous “PIO stick”

PC: J. Beckett

PC: J. Beckett

Looking forward to day-2!

@rusnivek

 

 

The newest class of All Hazards #IMT Logistics Section Chiefs

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Say hello to the newest All-Hazards Incident Managment Team Logistics Section Chiefs!

Photo credit: Jeff Vaughn, FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1

Photo Credit: Jeff Vaughn, FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1

Keep it real peeps.

Always remember, Logistics makes the magic happen.

@rusnivek

Need a backup EOC? I bet you can identify this one

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For my Emergency Management Pros – have you done your continuity planning yet?

What? You don’t have a backup Emergency Operations Center?!?

Let me help you for free: Sports-type restaurants can easily double as an Emergency Operations Center.

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Oh schnikies – he’s right!

Remember on September 11th, FDNY had to move their EOC multiple times because of increased hazards, inaccessibility, and debris?

More planning? Any of the FEMA credentialed Master Continuity Practitioners can help you out…like me.

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Likely this could be a good alternate to any Emergency Operations Center right? Large parking lot, ability to provide food, bathrooms, etc….all the stuff we need.

So yes, if you are short on funding, consider identifying a few neighborhood sports restaurants as backup emergency operations centers in your AOR and mutual aid districts/regions.

@rusnivek