Good reminder that success is sweeter when the challenge is more difficult.
Take the hardest assignments.
I usually do.
Just ask my FEMA colleagues.
Accept the challenges…
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Tag Archives: challenges
Day-2 of the new 2019 ICS-400 course!
Day-2 of the new 2019 ICS-400 course! This morning, we start out talking about the deadly 2005 Hurricane Katrina/Rita response with the US Coast Guard.
Facilitated discussion allows our participants to openly discuss perceived issues. Lots of response actions from all of our participants that can contribute to a successful response. Glad we had fruitful discussion prior to the actual disaster.
Our class also acknowledged the national Emergency Alert System Test today for TV and radio.
Everyone in class knew about it…aka prepared leadership and pros. Love it!
Midmorning and afternoon class-time was spent on the capstone activity with heavy discussion on the use of area command and how we allocate resources for multiple jurisdictions.
And you are right if you said that the rotor wing options are high on the list of valuable recourses.
Channeling my best FEMA EMI Bob Ridgeway, “…and don’t worry sports fans” moment, we included the infamous State of Columbia!
This fictions town is always a disaster.
Great to see so many partners discuss overarching goals including challenges with the big three public safety providers. Like pros, they included a large bite into health intelligence, DoD assets, and of course addressing various audiences like the tribal nations. Solid!
Proud to serve my fellow public safety pros from all professions this week in the ICS-400 course.
NEO Public Information Officer quarterly training with WKYC
Great to see the leadership at WKYC (NBC affiliate) for hosting our quarterly NorthEast Ohio’s (NEO) Public Information Officer (PIO) training!
Photo credit: K. Hyson, Cincinnati Health Department
Lots of discussion based around media relations focusing on timely and accurate reporting. Additionally, lots of conversation with good stories vs bad stories – which challenges the typical paradigm of news media’s “If it bleeds, it leads!” mantra.
“Off the record” conversation as well as immediate notification of incident dominated the early part of our conversation.
We moved into how strategy sometimes gets in the way of real emergencies and of course how our PIO narratives sometimes conflicts with how the story is produced.
To me, I was also surprised at how many reporters wanted txt msgs as compared to phone calls. In fact, desk assignment editors wanted a mention as well as a follow-up txt or notification of ongoing emerging issue.
I am very greatful to be able to have candid conversation with our partners in the media. And yes, sharing success stories as well as challenges will allow us to do a better job with our local media to communicate our safety messages. Very glad to hear that getting the story right is still the main drive of our local news agencies.
Many thanks to the pros at WKYC (NBC affiliate) Cleveland for the hospitality and generosity.
Reporting live from WKYC…
FSC SUR? WTH?!?
There are days when you are comfortable in your space.
There are days when you feel uncomfortable in your space.
Then there are the days that you feel completely out of place and are trying like hell to survive. This moment was one of them.
That time I was put into a FSC role. Yep, I said I was assigned as the Finance Section Chief. Holy Mary Mother of God! As you guessed, I do not typically serve as the FSC so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. However, I was told that I needed to diversify my roles and try something new. Clearly, sink-or-swim time.
From the evaluators, I did an excellent job and navigated my section through several tough challenges. I am proud of my crew who filled their F/A roles extremely well. Hell yeah!
Special thanks to TEEX for an excellent course everyone should be required to attend.
What did I learn? Make sure you take the time to look inwards and see where growth is needed. Comfortable is easy. Challenging situations allow leaders to shine.
Be a leader.
Where is @rusnivek? 