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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Stopping by to see an old friend

Posted on May 13, 2016 by rusnivek

There are days that you get to circle back many years ago and laugh. Today was one of them where I was lucky enough to visit one of my former Firefighter/Paramedics while on the job at Chicago Fire.

Yes, we talked of redic things that shaped us into seasoned professionals…but we also chatted about careers and goals.

As a leader, you can’t imagine how great it feels when I see one of you succeed and are planning the next big steps in life.

Seeing you succeed is, without a doubt, brings such a sense of pride and fulfillment for me.

Chicago Fire Engine-97 – Thanks for the warm hospitality on a rainy Friday the 13th.

Alohas and best wishes to Team Biros as they head into family life together. I’m excited to hear the big news.

@rusnivek

April 2016 was solid, but it’s gonna be May

Posted on May 1, 2016 by rusnivek

April 2016 was solid, but it’s gonna be May…..

Instructors Kevin Sur and Justin Timberlake. Heh.

First week, I will be instructing FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy Program at EMI specifically on Crisis Communications, Public Information Officer, and Social Media. Then heading back to Ohio to teach a basic Public Information Officer’s Course and Joint Information Center/System course (G-290/291) in Summit County. R3 and R5 = Twofer in just the first week!

Second week, I will head back north to Michigan to teach social media at Michigan State University. Then the last half of the week spent in Chicago for meetings with various public safety officials including Chicago Fire.

Third week, we have a State of Ohio Emergency Management Instructors’ Workshop at Ohio EMA in Columbus. Good chance to chat and share successes with our staff – who are all good stewards of Emergency Management. Cbus baby!

Fourth week, I will be instructing in the big DHS/FEMA 2016 National Training and Exercise Symposium at EMI. Whohoo!!! Hoping to catch up to Brian Kamoie and Doc Lumpkins again. Then jetting off to Nebraska to teach Social Media and Crisis Communications in the statewide CPESymposia. R3 and R7 in the hizzouse!

fema_regional_map

Yep, it’s a 3-5-7 kinda month – A big month indeed.

@rusnivek

Bioterrorism discussion at IIT in Chicago

Posted on July 28, 2015 by rusnivek

This past weekend, I was invited to swing by the Illinois Institute of Technology Graduate School in downtown Chicago.

Spirited discussion included bioterrorism, social media data/intelligence, explosives, nuc/rad release, mass panic/evacuation, and of course drone operations for large events.

Participants included many members of Chicago Police’s upper administration and leadership from Chicago Police specialty teams.

They asked Dr. Fagel if I was a Special Agent kinda guy. Clearly, my Aloha shirt on a Saturday really messed things up.

Overall, it was a great day to be in downtown Chicago.

Looking forward to sharing some SME knowledge with the graduate students this fall.

@rusnivek

Traveling back to Chicago…again

Posted on July 24, 2015 by rusnivek

Headed back to Chicago for some meetings.

So here’s the Friday plan: Put it in the tan van, give it to Dan, who takes it to Fran.

Kidding. It’s more like “The only problem is that in this job is there’s just no place to hide. It’s not like having a bad day selling log cabins. You have a bad day here and somebody dies…”

See you on Monday peeps.

@rusnivek

Press credentials discussed

Posted on July 22, 2015 by rusnivek

We talked a little about press credentials last week in our Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) Basic Public Information Officer (PIO) class. Here’s an example of Chicago’s press creds.

(Some of you may remember Erin Kennedy from WKYC 3 here in Cleveland).

PIO Pro Tip: Build trusted relationships w/ the media prior to an incident.

@rusnivek

A GoPro will not do everything.

Posted on June 25, 2015 by rusnivek

For those of you who think you can do everything on your GoPro cameras, please stop.

It is NOT cool.

Stop. It. Now.

@rusnivek

140 SWATTING is the new thing

Posted on January 24, 2015 by rusnivek

On Saturday, a user on Twitter posted threats about specific flights.

These terroristic tweets were taunting and often vulgar with careless disregard for the safety of numerous people. Authorities were contacted and an immediate investigation was started. Multiple flights were halted, Flights from Portland Portland and Milwaukee were identified and Atlanta Airport was checked for bombs.

Targeting various airlines, the threats moved on from Delta Airlines to Southwest Airlines.

Good practice – the verbiage used by Southwest is good communications/social media verbiage to use on Twitter when responding to immediate threats.

User cited supposedly specific information on how the plot was carried out.

Taunting the safety of passengers on a public forum is bad.

In the end, the person making the threats identified a specific address of location. Again, taunting law enforcement.

Easily found on Google Maps, Chicago Police was dispatched to this address to verify information.

As I predicted, the address did not yield the subject.

Sounds like “SWATTING” to me – http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/september/the-crime-of-swatting-fake-9-1-1-calls-have-real-consequences/the-crime-of-swatting-fake-9-1-1-calls-have-real-consequences

In my opinion (and how you should interpret this story is simple): It takes is 140-characters to send you to jail.

From the intel POV: Lots to glean from the info/data posted in these tweets.

From the safety POV: Lots of operational assets to mobilze.

From the Emergency Management POV: Lots to coordinate with various all-hazards public safety agencies in multiple places.

This would be a good time to remind you of DHS’ phrase – “If you see something, say something”.

Remain vigilant my friends.

@rusnivek

Technical jargon and giving actionable information Safety-PIO-SM-14-006

Posted on September 26, 2014 by rusnivek

14-006: Technical jargon and giving actionable information
Agency: Chicago Fire Department	Topic(s): Industry codes / Actionable info
Date: Fall 2014	Platform: Twitter

Industry speak or technical jargon is part of what we do every day. But using technical terms on a social media platform will be confusing to those who are NOT in the fire service. That’s what the Chicago Fire Department did yesterday at their big 3-alarm fire when they tweeted technical jargon.

The use of technical jargon is rampant in emergency services but when speaking to the media or the general public, we need to remember that everyone did not grow up with a VOX alarm or SCU tones. In this case, a “311” or 3-11 alarm means that there are 11 engines, 5 Trucks, 2 Tower Ladders, 6 Battalion Chiefs, 1 Rescue Squad, 2 Ambulances, 2 Paramedic Chiefs, Deputy District Chief, Deputy Fire Commissioner, and the 1^st Deputy Fire Commissioner are onscene. There is no way to include all that information in a tweet, but using more simple terms will help your audience understand the scale of your ongoing incident.

Before you post images, make sure your pictures are rotated correctly. I know accuracy is sometimes overlooked in lieu of speed, but it takes less than 5 seconds to orientate/rotate a picture (In this case, it was going to be a long operation). And note, by just rotating a picture does not equate that you are “doctoring up” photos. But a correctly posted photo will help media repost and format your information quicker to the masses.

During an emergency situation, your constituents need the information pushes to be actionable and specific to your audience. Not only inform them of the danger, but tell them what they can do about it.

A more effective tweet could have read:

Chicago Fire: Large 3-alarm fire at Harrison St x Fifth Ave. Traffic delays-avoid the area. (insert two pictures)

By phrasing it this way:

You cite the authority having jurisdiction and established incident command presence.
You generally described the size/category of the ongoing incident and critical information to media.
You identify the exact location of the incident.
You describe the delays in the area and give actionable information to your constituents.
You still have lots of room to push properly orientated pictures with your informational tweet.

Time is valuable, so tweet good stuff.

@rusnivek

***To download this as a single-page printable format, click this file:

TechnicalJargonAndGivingActionableInformation-Safety-PIO-SM-14-006