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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Day-2 of the FEMA OEMA G0290: Basic #PIO at Cleveland EOC

Posted on October 25, 2018 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic PIO Course in Cleveland, Ohio!!! Starting out the day with one of the best JIC Managers in the biz, ladies and gents, one of the orig FEMA Master PIOs put your hands together for ERICA CREECH!!!!!

Sharing her experiences with the class on PIOs and coordination was critical in countless EOC and JIC activations.

In a heartbeat, I’d work for Erica any day in the JIC.

Don’t worry, we jumped back on the train (FEMA’s powerpoint slides) to talk and debate about press releases.

Since Steve is from media, he loves his inverted pyramid. But are press releases valuable? Needed? Seems we had quite the spirited discussion on the necessity and timely appeal of press releases.

After lunch, we were fortunate enough to grab, IMHO, the best of the best media talent in Cleveland.

Fox8: Jennifer Steer (@jensteer)

WOIO-19: Chris Tanaka (@Chris_Tanaka)

WEWS-5: Homa Bash Ball (@HomaBashWEWS)

WKYC-3: Barry Wolf (@photowolfTV)

Cleveland PlainDealer: Ginger Christ (@GChristCLE)

These pros not only talk a good game, but their social media skills are top shelf! I submit to you Barry’s fashion selfie from the front of the room.

Solid!

These folks were able to dedicate their time to answer any I mean ANY questions that our new PIOs had.

Proud to see new relationships and transparency with all parties involved.

Why? We hear of soooo many bad interactions and exchanges with the media. This kind of engagement showcases that if we work together and we share our knowledge of ongoing issues, we can help each other out.

I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to see this kind of action happening in class.

Like nurturing new PIOs and helping them network…OMG THIS IS WHAT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!!

Yeah yeah, I’ll get off the soapbox now.

But seriously, this media panel has been one of my absolute favorites to have because….well, because of this…

Brah, Tanaka’s got some seriously good selfie skillz. Many mahalos to all of my media panel that showcased the best of TV news media.

After the media panel left, we reviewed all of our on camera interviews.

Sharing our challenges but learning from others in a productive and positive way increases participant on camera skills.

To close out the day, we also had our second and most lauded PIO stop by. Ladies and gents, the orig filmmaker himself, raise the roof cause it’s Cleveland Fire very own PIO Mike Noooooooooooorman!!!!!!!

Glad to spend a few minutes with fire’s new PIO who jumped head first into the role for CFD. FYI-Mike was a participant in a class that Steve and I taught in Summit County Ohio so we are proud to see him flourishing in his role at CFD.

Outstanding and super fun day with everyone. Back at it tomorrow with another special guest and to talk about JIC/JIS!

@rusnivek

FEMA OEMA G0290: Basic #PIO at the City of Cleveland EOC!

Posted on October 24, 2018 by rusnivek

Outstanding start to this week’s FEMA G0290: Basic PIO course sponsored by Ohio EMA and the City of Cleveland Emergency Management!

Special thanks to CEM Alex Pellom for the invitation to hang for a few days in the Emergency Operations Center!

Guess who I get to teach with this week? Fresh off the disaster wheel, Assistant Fire Chief Steve Bosso!!!

Don’t mind his grumps face, you’d be a bit tired if you were EMACed to work Hurricane Florence too. I’m excited to hear about his experience working with South Carolina’s Emergency Management Division PIO Derrec Becker.

And yes, if you were wondering, we are holding class IN the actual City of Cleveland Emergency Operations Center!

Interviews? Heck yeah – you know we did!

Incredibly valuable time on camera.

Spent some time doing group work and communications strategy with many partners from across the State of Ohio and the State of Pennsylvania.

Showcasing partnerships and strengthening collaborative messaging during the preparedness…

…will help during response phase planning and support for ongoing operations.

Additionally the blending of resources embodying the all-hazards mentality, is critical when dealing with larger disasters/emergencies. Here’s Police, Fire, EMS, Health, Public Works, and Executive Policy working together for a coordinated message.

Steve had a few injects too…like branding. Steve is a former photojournalist so he’s got the photog eye for these kinds of things with some fancy camera work…

And not to worry, in order to share real world experiences, we had our first subject matter expert – Cleveland Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Ciaccia stop by to talk about her experiences as the PIO for CPD.

So many issues to deal with esp during a National Special Security Event (NSSE) – the 2016 Republican National Convention! And of course a whole bunch of other cases including the 3 girls missing for 10+ years (Castro case), Facebook killer, CJ Saves CLE, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, etc….

Whew – full day! Great dynamic class.

Solid first day. Looking forward to day-2 of the Basic PIO!

@rusnivek

A free app with preparedness info? #NatlPrep #EmergencyManagement

Posted on September 2, 2018 by rusnivek

So many state emergency management agencies have apps that can help you prepare. Here’s a fine example of the @scemd app that has tons of #preparedness info on #hurricane #nuclear #winter #snow #thunderstorm #wildfire #flooding #thunder #tornado #safety

No matter what part of the country you reside or work, be better prepared with these kinds of free apps available to anyone.

#FREE #NATLPREP

So many free things you can do to better prepare yourself for an emergency or disaster.

@rusnivek

The start of 2018 National Preparedness Month! #NatlPrep

Posted on September 1, 2018 by rusnivek

Guess what day it is……September 1st – the start of National Preparedness Month!

Follow along for a bunch of preparedness things you can do to for you, your family, and your friends.

Additionally, I’ll share a bunch of other posts from the home agency too!

#NatlPrep

@rusnivek

Joining the team at DuPage County OHSEM

Posted on August 15, 2018 by rusnivek

Glad to join the team at DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management leading the charge for training and exercises.

Many thanks to Director Snow and the entire team of pros at OHSEM.

Proud to be serving communities in NE Illinois and across this great country.

@rusnviek

Day-1 ICS-300 with strong DoD participation

Posted on July 9, 2018 by rusnivek

It’s Monday morning so lets kick off another hard core ICS-300 course…in the Poinsettia Room! 🌺

Also known as the city’s Emergency Operations Center too.

Diverse groups today with a strong showing from our Department of Defense and local public safety professionals.

This kind of joint training provides us the opportunities to build stronger partnerships and even strengthen the preexisting bonds with DoD assets including a few special teams.

Lots of group work as participants figure out priorities and challenges during the first few hours and into the first/second operational period.

But working through the issues in a calm classroom will help reduce the amount of stress during an actual emergency. Finding out strengths and gaps and addressing them so that everyone can respond better to any incident. That’s right enhancing response capabilities.

Sound familiar? That’s what HSPD-5 (Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5) is all about. A coordinated response! <heavy breathing>

That is exactly what Emergency Management is all about – build relationships for a coordinated response. <heavier breathing>

And also proof, if you teach it right, you can get people to smile in my ICS classes.

Awww yeah!

Great work from all participants – lotsa participation from everyone!

Glad to see so much collaboration from local, county, state, Federal, and DoD assets.

And as always, thank you for your service to our great country.

Happy birthday Marty. It’s a great first day.

Looking forward to the next two days!

@rusnivek

State of Ohio Joint Information Center System course in #Summit #County #PIO #JIC #JIS

Posted on February 22, 2018 by rusnivek

Lots of great discussion starting the State of Ohio Joint Information Center/System class (G-291).

PIOs from across the state sharing ideas on how we can all work together during an emergency is critical.

Scenario based PIO training works well as it puts our crews into the action mindset.

Thanks to our diverse backgrounds of our participants – we had various discussions on our all-hazards response as well as how we can better support each other in times of emergency or disaster.

Glad to have a new batch of PIOs ready trained for our external affairs efforts. I am confident that if we continue to train and educate our public safety professionals – that we can better serve all our 88 counties across the State of Ohio.

#pink PC: AC Bosso

Reporting live from the official State of Ohio JIC/JIS Course here in Summit County…

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the State of Ohio #Basic #PIO class #Summit

Posted on February 21, 2018 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the State of Ohio Basic Public Information Officers’ Course here in Summit County. And yaaassss, #OnWednesdaysWeWearPink!

Started off the morning talking about interview skills and techniques that are readily used by both PIOs and Reporters/Photojournalists.

Reviewed all oncamera interviews from all the participants in our class.

We want to prepare our new PIOs with the best training so they are capable off hitting the ground running representing their agency positively in a crisis or emergency.

Steve brought in the Team from WKYC (NBC affiliate) Akron Office to be our panel discussion.

Lots of great points including what could make or break a PIO – esp for a close tight knit community like Akron and Summit County. Special thanks to Reporter Amani Abraham and Photojournalist Carl Bachtel on their insight to news media.

PC: Bosso

I was able to get my friend Cleveland Police PIO Sgt Jennifer Ciaccia to give a dual presentation with me on the 2016 Republican National Convention and other Cleveland activities.

As a team, Jen and I are solid, but we recognize that others are needed to establish the efforts of PIOing within their own communities – no matter pre-planned event or emergency.

And yes, we addressed how PIOs need to keep current on social media trends esp on national cool campaigns…like the mannequin challenge.

Again, special thanks to Jen on the support of today’s State of Ohio Basic PIO class.

PC: Bosso

Afternoon was dedicated to the PIO TTX. We setup two groups with all participants for the in class mock press conference and they did a solid job. Both groups worked together…

…and formulated talking points….

…organized and strategically thought out a press conferences agenda…

…prepped speakers…

And of course controlled the unruly fictitious media reps from OZRadio, WTF, and the YellowBrickRoadNews. FEMA Phil and USFA Tom would be so proud of us MPIOs to see us working the press conference part of the class.

Another great day for PIO training in the State of Ohio!

@rusnivek

Day-1 of the OhioEMA Basic #PIO class in Summit County

Posted on February 20, 2018 by rusnivek

Packed house as we start another Ohio EMA Basic Public Information Officer Course in Summit County, Ohio!

Special thanks to Jena and all the pros at Summit County Emergency Management Agency.

Great diverse crowd from various backgrounds allow us to have wide discussions on topics. With so many disciplines represented, we had a deep dive into lots of classroom tabletop activities for PIOs.

Remember, its our job to align ourselves with those SMART Objectives, then analyze our audiences, then write specific messaging to our targets audiences.

Easy peasy right? In person classes like the Social Media for Disaster Response and Recovery as well as Social Media Tools & Techniques. And of course don’t forget all those fun online FEMA Independent Study classes too. (all classes are no cost)

And of course we did the oncamera PIO interviews today. Staple of our class!

Last part of the day, we hit the social media section hard cause we talked a ton about case studies highlighting success stories and pitfalls in social media use. And of course, don’t forget to get #slizzerd

Tweet responsibly peeps!

Reporting live from Summit County…

@rusnivek

The FEMA #PIO on #PirateRadio! Is that real? #FBF

Posted on October 27, 2017 by rusnivek

I was asked if Pirate Radio was real….yeppers!

Pirate Radio based in the Florida Keys-Key West has a strong voice that not only hits audiences throughout the keys, but also into southern Florida too. They stream their shows so that any Pirate can listen in…even when yer a landlubber!

I was a regularly contributor to their morning shows with daily Hurricane Irma disaster updates. We also brought other public safety agencies in with us to showcase the unified efforts of countless government agencies involved and how we are all working together in the response/recovery effort.

Additionally, I was invited to be a regular guest on their Friday morning show to talk about the DHS/FEMA response and recovery efforts for the Florida Keys. Not only talking about the Florida Keys, but also the millions of $$ in financial support approved for the State of Florida.

Remember, AM/FM radio stations are a critical source of information in a disaster. After a disaster, cell service might be down, sat tv might be out, and it is highly likely that your neighborhood may not have power. Post-disaster, plan on AM/FM radio being a solid source of information.

Many mahalos to both gracious Pirate Radio hosts – Jack and Kim!

@rusnivek