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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

FEMA OEMA G0291: Joint Information Center/System class at the Cleveland EOC! #PIO

Posted on October 26, 2018 by rusnivek

Happy AlohaFriday and a great start to the FEMA OEMA G0291: Joint Information Center / Joint Information System course here at the Cleveland EOC!

So naturally, we talked a bunch of JIC stuff including our third guest VIP – day shift Cleveland JIC Manager of the 2016 RNC and the led JIC Manager of the Christmas plane crash in 2016, Beth Zietlow DeJesus!!!

Not only sharing stories about coordination amongst local, county, and Federal agencies on the recovery process, Beth was able to share a few stories about the media on controlling the message and handling mis-information.

Great experiences to share with out new PIOs!

Outstanding class this week. Proud of the work and collaboration in class shared by everyone. Great to see these new PIOs as they increase their organization’s visibility.

Now go forth, and use your new PIO skillz for good!

Also, yeah.

@rusnivek

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

Final day of Ohio EMA’s Emergency Planning Course

Posted on September 6, 2017 by rusnivek

Second and final day of our Ohio EMA Emergency Planning course!

We are going to dive deep into CPG-101 and talk about how we can increase our ability to write better EOP base plans and enhance our annexes.

All four groups firing all the way as they work through challenges in formulation of SMEs for plans.

Dynamic chatter esp focusing in on American Red Cross and Emergency Management when it comes to bringing people to the table.

Dove deep into how CPG101 applies, incorporating the NRF, lots on NIMS compliance, and of course ICS requirements. Discussion also lead to a few case studies including Hurricane Jacob Cat-5 to Cat-2 hit.

Also fortunate to have key players from CERT, HAM, EM, and law enforcement at the table discussing challenges with paid vs volunteer staffing and accounting for resources.

I want to give a major shoutout to Alicen and Tim for their hospitality this week for the Ohio EMA G-235 course. Most gracious and hospitable course coordinators.

Now go forth and formulate good EOPs!

@rusnivek

Day-1 Ohio EMA Emergency Planning

Posted on September 5, 2017 by rusnivek

Welcome to another solid start of Ohio EMA’s G-235: Emergency Planning course!

Thank you to Ashtabula County EMA for hosting this class for participants from three different FEMA regions. Here’s Ashtabula County EMA Deputy Director Tim Settles welcoming message to all our participants.

I immediately started involving them on identifying solid planning system characteristics.

Great discussion among Fire representatives, Emergency Management, and Red Cross professionals.

Additionally, CERT and HAM radio operators’ involvement was critical in plan writing as they will be testing/using those annexes.

Team leads from the Ohio National Guard / 52nd Civil Support Unit attended and worked closely with leadership from local/county EMAs.

Outstanding first day of class!

@rusnivek

Social media and a solar eclipse with my new peeps at Prince George County

Posted on August 22, 2017 by rusnivek

Outstanding day yesterday with my Prince George County Emergency Operations Center!

Great new facility to teach and learn. We kicked off our morning with telling our class that they could tweet, FB post, Gram, etc….all DURING class time. And within a few seconds, this happened.

Photo Credit: K-ray-a

It’s always a fun time when you are in class w/ me.

We also had a few celebrity PIOs in the audience like the famous Prince George County Fire PIO Mark Brady. #famous

@rusnivek and @PGFDPIO

As you know, he also teaches at EMI in the Advanced PIO Course.

Since everyone was hyped up for the solar eclipse, we built a break around the maximum viewing time…and yes, we all wore NASA approved safety glasses to view.

Photo Credit: Doug Walton

I might have been too excited and tried to teach with them on. Unless you are looking at the sun, you can’t see anything. NASA approved indeed!

Great class and outstanding new partnerships from everyone who attended our social media class. Mahalos to everyone!

Photo Credit: Prince George County (MD)

Now go forth and use your social media powers for good!

@rusnivek

Day-1 of IMT Incident Commander course at OEMA

Posted on June 19, 2017 by rusnivek

Morning Ohio EMA! #Mothership

Welcome to the first day of NIMS ICS Incident Management Team Incident Commander course!

Got a quick welcome from Ohio EMA Training & Exercise David Nunley.

Lots to discuss including responsibilities, leadership, and of course paperwork (ICS forms).

Great first day with participants from Ohio, New Mexico, Oregon, and Georgia with tons to digest in all the slides.

Lots.

Channeling my inner Patrick.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

@rusnivek

Last day of #preparedness talks in Georgia in Glynn County

Posted on April 27, 2017 by rusnivek

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

Posted on February 16, 2017 by rusnivek

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

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

Posted on February 15, 2017 by rusnivek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

PC: E. Creech

Including my famous “PIO stick”

PC: J. Beckett

Looking forward to day-2!

@rusnivek