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!
Day-4 and my Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) wanted to brief the entire Joint Field Office (JFO).
Words of encouragement to rally the team and keep the momentum going is an important part of any situation.
Awesome. I’m just glad to be a part of the team.
No supersoakers or motorized podiums yet.
Second day of being the FCO’s Press Secretary – bring it on Thursday!
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!
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.
We have a few new additions to our class – who hail from across Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Glad to have so many pros with us in class…esp for #AlohaFriday – yeah baby!
PC: J. Beckett
Always an Aloha shirt on Fridays.
Lots of group work and discussion as everyone contributes information to better their communities.
It is helpful because our participants have diverse backgrounds.
Almost all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) were represented.
This allowed us to have an in-depth discussion and think outside the box to solve various in class table top exercises.
Instructors we able to facilitate discussion among groups providing the opportunity to enhance their response with immediate communication strategies and tactics for emergency notification.
Also lots of discussion of the benefits and pitfalls of the JIC vs the JIS.
Additionally, the class wanted to see a few pictures from our Joint Information Center (JIC) during the 2016 RNC (2016 Republican National Convention).
We obliged and showed a few pictures.
Glad to have the chance to present before the PIOs from Athens County and beyond.
Special thanks to Dan in coordinating this training with Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Proud to have so many different agencies represented.
Looking forward to working with each of these PIOs in a JIC!
Solid Thursday talking about Joint Information Centers (JICs) and Joint Information Systems (JISs).
Additionally, seeing how our Federal partners build into local and state response is key to showcase how everyone works together.
It is imperative that we continue to push the efforts of our all-hazards partners in public safety to ensure our community ability to return to normal after any disaster.
Later this afternoon, we’ll dive into some social media tech stuff including a bit on intelligence. Hope to share the power of social media with my new peeps.
PC Credit: Nina
Also, I hope they now use their social media powers for good!
Setting up all the fun today for our Basic PIO course and JIC/JIS course.
Both these FEMA courses are cornerstone classes that all external affairs professionals should take. Additionally, the emergency management/disaster response networking opportunities are outstanding.
And yes, we are going to do some on camera interviews too.
Bring your A-game.
Hope to see you in my class tomorrow.
Reviewing my SOGs and social media assignments for the all-hazards social media specialists / intel positions in the JIC for an upcoming large scale national event.
An important part of any Joint Information Center (JIC): Now discussing the best non-verbal urgent alert hand signals for all staff deployed to the JIC.
Clearly, Mama PIO wins this round.
PIOs serving our community as well as our nation and of course planning for all kinds of “stuff”.
Great plans with solid PIO peeps makes all the difference.
Trust me on this one.
Rolling out the State of Ohio Emergency Management Agency‘s new G0291: Joint Information Centers (JIC) / Joint Information System (JIS) Planning for Tribal, state, and Local PIOs. Luckily, we were in the Command and Control room at the Summit County Health Department.
Command Control room…aka DOC
As always, its great teaching with Sister Michael Marie. Outstanding experiences and great stories from her international work in challenging areas of the world.
Even OEMA was checking in on our progress!
#truelove for us Emergency Management Instructors.
Sister Michael showcased the importance of all-hazard PIO involvement in emergency response to a natural hazard.
Everyone was able to share experiences and help each other improve – esp thinking outside the box on various scenarios.
By the end of this in-class activity, our participants realized that there are so many parts to a “simple disaster” that it pays to build partnerships early.
It’s all hands working in an emergency – so build your relationships early before a disaster.
Remember: At 0300, you ugly, you smell, you stink – and clearly that’s not the best time to meet new people and to function in an emergency at 110%.
“As Emergency Management, we must continue to nurture solid working relationships and common response/recovery objectives with our all-hazards partners in public safety.” – @rusnivek
Best part? At the end of the class, they all applauded.
Awwww yeah!
When was the last time a class applauded your Emergency Management NIMS ICS compliant class?
Heh.
As always, it’s great to teach with OEMA Instructor and consummate professional Sister Michael Marie.
There is so much going on in this picture. I can’t even.
I’m just glad to be a part of something big.
A fine day to teach the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s JIS / JIC Planning for Tribal, State, and Local PIOs (G-291) course in Medina County!
A classic start with The Who.
One of the big points emphasized in this class is the differences between a Joint Information Center (JIC) and a Joint Information System (JIS). Both have merits in daily operations and each have strengths and weaknesses in disaster operations.
Sometimes PIOs don’t understand that a JIC or JIS activation is just like a normal activation. If you can’t figure out the differences between the two, take the class from those who have actually worked a JIC or a JIS.
On Tuesday/Wednesday in the Basic Public Information Officers’ Course (G-290), we talked about training and readiness efforts for any PIO. Go Kits were a hot button topic as everyone’s PIO kit would most likely be different. Resource manuals are great to have, but difficult to keep updated. Just maintaining a PIO contact list is a tedious task.
Much discussion about food in the kit. This was obviously NOT a good example of what you should be eating during an JIC activation.
Prob not the best lunch.
Healthy body = Healthy mind. Period.
As the day progressed, we facilitated several in-depth discussions on teamwork, joint efforts in responses as well as some pre-scripted messages that can be used by everyone. Planning now will reduce the amount of white hair during an incident.
Establish relationships now with local health departments, local and regional hospitals, local Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) Teams, Special Technical Rescue Teams. Easily rely on your state staff and resources to support your actions. A great wealth of information is available to bring to the table. Just establish that connection before that awkward 0300 hit.
Additionally, tapping into local resources from other Federal Agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives(ATF), National Weather Service (NWS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs Border Patrol (CBP), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), etc…so many options to establish relationships!
“Building relationships now can only increase our response effectiveness during a disaster.” – K. Sur
Looking outside government agencies, public and private partnerships can support our safety and response initiatives – so we need to make a concerted effort to make those connections now. Build relationships before a disaster!
Sur and Mo!
So how can you bring all these resources together? Consider these actions to explore in your jurisdiction:
And if you were wondering, class participants did well on their post-tests.
Psssst…the answer is “C” #not
We had a great time teaching this week. Much thanks to the Medina County Emergency Management Agency and EM Director Christine Fozio for their hospitality. Super fun time.
So much ducking fun (duck face reference)
Special thanks to the Ohio Emergency Management Agency for sponsoring this all-hazards class for our partners in public safety.
(L to R): PIO Instructor Kevin Sur, Medina County Emergency Management Director Christine Fozio, and PIO Instructor Monique Witherspoon.
If you are looking to attend OEMA’s free PIO courses:
**coordinate through OEMA State Training Officer Susan Traylor.
As always, I’m looking forward to the JIC / JIS activation calls. I am excited for these new PIOs to put their new acquired PIO skillz in place. And yes, I said skillz with a Z.
Time is short so do good stuff!
Hope everyone is abiding by some of the trusted published safety information on Ebola.
Please use common sense peeps!
Lots of dedicated PIO peeps working the magic tonight.
Where is @rusnivek? 