For hurricanes, do you know the difference between Watch vs Warning?
and
Simple huh?
For more information, check out FEMA’s Ready.Gov program.
And be prepared for the next hurricane!
Don’t wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today.
Awwww yeah, I’m talking about hurricanes on a Windsday.
10 years ago, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf states.
However, with the advances in technology, the National Hurricane Center has improved their prediction forecast…aka technology has improved to showcase the areas likely to be hit.
Regardless of your location, please prepare for hurricanes.
Yes, three years ago, I was told “…that will never happen here” and “Stop wasting your time.” Soon after, Hurricane Sandy hit Ohio in 2012.
Know where to go. If you are ordered to evacuate, know the local hurricane evacuation route(s) to take and have a plan for where you can stay. Contact your local emergency management agency for more information.
No matter where you are, please prepare for hurricanes.
Don’t wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today.
No one wants to be unprepared.
Peeking into the third week of National Preparedness Month – this week is all about Hurricanes!
So to make sure we are all prepared, I double checked my weather radio yesterday.
I’m Ready!
If you live in Ohio, don’t forget to program your weather radio with these specific frequencies.
Don’t wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today.
Third week in. Are you Ready?
Awwww yeah! This past week, I got a chance to teach part of the brand new DHS/FEMA G0290: Basic Public Information Officer Course!
Formerly known as G-290 course, this is the new FEMA Basic Public Information Officer course taught across the country for all public safety and emergency management professionals.
Thanks again to the Kentucky Emergency Management Agency and KESC for allowing me the opportunity. Also, special thanks to the ever fashionable Mike from NIOA.
Shakas because we are reporting live from Kentucky…
Second and final day of Disaster Recovery here at the Kentucky Governor’s Emergency Management Conference. As the lead instructor, it’s game time peeps!
I started the class out with some FEMA videos on the #Katrina10 recovery operation ongoing for Louisiana. They encompassed topics like whole community, public-private partnership, Faith-based organizations, and of course Fire/EMS public safety from SBPFD.
I then started laying the groundwork in the class for the end of day capstone recovery exercise.
But before lunch, I was requested to instruct in the adjacent room and teach the live video section of the KY Basic Public Information Officer (PIO) Course for Mike and Buddy. Addressing platforms and uses for situational awareness/common operating picture.
Nice to see some new PIOs in front of a camera. They did fairly well.
After lunch, we did some work with forms and cost recovery with Judge Bertram.
Overall, everyone had a great time learning and collaborating ideas for future Post Disaster Recovery plans. I’m looking forward to seeing Kentucky’s success in their enhanced recovery process now.
Special thanks to the Kentucky Emergency Management Office, KESC, and Ohio EMA for the invite and allowance to speak to all 38 Emergency Management Directors, 2 EM coordinators, 1 EM planner, 1 USAR, 1 lawyer, and 1 county executive. I’m also so glad to have the largest class at the conference too.
In anticipation for AlohaFridays, they broke out their best Aloha on a Thursday afternoon…Just. For. Me.
My new peeps! Reporting live from Kentucky…
It was great to spend some time with Ohio EMA leadership yesterday.
Discussion on community resilience, task force deployments, Presidential Declarations, key initiatives, outreach, training, EMAC deployments, stakeholder engagement, public information officer, Emergency Management visibility, social media, Public Assistance, SBA loans, documentation and reimbursements, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Public and Private partnerships…heck-we even touched on the buzz words for 2015: Climate change and Cyber.
For sure, lots of notes!
It is so great to hear OEMA Executive Director Sima Merick passionate about all facets of Emergency Management.
Also got a chance to hang with my Ohio EMA Training and Education peeps Lisa and Susan too. Solid discussion about the upcoming Mass Fatalities course (G-386), PIO Courses (G-290), JIC/JIS Courses (G-291), Intermediate Incident Command courses (ICS-300), and the Recovery from Disasters Course (G-270.4).
Lots of good free stuff upcoming from Ohio EMA!
BTW-If you did a double take on that first picture, yes sir Sur, #AlohaFridays are made for an Aloha shirt. Period. Also a historical note, Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959.
Don’t worry peeps, look closely as I had my Ohio pin on.
Have a great weekend!
I popped back-to-back-to-back social media classes last week in Sacramento, California.
Participants from all over the west coast attended. Specifically for Thursday and Friday, FEMA reviewed our new curriculum courses. Yep, straight up evaluation. Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous.
Ongoing for course design, I will make a few more additions/changes before courses are sent to the National Training and Exercise Division (NTED) for certification. Hoping for final approval in November 2015. Hope to hear the magical words “Federally published” as my course is listed in the DHS / FEMA Training catalog. Whoa Nellie!
For the classes? We had great interaction from all participants.
Solid discussions during the breakout sessions included professionals from all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) as well as experts from the National Weather Service (NWS), Critical Infrastructure, and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs), etc… Diverse groups make for the best discussions for sure!
As part of our continued efforts in Emergency Management, it is imperative that we address issues from the All-Hazards approach and incorporate the support of our stakeholders in solutions.
With heavy discussion, class participants had a great time engaging with others and using tools/techniques that are specific to the Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation Directorates. Obviously, I showcased the importance of a good Public Information Officer (PIO) / Public Affairs Officer (PAO) and how their interaction in the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) or the Joint Information Center/System (JIC/JIS) is imperative to a successful emergency or disaster.
Also, starting to build an online learning library that can be easily accessed from anywhere using the #NDPTC is always good reference. Free. My favorite F-word.
Special mahalos to fellow Instructors Cheryl and MaryJo in the delivery of these courses.
Also the solid smiles from fellow #SMEM Jennifer and Scott was crucial support on this delivery.
Glad to be working with partners like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), and the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC). Truly great to see everyone working collaboratively. Thanks to the Sacramento County Emergency Management for hosting these courses.
Looking forward to the next class at the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) conference in Clark County, Nevada. See you there!
My friends at @FEMA –
See, government DOES have a sense of humor.
Bonus points for the fed emoticons in the twitter reply too. #Nooice
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.
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!
Where is @rusnivek? 
