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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Packed September for 3 different regions with #NatlPrep

Posted on August 31, 2015 by rusnivek

August was quite the month of new stuff, and in true form, September will be just as exciting.

I am sure know that September is my most favorite month right? September is National Preparedness month where I’ll be featuring a whole bunch of different preparedness plans and you can participate and better prepare you and your family for disasters or emergencies. All of it…totally free!

But for the rest of the month, here’s the plan:

First week: I’ll be presenting at the Nebraska Infrastructure Protection Conference on Social Media intelligence and disasters. On day-2 of the conference, I’ll be giving the my national keynote presentation: Task Force Deployment to St. Bernard Parish Louisiana – Lower 9th Ward. Region-7 boom!

Second week: I’ll be presenting at the State of Kentucky Governor’s Emergency Management Workshop rolling out the brand new G-270.4 Recovery from Disaster course. Two days of critical recovery classes in Region-4…with me!

Third week: I’ll be in Columbus doing some Mass Fatality TtT classes with Ohio EMA and then delivering another Social Media course to Franklin County EMA. Back in Region-5.

Fourth week: We have the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s PIO Symposium (Friday September 25th, 2015) in Columbus.

And the Fifth week: I just might have some time to do some paperwork. Sigh.

This will be a tough first few weeks, but looking forward to the various regions.

And remember: Make your emergency plan today.

@rusnivek

Friday talks with Ohio EMA leadership

Posted on August 22, 2015 by rusnivek

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!

@rusnivek

Just a day trip to Columbus

Posted on August 21, 2015 by rusnivek

Headed to Columbus today for a few administrative details.

Just proud to serve Ohio and this great country.

Not to worry peeps – just a day trip.

And yes, it’s Friday so you know what I’m wearing…Happy Aloha Friday peeps!

@rusnivek

Ever wonder why we call it AMBER Alert?

Posted on August 13, 2015 by rusnivek

Ever wonder why we call it AMBER Alert?

In January 1996, nine year old Amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle when a neighbor heard the girl scream. The neighbor saw a man pull Amber off her bike, throw her into the front seat of his pickup truck, and drive away at a high speed. The neighbor called police and provided a description of the suspect and his vehicle, but couldn’t recall much else. Arlington, Texas police and the FBI interviewed other neighbors and searched for the suspect and vehicle. Local radio and TV stations covered the story in their regular newscasts. Four days later, Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four miles away. Her throat had been cut. Her kidnapping and murder remain unsolved.

Amber Hagerman

A concerned citizen contacted a Dallas, Texas radio station suggesting the idea that Dallas radio stations should repeat news bulletins about abducted children just like they do severe weather warnings. The idea was presented to the general managers of the radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They agreed that such a program would provide an important public service and might help save the life of a child.

Although the Amber Plan is named after Amber Hagerman, this national program is dedicated to all children nationwide who’ve been abducted. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, nearly 262,100 children are abducted every year. Specifically, 58,200 are non-family abductions and 203,900 are family abductions.

The Amber Alert Plan was launched in Ohio on January 1, 2003.

Ohio?

2013: 8 cases

2012: 10 cases

2011: 11 cases

2010: 8 cases

2009: 11 cases

2008: 12 cases

2007: 10 cases

Eyes up peeps, you could be the one who starts the rescue of a child.

@rusnivek

CPD Challenge Coin

Posted on July 31, 2015 by rusnivek

Another special challenge coin!

Never had one from Cleveland Police before.

Special thanks to Captain Sulzer on a fun assignment in Cleveland.

@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

JIS – JIC planning class for Tribal State and local PIOs

Posted on July 17, 2015 by rusnivek

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:

Train. Train. Train.
Open discussions with various providers.
Invite your all-hazards partners to meetings.
Meet regularly. Maintain contact.
Take classes together.
Share resource lists and contacts.
Support each other during operations.
Review After Action Reviews / Improvement Plans (AARs/IPs) together.

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:

Public Information Officers Awareness course (G-289)
Basic Public Information Officers’ course (G-290)
JIS / JIC Planning for Tribal, State, and Local PIOs course (G-291)

**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!

@rusnivek

Final day of instructing Ohio EMA’s Basic Public Information Officers Course

Posted on July 16, 2015 by rusnivek

Final day of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s Basic Public Information Officer Course (G-290). Kaboom!

Before class started, we pumped a little Billy Joel through the ECC&C speakers.

We talked about what kind of information needs to be disseminated including categorizing messages by priority. Obviously, we discussed various social media platforms and a few publishing options to maximize visibility.

Basically, it still comes down to maximizing our efforts during a disaster or emergency.

Working in groups, all participants formulated action items to implement at their agencies. Incidentally, this is truly the reason why so many ICS classes exercise in groups…is to help facilitate open dialogue. Building relationships is easier in an open classroom setting.

And yes, 0300 is NOT the time to be meeting fellow public safety professionals for the first time in the EOC.

As a group, we evaluated everyone’s TV PIO interview.

Everyone shared constructive recommendations with the entire class. Everyone.

In fact, the private industry crew really enjoyed the training and wanted to work/train more closely with various public safety agencies (Hmmmm, I sense this could be the start of a public-private-partnerships-EEEK).

In the end, more group work and a secondary interview helped participants to become more comfortable in front of the camera.

Additionally, non-verbal actions including certain physical cues were shared to help PIOs take back control from an aggressive reporter and take control of the interview.

Remember, the important point to remember is….

Reporting live from FEMA Region-5, at the Medina County Emergency Coordination Center & Classroom…

@rusnivek

Teaching Ohio EMA’s Basic Public Information Officers Course

Posted on July 15, 2015 by rusnivek

First day of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s Public Information Officer Course (G-290). Whohoo!!!!

Welcome and intros today by OEMA NE Region Supervisor Bob Zehentbauer.

Bob Z kicking off today’s Ohio EMA Basic PIO course.

(Bob-Mahalos for the kind words)

Special thanks to Medina County Emergency Management Agency and Director Christina Fozio for hosting this great all-hazards class.

Medina County EMA Director Christine Fozio with the best hospitality in the EOC!

This class, our participants hail from various disciplines including Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, Hospitals, Prison officials, Private Industry, Health Department, and Higher Education.

So many experiences to share especially with all the EOC activations we had in the past 5 years here in NE Ohio. Castro case, Ebola, Pepper Pike Tornado, Flooding, Operations Barclay, Hurricane Sandy, etc…all are great experiences that we as instructors can share our experiences with our participants.

I believe the best part about the G-290 course? The on-camera interviews for everyone.

One camera for face, one camera for body language, and a tricky “reporter” asking questions.

Many instructors shy away from this task because they don’t have the time, experience, or even the equipment. However, I believe that it is imperative we have these tools that simulate real-life situations. We as instructors should provide the most realistic examples of in-field experiences for all participants.

For those attending, we will never compromise. We will always provide the best class.

Period.

@rusnivek

July 2015 has crazy-town written all over it

Posted on July 2, 2015 by rusnivek

June 2015 turned out to be pretty crazy…and July 2015 has crazy-town written all over it.

First week: I’ll be working on a few things for NW Ohio and their recent flooding. Most likely Public Information Officer response stuff. At the end of the week/weekend, I got a special project with Cleveland Police K-9 Teams, SWAT, Bomb Team, Air Unit, and Mounted Units. Finally back in Region-5!

Second week: I’ll be teaching the Ohio Emergency Management Agency’s Basic Public Information Officer’s Course and Joint Information Center/System in Medina County. Working the PIO magic for the state!

Third week: I’ll be teaching a weekend ICS-300 and a weekend ICS-400 in Ohio. If possible, I might sneak away during the week to Frankfort, Kentucky to pilot a new FEMA PIO Course in Region-4.

Fourth week: I’ll be finishing up the ICS-400 course and then coordinating a site visit and functional exercise for our NE Ohio PIO Task Force (NEO-PIO-TF) to one of the local news stations in the Cleveland area.

It’s still a bit hectic, but I am hoping to see some peace to my schedules soon.

@rusnivek