Day-2 of ICS-300 at Elmhurst Hospital

Day-2 of the ICS-300 course here at Elmhurst Hospital where we get to talk about a bunch of things like the Planning P, SMART Objectives, resource management, and of course demobilization!

Hearing groups report out on their findings and how they would interact with other agencies are critical to us in Emergency Management as we now know where there could be possible hiccups in coordination of responders.

Overall, a great packed class with tons of participation from everyone.

Soooooo out of curiousity, how many of you are coming back in February to attend the ICS-400 class with me?

Awwwwwwww yeah baby!

See you at the next big one.

@rusnivek

Day-1 of ICS-300 at Elmhurst Hospital

Day-1 of our ICS-300 class at Elmhurst Hospital!

However, I am not sure about us teaching the childbirth part of the class.

I guess if you wanted to account for all resources, we would need a new T-card and check in process for the new kiddos. HA!

Great welcome message from the Elmhurst Fire Deputy Fire Chief and the Elmhurst EM Coordinator.

Great discussion from all agencies here including Fire, EMS, Police, Public Works, Hospital, EMS, Health Department, National Guard, and countless other agencies here.

Great partnerships from everyone as we discuss ongoing response and recovery efforts from various activities and incidents. Working together will increase our preparedness level and help our coordination esp when we spin up the county EOC.

Glad to see everyone here for class. And yes, don’t forget that #OnWednesdaysWeWearPink

Yeah yeah, suit up baby!

Reporting live from Elmhurst Hospital talking about NIMS and ICS~!

@rusnivek

 

Second day of ICS-300 at our house OHSEM

Second day of ICS-300 at the DuPage County OHSEM as we continue to share tools and tips to enhance response and coordination. Here’s Dave talking about some of the weather tools we use to trigger activation/response.

And yes, don’t worry, we talk a metric TON about Incident Action Plans (IAPs) as well as some event action plans.

I often share IAPs from real world disasters and events. This way, it showcases the actual use of the ICS forms as well as ways to improve them for future occurrences. Wat? Hold the phone. Don’t lie now, your IAP isn’t always perfect. You are human. Stuff happens.

I do shred some IAPs that need work, and then I show the IAPs that look pretty dang good. No shame in my game because if we don’t share what we learn, we will never prepare our future disaster peeps for success.

But more importantly, that’s right, I said it – we should share our failures with others so that we can better our profession. Rising tide raises all ships right?

Don’t be that amateur and hold all your mistakes close. Be a pro and share your errors so that others may learn. Inspire a new generation with stronger leaders.

In the end, despite the test, you can still have an ICS course where your participants are smiling.

Just gotta find the right ICS course…and instructors willing to inspire.

See you on the next big one peeps!

@rusnivek

Starting the January ICS-300 course at our house!

Another great start to our ICS-300 course! Welcome to my house – DuPage County OHSEM!

Packed class with sooooo many public safety partners here.

This class has a bunch of activities so our participants can apply what they are learning immediately to the fictitious town of Central City.

Note: Central city is a fictitious town that we use in almost all of our classes. It’s not a real place. However, if it was, I would definitely not want to live there. Or eat the Coho salmon from there. Just sayin…

Great engagement from everyone here.

Proud to be hosting this course at our house.

Looking forward to class tomorrow!

@rusnivek

Class comments – Yassssss!

In reviewing my comments from yesterday’s class, I am reminded how much our impact and influence we have as instructors.

This is the reason why we as instructors, educators, and leaders share our experiences.

Without a doubt, there are clear differences between people who read the slides vs instructors who are passionate about improving our field.

It is imperative that we continue to push the envelope as we train and exercise our nation’s public safety professionals. During an emergency or disaster, there is no second chance. The community’s safety is of the utmost importance.

Our dedication to our public safety constituents is neverending and we must strive to be ready for any situation.

This is what we train for…this is what we do.

@rusnivek

Already December 2018? Are you serious?!?!?

How in the world is it December already!

First week will be several NIMS/ICS courses for our County ESF-3 partners, few other Emergency Management courses for IL Region-9, and a Emergency Management/Health Department functional exercise w/ our CERT Teams for medication POD distribution.

Second week our office is hosting another FEMA G0289: PIO Awareness course and then a fun PIO Workshop at ABC7-Chicago on Friday.

Third week will be the FEMA G0290/G0291: Basic PIO Course and JIC/JIS course. Without a doubt a full class w/ wait list. Glad to finally nail this one for all of our partners in public safety, Cheers for Murray and Corey for championing this for everyone too.

Fourth week appears to be Christmas so likely yearly closeouts and wrap ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeowza. Honestly, I can’t believe 2019 is right around the corner.

@rusnivek

A free app with preparedness info? #NatlPrep #EmergencyManagement

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

Joining the team at DuPage County OHSEM

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