Just watched a ton of interviews on TV. So, is “You know…” the new “Um….”
C’mon peeps. We are all capable of doing better.
For those that need a little help, reference your cue/quiet cards with transitional/bridging phrases.
Remember, your audience doesn’t know…so help them, well, you know…
Third and final day of the Ohio EMA ICS-300 course at Belmont College.
PhotoCredit: @BelmontCollege
Mid morning, we had lots of great discussion for formal demobilization plans as well priority release procedures.
Our class had some serious discussion on cost vs expectations on resources. If you’ve ever been deployed to a disaster, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Rounding out to the last module, almost test time!
After the class was over, I was able to score a visit to Belmont County 911 dispatch center for our class. So I invited the whole class to attend too!
Special thanks to Mr. Hudak for the tour and detailed explanation on normal operations in their Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) / 911 call center.
Our class then moved over to the Belmont County Emergency Management Agency where our class was given a formal tour of their Emergency Operation Center (EOC).
They just happen to be monitoring Hurricane Matthew – so that made it even better for all participants to see how this EOC can monitor any situation in real time. Thank you Belmont County EMA!
Positions ready…Executive Policy Room ready…ARES Comms center ready…fully operational…who could ask for anything more?!!?!? Even the bonus resources they have were great to see how they could support operations and paint a better picture to increase situational awareness / common operating picture (SA/COP).
Gah, I see this EOC being a great resource for many all hazards partners in public safety.
Great to showcase the efforts of local emergency management professionals and how they pair with Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA).
Special thanks to Glenn Trudo and Belmont College for being such gracious hosts for the OEMA ICS-300 class.
| 16-005: Inquiries during an emergency | |
| Agency: Irfan Khan and NBCLA | Topic(s): Twitter engagement & Crisis |
| Date: 09-30-16 | Platform: Twitter |
After several Public Information Table Top Exercises and Social Media Workshops, many attendees have experienced reporters who have purposely bypassed officials for information and have directly contacted affected parties involved.
Social media has shortened the timeline for any news reporters – basically cutting INTO the chase. This can be exemplified by NBCLA Reporter Daniella Guzman’s reply on Twitter to Irfan Khan’s tweet he posted during an active shooter situation on UCLA’s campus in June 2016.
As you can tell by Irfan’s Tweet, raw parental emotion to protect his child who was hiding in a bathroom (from the shooter) is palpable. But what can Public Information Officers (PIOs) do about this? Not much since this social media platform lends itself to fairly open dialog for any ongoing emerging situations. Now, you could say that if the parent has enough time to tweet, that he/she has the right mindset to respond to reporters. However, when faced with a dire situation and the possible loss or death of an immediately family member – most people do not respond well.
It is possible to deflect random victim/survivor inquiry attempts. PIOs could proactively monitor the common accounts or hashtags that emerge during the incident. In this situation, “#UCLA” was a common term that was used to associate tweets. Simply setting up a column in TweetDeck or HootSuite could provide another monitoring point for your Joint Information Center on redirecting inquiries. Once vetted, operations and tactics could use this information to increase Situational Awareness and Common Operating Picture (SA/COP).
For Irfan’s family, I am glad to report that Irfan’s daughter was found safe.
Three important tips to consider as soon as something kicks off:
On Twitter, your public safety presence is important because you can help proliferate good sources of information by redirecting to official trusted sources.
Time is short, so Tweet good stuff!
Presenting today at the 63rd Annual Wayne County Fire School (Ohio).
And yes, I get to crack the awesome social media jokes on THE Ohio State University campus.
Lots of Firefighters and Paramedics from all over.
Many familiar faces in the audience too!
Event organizers estimate over 100 attendees with numerous vendors on site including Metro LifeFlight, Cleveland Clinic, and MedFlight of Ohio. Helicopters!
Me? I’m just glad to participate.
Yep, that’s a suit.
Also, kudos to a fellow Firefighter WHFD FF Gary Klaus who was named this year’s Fire School Honorary Dean.
Intro music (GNR’s Paradise City) playing for the afternoon session. #excited.
PIO and Social Media skillz in 3…2…1…
2016 Ohio PIO Symposium today!
This year, a smaller NEOhio PIO contingent attending the conference in Columbus.
So it’s just James and I holding down the fort! (T-R-O-U-B-L-E)
But check out that #AlohaFriday wear!
Reporting live from Cbus…
“All I’m saying is that starting in Ohio and to the rest of the country, we have the ability to better prepare our peeps for disasters or emergencies.” – K. Sur
We all have outstanding communities in each of our 88 counties in Ohio. When they engage with numerous all-hazards public safety professionals, it becomes a whole community effort in preparedness. In essence, these are core programs that everyone can participate.
When the community gets involved, everyone wins.
So c’mon – get involved in your community.
CERT: Community Emergency Response Team
ViPS: Volunteers in Police Service
MRC: Medical Reserve Corp
VOAD: Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
Neighborhood Watch Program
Veterans Active in Citizen Corps
Meals on Wheels Association of America
“Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.”
It’s still the third week of 2016 National Preparedness Month!
Trust me, you don’t need to wait for the earthquakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven (to) shake – just attend a few classes with local emergency management.
Don’t get frustrated…Preparedness is easy!
But seriously.
These classes can help better prepare you for many natural disasters, hazards, and/or common emergencies.
At the very least, they can detail what kind of actions will be taken by first responders in the response phase of the disaster.
In today’s class, we had a spirited discussion about MREs and preparedness kits. Even first responders and their respective families need emergency preparedness kits too.
Most of these short classes or day-long trainings are often free and scheduled well in advance. And if you can’t attend in-person trainings, there are many online classes available for no-cost on preparedness.
Yep, you guessed it, straight up good old networking with so many public safety pros.
Reporting live from SW Ohio…
“Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.”
I frequently present to Public Information Officers / Public Affairs Officers (PIOs & PAOs) across the country and talk extensively about preparedness.
For those that were wondering about the class attire, many of my classes get scheduled on a Friday aka #AlohaFriday
Proud to say that so many of them love the job and enjoy sharing ways to increase safety in all communities with FEMA’s Ready.Gov Program.
Your local Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Management agencies are a great starting point for preparedness activities. Then all state safety agencies and Federal partners cooperate top down with many key organizations across the country.
That’s right. Local works with state works with regional works with national.
Happy #AlohaFriday peeps!
“Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.”
“My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend brother’s girlfriend, heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night…”
Numerous government agencies are constantly trying to engage with the general public in every community. Keep up the good work ESF-03 and PIOs!
It must be serious.
Reporting live from the highway – #SaveFerris
I was discussing some Periscope tips with a few Police PIOs on an upcoming spot with the mounted unit. Great key points in the story, but I cautioned them on the variability and unpredictability of filming with animals.
Try your best to limit the view to close ups and reduce the amount of wide shots.
Also, consider having cut plan…aka alternate plan in case “stuff” happens.
(I should have posted this on Wednesday huh?)
