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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

My Dad started his Neighborhood Watch Program!

Posted on June 27, 2016 by rusnivek

I’m proud of my Dad who setup his Neighborhood Watch Program.

Dad has been planning this for months now and even posted signs to get everyone involved. Because inviting and talking with the entire neighborhood about safety related topics are the key points of the Neighborhood Watch program. Also, my Dad went big – he blocked off the entire cul-de-sac for his event!

Honolulu Fire Station-30 (Engine-30 & Ladder-30) stopped by to share some safety tips and what to do during an emergency.

Ladder-30 showcased their equipment for everyone to see.

Talked about ventilation saws for trench cuts and vertical cuts for fires.

Also talked about extrication tools and generators for car accidents and confined space rescue.

All the kids in the neighborhood got a chance to try out the headsets used for communications in the apparatus.

Honolulu Police stopped by too.

Even a surprise flyby thanks to Honolulu Fire Air-1 Helicopter.

In the end, this kind of neighborhood program is truly the basis of a safer community.

Education, particularly teaching kids during an emergency, how to call 9-1-1 is crucial to a safe community.

My Dad volunteered to do this. Yep, not paid. Just doing his part to keep his neighborhood and community safe. LOVE IT!

There are many other volunteer programs showcased by DHS/FEMA’s awesome Ready.Gov campaign on safety. Just like my Dad, I volunteer too with my community’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) aka RH-CERT.

Whether you are a part of your own Neighborhood Watch Program, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Volunteers in Police Service (ViPS), Medical Reserve Corp (MRC), Fire Corps, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs), etc…all of these civic based programs are so important to the fabric for the safety of our community across this great country.

So proud of my Dad!

@rusnivek

PIO training on #AlohaFriday

Posted on June 24, 2016 by rusnivek

Lots of training for a Friday…

…on this #AlohaFriday.

Yep, they started periscoping w/ my phone.

Dang it Morales!

At the second station, it was a bit more relaxed, but found out there are more Pinterest users at the station than you would ever believe.

Happy #AlohaFriday everyone.

@rusnivek

How Emily Austen got fired in ~25 min bec of FacebookLive #SMEM #PIO Safety-PIO-SM-16-003

Posted on June 17, 2016 by rusnivek

Fox Sports reporter Emily Austen made the news…yes, she was the news this week when she FUBARed her career on FacebookLive. (If it helps, fast forward to 25:33)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMvCIgX_kMs

Wait, did Emily just say “Like, I didn’t even know Mexicians were that smart.”

WTF!?!?!?!?

SMDH

Fox Network immediately fired her because of her comments on FacebookLive. Let that sink in for a moment. Fox Network fired her for all the inappropriate comments in this unaffiliated FacebookLive broadcast.

Yeppers-you can get fired for stuff you do on social media.

To be fair to her, Austen did post a statement about it here.

But, to add more fuel to this fire, here’s a story about it from Complex News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrT46AL4cSU

Again, I repeat:

You can lose your job over a picture.
You can lose your job over a 140-characters (tweet).
And yes, you can lose your main job on a couch during a live broadcast.

All thanks to social media.

For more case studies on others who lost their jobs because of social media, check out this link.

In this case, what would have helped?

Not saying dumb things.
A behind the scenes PIO to help coordinate conversation.
Sticking to the “script” of the interview/session.
Professionally maintaining topic relevance and choice of words.
Sticking to communications strategy and abiding by identified corporate Policy/Procedures and SOPs/SOGs.

Or just straight up – don’t say inappropriate things.

Now phleeeze – go out there and use your social media live broadcasting powers for good!

@rusnivek

Another great Ohio EMA Basic #PIO course at Independence Fire

Posted on June 2, 2016 by rusnivek

Great Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) class with so many brand new Public Information Officers (PIOs).

Special thanks to Fire Chief Steve Rega and Assistant Fire Chief Wheeler and all of Independence Fire for hosting this great all-hazard course.

Oh you know me. Just doing my share reppin Ohio EMA…

…in helping everyone understand EOC Operations and the importance of a Joint Information Center (JIC) that regularly engages on social media.

Additionally, I love pushing the classic Emergency Management mantra of getting everyone to work together BEFORE an incident is a hallmark of sucess.

Bonus, I got to hang with one of my favorite PIOs – Erica Creech (aka Mama PIO)!

I can’t wait to work with so many of you in the near future.

@rusnivek

Chicago Fire 51s

Posted on May 14, 2016 by rusnivek

Station 51 from “Chicago Fire”

Yes, I do not watch the show. Too much Hollywood. However, I do appreciate the nod to Emergency!, Squad-51, and Engine-51.

@rusnivek

State of Ohio EMA new Joint Information Center class in #SummitCounty #JIC #JIS #PIO #ESF15

Posted on May 5, 2016 by rusnivek

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.

slow-clap

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.

@rusnivek

April 2016 was solid, but it’s gonna be May

Posted on May 1, 2016 by rusnivek

April 2016 was solid, but it’s gonna be May…..

Instructors Kevin Sur and Justin Timberlake. Heh.

First week, I will be instructing FEMA’s National Emergency Management Executive Academy Program at EMI specifically on Crisis Communications, Public Information Officer, and Social Media. Then heading back to Ohio to teach a basic Public Information Officer’s Course and Joint Information Center/System course (G-290/291) in Summit County. R3 and R5 = Twofer in just the first week!

Second week, I will head back north to Michigan to teach social media at Michigan State University. Then the last half of the week spent in Chicago for meetings with various public safety officials including Chicago Fire.

Third week, we have a State of Ohio Emergency Management Instructors’ Workshop at Ohio EMA in Columbus. Good chance to chat and share successes with our staff – who are all good stewards of Emergency Management. Cbus baby!

Fourth week, I will be instructing in the big DHS/FEMA 2016 National Training and Exercise Symposium at EMI. Whohoo!!! Hoping to catch up to Brian Kamoie and Doc Lumpkins again. Then jetting off to Nebraska to teach Social Media and Crisis Communications in the statewide CPESymposia. R3 and R7 in the hizzouse!

fema_regional_map

Yep, it’s a 3-5-7 kinda month – A big month indeed.

@rusnivek

#CJSavesCLE gets nominated for an Emmy!

Posted on April 29, 2016 by rusnivek

Super proud to see our little 2015 Christmas project #CJSavesCLE get nominated for an Emmy!

Check out the Fox8 story here.

Cleveland Police, Cleveland FBI, A Special Wish Foundation, led the charge. But so many public safety agencies and officials that made this day possible.

I can’t thank them enough. All the planning was totally worth it.

CJ – still such a cool dude!

Many mahalos to my friend and fellow CPD Public Information Officer Sgt Jen Ciaccia.

@rusnivek

Providing oversight on today’s US DHS and PS Canada International Exercise #Cause4 #CauseIV

Posted on April 27, 2016 by rusnivek

I was requested to support the Department of Homeland Security’s 2016 Science and Technology Cause-4 International Exercise between the United States and Canada today.

United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Public Safety Canada. Yep-international baby!!!!!

But crossing borders is more difficult than you think – esp when dealing with patient privacy, tactical operations, and coordinating efforts amongst ultra type-A personalities.

This is why training and exercising is so crucial to agencies who want to make a different in their communities they serve. This is also why Emergency Management is ideally a solid coordinating entity for this type of response.

In this particular international exercise, emergency response agencies are testing EMS response, transport information, sharing actionable data, social media, and a whole lots others stuff.