Internal Comms training for my #EmergencyManagement staff

As we continue our training, we want to be cognizant of all kinds of skills needed to be successful in Emergency Management.

Many of you have been apart of a training or exercise…and have indubitably identified that communications is an action that needs more work. But how can you make that fun? Well, enter one of my Thunderbolt-esque exercises.

Giving the nod to former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, these types of no-notice trainings engage our staff and forces them to think outside the box.

How outside? In this exercise, we cover

  • Communications
  • Type/Kind resources
  • Staging
  • Incident Command
  • Terminology
  • Nomenclature
  • Scene size-ups
  • Operations
  • Sequential
  • Prioritization
  • Ordering
  • Tactics

And to boot, it’s non-traditional training cause there are no powerpoints. Zero. Zilch. No joy. Gonzo. Nada Ghostrider.

As adult educators, we often forget that people learn things differently. Additionally, we as instructors need to explore outside our comfort zone and teach things in a classic lecture AND non-traditional style.

I am incredibly fortunate to have a staff that loves to train and enhance their skills. Train like you fight!

Want to know more? Want to train better? Come and be a part of my Emergency Management Team. You’ll see.

@rusnivek

2019 National Preparedness Symposium (Day-1)

Early morning start to this Tuesday waiting for clearance from tower.

But before you know it, we are off heading 150 to the 2019 National Preparedness Symposium!

Awwwww yeah, training & exercises and all the FEMA peeps in one place here at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Alabama!

Started off with a talk from the National Integration Center on the new National Response Framework and Community Lifelines.

Chad walked us through soooooo many programs that Doc talked about previously. Glad to see his work has carried through to inspire a new generation of Emergency Managers.

Continued with spirited discussion from my friends at FEMA EMI on the ongoing efforts for the Emergency Management Professional Program.

Lots of recs on what to take and complete as they could (hint hint) require this for EMPG grant funding employees. Yes that’s right, they can mandate these courses to qualify for grant funds.

So yeah, I’d suggest you get on those courses right away.

Then we hopped deep into a FEMA Region 5 meeting w/ our partners from Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and of course Illinois. Overview of exercises “Basically, June is going to be insane.”

Grrrrreat.

Then, it happened. One of the Training & Exercise Managers called me out as “The Legend! We have a picture of you on our wall!”

Me: Blush

Joliet Fire Deputy Fire Chief gave us the biggest shoutout as they said to the entire region “Did you know DuPage trained all the Aurora Police PIOs? Their first day of the job was the day they had that shooting.”

Either way, it was good to report out for DuPage County OHSEM and their significant efforts in training for all provides from across Illinois.

And of course got a chance to see a few familiar faces in the crowd from Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Tennessee, New York, Kentucky, Louisiana, and of course Illinois.

Great to catch up to FEMA Region 8 James Taylor who served as my Disaster Recovery Center Manager during Hurricane Irma for the Florida Keys.

Glad to hear he is doing well.

Proud to see soooooooo many old disaster friends too.

Looking forward to hearing from Acting Administrator Pete Gaynor tomorrow morning as he will surely touch on our strategic mission objectives as well as building out a culture of preparedness.

Follow the hashtag used: #NPS19

Reporting live from the CDP….

@rusnivek

More EM staff IntraOp Radio Comms training

Concreting our IntraOp radio comms training today with our staff.

Enhancing the message and now assuring our partners get the right message in a timely fashion is so important.

Train like you fight right?

“Air Branch from Ops Section Chief: I”m going to need four type two rotor-wing assets to arrive at the helistop at 1800. How do copy?”

You know our staff – we ain’t messing around.

@rusnivek

As we prep for the extreme cold weather #EOC

As we prep for the upcoming extreme cold weather, I am so proud of our staff at DuPage County OHSEM.

So proud to see our EOC readiness levels all blued out as we continue to serve our communities through incredibly cold winter weather.

Yep, we’re all in.

Keeping our partners informed and working the Emergency Management coordination is the magic behind the scenes we hope not to have to use.

While we are prepared to handle anything, I hope we have to handle nothing.

@rusnivek

 

Day-2 of ICS…more than just a emergency response in your ORV

Day-2 of our ICS-400: Advanced ICS for Command and General Staff.

Fun stuff esp since many of our participants come from various backgrounds in response/recovery. Glad to see interaction and lotsa engagement between providers.

This is the crux of these types of emergency management classes. Aside from learning a bunch of things, in class, you easily build relationships for life.

@rusnivek

 

Starting another ICS-400: Advanced ICS

Another solid start to a fun ICS-400: Advanced Incident Command System for Command and General Staff course.

Looking forward to expanding on the concepts in ICS-300 and enhancing it with some of my most recent disaster deployments Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

Reporting live from the classroom of fun…

@rusnivek

 

Disaster assistance at a school? Sure thing! 

We were requested to support an event at Ponciana School mainly for all the parents and families in Key West.


So….we are in. FEMA PIO Kevin Sur onscene!

Our hope is that we conduct numerous events in communities to help answer questions about disaster assistance.


We have multilingual people who go out with our teams and help translate Spanish, Creole, Haitian, etc…and we have hardware and locations that meet the needs of the access and functional needs population at all of our Disaster Recovery Centers.


We even have flyers and informational materials in Chinese, French, Vietnamese, etc….

Sometimes, people are confused and are not sure if you should apply. Here’s a tip: Apply.


Our staff is ready to help. No matter what language, apply for disaster assistance. The sooner the better.


“This is what we train for, this is what we do.”

@rusnivek

Trust your staff to tell your agency’s story

Trust your staff and let them tell your agency’s story. Through their eyes, voice, and heart – the world will truly see the mission and goal.

Juan is a perfect example: Soon to be Father, an excellent DRC Manager, and most importantly, his family is from Puerto Rico. A testament to professionalism, dedication, caring, and compassion to countless survivors of Hurricane Irma here in the Florida Keys.

Me? I’m just proud to be on his team.

@rusnivek

FEMA Support for Hurricane Harvey response including key safety messages

Key Safety Messages:

  • Continue to listen to local officials.
  • Only call 911 if you have an immediate need for medical attention or evacuation assistance.
    • If you can’t get through to 911 on first try, keep calling.
    • Another option is to place a call to one of five numbers for the Houston Command Center of the United States Coast Guard. The numbers are:
      • 281-464-4851
      • 281-464-4852
      • 281-464-4853
      • 281-464-4854
      • 282-464-4855
  • Don’t drive on flooded roadways. Remember – turn around, don’t drown.
  • If you are in a high rise building and need to shelter in place, go to the first or second floor hallways or interior rooms. You want to stay on floors above floodwater or storm surge, but do not go to the highest floors due to wind impacts.
  • If you are under a tornado warning, seek shelter immediately in the center of a small interior room (closet, interior hallway) on the lowest level of a sturdy building. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside.

 

@rusnivek