Tag Archives: State

Friday talks with Ohio EMA leadership

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It was great to spend some time with Ohio EMA leadership yesterday.

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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.

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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

JIS – JIC planning class for Tribal State and local PIOs

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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“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!

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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.

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And if you were wondering, class participants did well on their post-tests.

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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.

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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.

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(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.

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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

Before and after #SOTU – Make sure to Instagram it

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Back in January 2015, the President made a speech – #SOTU (State of the Union).

POUTS’ quote was “Good luck Captain. Make sure to Instagram it.”


And on January 20, 2015, Commander Kelly’s Instagram account looked like this.


@STATIONCDRKELLY’s Instagram game =  *cricket*   *cricket*   *cricket*.

Aaaaand getting called out by the boss on national TV is…er….rough. Woof!

So as a quick follow up to the NASA program, it appears that Astronaut Scott Kelly has stepped up his Gram game and is regularly posting some really neat content.


Postings include selfies too. Not bad because in space, there are not a bunch of people standing around to take pictures.

@rusnivek

Another brand new social media engagement presentation at FSU

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Also had a chance to be one of the first instructors to deliver the new social media engagement presentation for FEMA/NDPTC.


Florida State University uses social media heavily to engage and inform their entire student body, faculty, as well as alumni of events ongoing on campus at Tallahassee.


FSU have a great social media presence. Consider following them @KeepFSUSafe @FSUAlerts @FloridaState #LifeAtFSU


Not only on a computer but from various mobile platforms and public warning systems too! Well done FSU!

A very special thanks to my awesome co-instructor Jennifer aka call sign: “other”.


Such a great adventure! Very proud of the work I’ve been assigned.

Reporting live from FEMA Region-4!

@rusnivek

Created and designed and now piloting the new SM

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I rolled out my new FEMA presentation for FEMA Region-4 peeps at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.


At this time, this course is the semi-final pilot so I’m almost there!

Obvs, I had to incorporate a great preparedness campaign from my friends at the CDC.  Have you heard of their preparedness campaign before? It costed the CDC a killer $87 (Get it? I’m so punny).


How about them Zombies?


Classroom activities make it easier for our all-hazards partners to come up with good messaging during preparedness, response, and recovery.


Shared experiences and open discussion amongst public safety providers allows for solid social media solutions to be developed for many common issues.


Participants use various hardware and software platforms to complete each assigned performance-based task. This showcases the spectrum of social media that spans hardware and software differences.


Final will be presented for certification in August in FEMA Region-9 at the State of California Emergency Operations Center located in Sacramento.


So nervous! But seriously, I’m so excited for this project, I can’t even…

@rusnivek

Merick named Executive Director of Ohio Emergency Management Agency #OEMA

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Sima Merick was named as the Executive Director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

  
Previous Executive Director Evan Schumann now serves as the Deputy Director of OEMA.

The primary mission of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency is to coordinate activities to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. This mission is carried out by closely interfacing with local, state and federal agencies in an effort to bring resources of recovery and support to Ohioans impacted by the disaster. In addition to disaster response and recovery, Ohio EMA agency activities include: education, training, planning and preparedness – strengthening Ohio’s first responder capabilities and improving communication across the state.
@rusnivek

Ohio State win should be enjoyed ON A COUCH!

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First off, congrats to The Ohio State University Buckeyes on their national championship win last night. O-H-I-O.

However, mini riots and torching things on High Street just doesn’t make sense.

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If you are so happy, why would you burn something? In college, I remember not having much (like milk crates and plastic sporks) and the last thing I needed was to have to spend another $400 on a cheap couch.

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I guess I’ll never understand why it’s so cool to burn your couch.

@rusnivek