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Emergency Management, Emergency Services, & Disaster Spox

Morning briefing in the EOC with IL USAR TaskForce-1.

Posted on January 30, 2020 by rusnivek

Morning briefing in the EOC with the State of Illinois USAR TaskForce-1.

Special thanks to OTFPD Chief Ralph DeLucca on providing information on their response as well as their resources.

It is imperative that Emergency Managers continually learn about teams and resources from their jurisdictions. In crisis, there will be no time to forge these relationships. Your interactions will be judged on how seamless your operations and rollout goes.

Experience will show itself in seconds. In order to call the shots, you have to talk the talk and have to have walked the walk.

Trust me, people are watching.

And judging.

Reporting live from the EOC this morning….

@rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic PIO Course here in KY

Posted on June 26, 2019 by rusnivek

Day-2 of the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer Course here.

Glad to finally meet Lexington Fire Capt Jessica Bowman who is also one of the FEMA Master PIOs.

Great day to share some of the tools we use as PIOs. Here’s Sherelle and John talking about the importance and fashionable safety vests are for officials onscene.

Additionally, we discussed media being well visible as their safety is incredibly important. We can’t have our friends in the news business get hurt or become part of the incident.

And trust me, the more people who get injured in an incident, the more paperwork we all have to fill out….so be safe!

As usual, we had a very seasoned media panel from WLEX18 Bill Wilcox and Herald Leader Peter Baniak. Many thanks to both news organizations to spend time out of their busy schedule to spend with PIOs from across the state.

With all Basic PIO classes, we talk about the ability and flexibility for PIOs to do field reporting. Often times, reporters can’t get to a scene because of traffic or lack of staffing. Either way, we as government PIOs can help them out by packaging information they need from the scene. The tools needed to produce this kind of info is fairly easy to get, however the challenge is to put them into play.

By sharing the tactics and tools in class, I am able to improve the skills of any PIO by enhancing their ability to share solid timely and TRUSTED information with any of the targeted audiences.

As PIOs, we are beholden to so many audiences.

Public
Media
Leadership
Our internal teams.

At times, our job seems easy however once you dive into it, you can see the complexities of our efforts.

Don’t worry, we reviewed all mock on camera interviews. Tackled key concepts like redirects as well as some tips on how to give more positive non-verbals while being interviewed during crisis.

Super fun day with everyone. Lots of contributions from our partners from Fire, EMS, Police, Emergency Management, Energy, Coroner’s Office, Higher Education, Search and Rescue.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s FEMA JIC/JIS course!

Reporting live from the EOC….

@rusnviek

FEMA Basic PIO course at the PSOC

Posted on June 25, 2019 by rusnivek

Morning start to the FEMA Basic Public Information Officer course at the Public Safety Operations Center (PSOC)

Welcome and good morning by Mr. JB himself!

Packed house with multiple disciplines represented from Fire, EMS, Police, Emergency Management, ESF-12, higher education, Search and Rescue, Coroners Office, etc…

Like a good Emergency Manager, I found the EOC.

They have soooo many tools and toys to play with!

As all FEMA Basic PIO courses, we are staunch advocates of putting all participants in front of the camera. No matter what kind of experience level or years in the position, you can always learn by practicing your skills in front of others.

We typically hear complaints.

I didn’t get enough time to prepare.
I didn’t get the information in time.

I don’t know anything about plane crashes!

Blah blah blah. But the reality of the situation is….IT HAPPENS LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!

So yeah, we want to train like you fight.

For those that were wondering “Has this ever happened before?” Yes.

Looking forward to tomorrow day-2 with our news media panel, interview reviews, and focus on social media.

@rusnivek

Morning briefing with FEMA #USAR IN-TF-1 #PA-TF-1 #CA

Posted on September 18, 2017 by rusnivek

Starting my morning off with a quick briefing from the FEMA Indiana USAR big daddy….

Ladies and gents, put your hands together for the world famous WTFD Captain….FIRE MIKE!

MICHAEL PRUITT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, just glad to see a familiar face in the disaster.

@rusnivek

Surviving catastrophic flooding and key USAR numbers deployed

Posted on August 28, 2017 by rusnivek

A few home safety tips on surviving catastrophic flooding.

Some key USAR facts (from this morning’s brief):

6 type-1 FEMA USAR Task Force Teams deployed.
8 type-3 FEMA USAR Task Force Teams deployed.
13 Water Rescue Teams from FEMA USAR Teams deployed.
Over 900 USAR personnel working.

Stay safe out there.

@rusnivek

My new favorite MRE

Posted on February 13, 2017 by rusnivek

It’s Monday…but I think I found my favorite MRE.

spammre

Special thanks to my peeps at DHS/FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1.

@rusnivek

The newest class of All Hazards #IMT Logistics Section Chiefs

Posted on February 11, 2017 by rusnivek

Say hello to the newest All-Hazards Incident Managment Team Logistics Section Chiefs!

Photo Credit: Jeff Vaughn, FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1

Keep it real peeps.

Always remember, Logistics makes the magic happen.

@rusnivek

Final day of the AH #IMT #Logistics Section Chief course w/ OH-TF-01

Posted on February 10, 2017 by rusnivek

Day-5: Final day of the DHS/FEMA Ohio EMA All-Hazards Incident Management Team Logistics Section Chief course.

Again, special thanks to FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1 for hosting this week.

Solid morning as we talked about how the LSC frequently meets with the PSC well before much of the action happens.

In fact, it is likely that the LSC is at least 5 steps ahead of the OSC – to plan to supply and equip our tactical operations with the stuff they need.

Ohio EMA LSC Phil Johnson brief the class on how county agencies interact with our activated State EOC focusing in on resource ordering and task assignments.

Like good Logistics Section Chiefs, we debated the merits of pre-staging resources before they are needed for faster deployments and anticipating needs (leaning in).

Lots of discussion on EMAC and the success that the State of Ohio had with 2016 events including the 2016 Republican National Convention which was classified as a NSSE.

We discussed demobilization plans as well as factors that could contribute to delayed demob. As always, we emphasize on the safe return of all crews from disaster deployment.

At the end of the day, we were able to tour the DHS/FEMA USAR OH-TF-1 facility.

Amazing stuff!

Logistics plays a HUGE part of daily operations as they have thousands and thousands of pieces of deployable items needed for disaster operations.

So as you can see, LSCs have an insurmountable task of keeping order during non-disaster times.

For those in the military and are truly Logistics pees, I believe this is an amazing piece of equipment.

If you are a pro, and like to sling load your stuff, you should consider getting a few.

Special thanks to all the pros from DHS/FEMA Ohio USAR Task Force-1.

Yes it's Friday. That is an Aloha Shirt.

Yes it’s Friday. Look closely. That is an Aloha Shirt.

Superb ending of class with participants from numerous states on this #AlohaFriday!

Proud to serve my country and train other IMT LSCs from across this great nation.

@rusnivek

Day-3 of the AH IMT LSC course today feat #FDUL #MED #COML

Posted on February 8, 2017 by rusnivek

Great start to Day-3 of our FEMA All-Hazards Incident Management Team Logistics Section Chief course.

Welcoming the class this morning was Ohio Task Force-1 Team Leader Evan Schumann.

Over the years, Ohio Task Force-1 has been deployed to numerous national disasters.

You know me, I’m always proud of our entire state.

Their involvement with many others USAR teams across the country is critical in keeping the nation safe.

Today’s topics to includes:

Food Unit Leader (FDUL)
Medical Unit (MED)
Communications Unit (COML)

Key positions in the Service Branch under the Logistics Section Chief (LSC).

(That was your quick ICS online lesson for today. Reference your ICS Form 207 for more info)

Numerous agencies contributing great info today. Sharing of ideas are key.

Additionally, we have several Tennessee Task Force Team members in our class. Great disaster experience and sharing of ideas for any LSC.

DYK: Tennessee Task Force-1 is the most frequently deployed FEMA USAR Team in the nation.

Lots of discussion on resources and what kinds of equipment will be needed to support the BOO (Base Of Operations) as well as staging areas and keep personnel adequately fed.

Feeding Incident Management Teams seems like an easy task, but when you really look at providing healthy options and meeting all dietary options isn’t as easy as you think.

Bonus points for staying within budgets and caloric intake too.

And then allocating the resources neeeded to maintain and regulate these supplies are key piece in any disaster response.

This disaster response stuff ain’t easy!

Looking forward to Thursday’s class which will include deployable resources and equipment. What logistician doesn’t love that kind of stuff!?!?!

Reporting live from the home of Ohio Task Force-1…

@rusnivek

Day-1 of the All-Hazards Incident Management Team Logistics Section Chief course #IMT #LSC #USAR #OH

Posted on February 6, 2017 by rusnivek

Outstanding start to a week long All-Hazards Incident Management Team (IMT) Logistics Section Chif (LSC) Course.

Great week to be teaching in Dayton, Ohio – the home of FEMA USAR Ohio Task Force-1 (OH-TF-01).

We have outstanding participants from across the country including Ohio, Tennessee, New York, US Marshall’s Office, US Coast Guard, US Food & Drug Administration, and Ohio National Guard.