Look at me – I’m in the “Land of Enchantment”

As I mentioned in my past blog, I’m on the road again this week and I’m in New Mexico, a state I have not visited before.  Specifically, I’m in Acoma, New Mexico and I’m here to co-instruct a FEMA course titled “Continuity of Operations for Tribal Governments”.  Our class is being hosted by the Pueblo of Acoma .  “Pueblo” is Spanish for “village” and refers to both the people and the unique architecture of the Southwest.  The word “Acoma” and related words which are equally correct and historically applicable- Akome, Acu, Acuo and Ako- denote “a place always prepared.”

Acoma Pueblo is a Native American pueblo approximately sixty miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States. Three reservations make up Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, and McCartys.  We are in Sky City.

The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity.  The historical land of Acoma Pueblo totaled roughly 5 million acres; now only 10% of this land is in the hands of the community.  According the 2010 United States Census, 4,989 people identified as Acoma.  The Acoma have continuously occupied the area for over 800 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States.

Our class will provide tribal representatives with an understanding of how to develop and implement a Continuity of Operations program to ensure continuity of “community essential functions” across a wide range of emergencies and events.  Topics that we will cover over the next two days will include legal basis for continuity, continuity planning, determining essential functions, vital records management, and pan flu implications for continuity operations.

To get here, I flew in to Albuquerque and then drove the quick 50-plus miles over to Acoma.  I found the drive a bit challenging only because of the beautiful scenery along the way.  I’m attaching some pictures to share with you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So tomorrow we’ll start our class.  I hope you will come back and read about how we are doing.  Until then, I’m hitting the Prime Rib buffet.  Hope it’s good.  See you tomorrow!

As Harry Carey used to say … “Holy Cow”!

Well, two days ago we finished teaching our CERT Program Manager class in North Carolina.  My original intent was to have this blog posted yesterday.  Unfortunately, the flight home from Raleigh took a tad bit longer than I had planned.

In the early afternoon of our final class day, as we were winding down our class, I received a message from Southwest Air that my 9:35 PM connecting flight out of Baltimore was delayed and wouldn’t leave until 12:40 AM.  What, a three-hour delay, seriously?  In the next seven hours they can’t fix the problem so travelers aren’t inconvenienced?  This can’t be happening from my favorite airline!  Well, it gets better yet.  Our flight from Raleigh to Baltimore was on time and fine.  Unfortunately, the weather turned bad in east and several flights were redirected to Baltimore and delayed as a result.  It was one of those times when the airport was so crowded; people were sitting or lying down wherever they could find space.  As it was, flights resumed later in the evening once the storms passed by and so my flight home finally left Baltimore at about 1:40 AM which in turn got me back home at 3:30 AM.  So with a full day of meetings and no sleep the next day, my attempts at writing my final North Carolina blog didn’t happen as planned.  My apologies.

As the saying goes, “a day late and a dollar short” I’m now getting around to writing my blog so that I’m able to close out this last trip/class by saying “thank you” to all the folks in North Carolina for your hospitality.  In Raleigh, we had the pleasure of working with terrific people from all over the state.  In class, our participants asked great questions that were on point for the discussion.  Their Pre-Test vs Post-Test scores showed significant knowledge gain.  And the ideas they shared with each other were outstanding.  I have no concern that the folks we had in our class will leverage the knowledge and techniques we shared with and in turn will develop long-sustaining CERT programs across the state.  And working with my good friend and co-instructor “Joe” is always a real treat for me.  He’s a terrific instructor and all around nice guy.

Looking ahead to the upcoming week, let me give you a “heads-up” notice that this coming week I’ll be in Acoma, New Mexico which is about an hour’s drive west from Albuquerque.  The purpose for the trip is to co-instruct a FEMA course titled “Continuity of Operations (COOP) for Tribal Governments”.  Needless to say, I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get there.  I hope you’ll choose to come back on Tuesday July 31 and follow me on this wonderful adventure.  Until then, I’ll leave you with a few more picture from North Carolina, and say “be safe”.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day One of Training In North Carolina

Wow, while I have been here in North Carolina enjoying “cool” 90+ degree weather, back home in St. Louis, we are leaving our mark on history.  My friend “Jim” at the National Weather Service in Weldon Springs posted the following message today on Facebook …

Congratulations folks! We did it. Lambert Field has already hit 106 degrees this afternoon. Thus the summer of 2012 has broken the record for most days of 105 or higher: 11. The old record was 10 set in 1934. We tied the warmest morning in St. Louis history this morning with a low of 86, and now set a new record of days of 105 or higher. Quite a summer and it’s not done yet!

Getting Started

Early this morning we started Day One of our CERT Program Manager training.  We are conducting our class in the “Situation Room” (aka Emergency Operations Center (EOC)) at the North Carolina National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters in Raleigh.  Patty Moore, who is the North Carolina State Citizen Corps Coordinator, opened the class.

Joining Patty with his opening remarks, Mr. Mike Sprayberry, Deputy Director of Emergency Management, told participants that the Division felt honored to have our class taking place for the next two days.  He said from the state’s perspective, volunteers are really the backbone of Emergency Management.  Mr. Sprayberry shared with the class how in other parts of the world, he’s observed that people don’t have the same sense of “volunteerism” as we do here in the United States.  In other parts of the world, people feel as though if they do something for others they should be paid for it.  Here in the United States, it’s just the opposite.

North Carolina is very proud if its CERT Program.  The state ranks about 15^th across the country with the number of registered CERT teams (51).  Mike closed by encouraging participants to soak in the training that they were about to receive and then go back to their communities and do something with it – teach others to be prepared..

Applicability of Concepts

While the class we are teaching is specific to developing and managing a community CERT program, much of the material we are covering in the class is equally applicable to other projects and programs in both the public and private sectors.  The following is a good example of this.

Vision, Goals, and Objectives

The first unit we covered this morning was focused on establishing a program Vision, Goals, and Objectives.  The way that we describe our program vision is by creating a goal for the program.  We have to have that goal as a starting point so we can later determine whether we have made any progress.

Sometimes a goal is called a “Mission Statement”.  Often it will describe what you will provide to whom and in what geographic area.  The program goal should be a clear and succinct statement about the program’s purpose for existence.

In order to reach our goal, we must develop objectives.  Objectives are specific activities that the program will undertake to accomplish the goal.  Objectives describe our intended future results – specific things that we will accomplish.

When we write our objectives, we need to write them so they are SMART.  SMART is an acronym (and methodology) that’s been used in the Human Resources (HR) arena for some time.  For objectives to be effective, they must be SMART:

• Simple (or specific): It is clear and well-defined
• Measurable: There is a way to measure progress toward achieving that goal.
• Achievable: The resources available to accomplish the objective.
• Realistic: The goal can be accomplished within reasonable parameters (e.g., time, cost, resource expenditure).
• Timely: The objective includes a due date or a time when it will be accomplished.

The next thing we discussed was how to set program goals.  We introduced a simple five steps in the goal setting process:

1. Identify community needs and sponsor needs
2. Develop draft goal and objectives
3. Test the goal and objectives with sponsors and stakeholders
4. Periodically evaluate:
   • Progress toward achieving objectives
   • Appropriateness of objectives
5. Develop new goal and objectives as needed

This is an iterative process. Periodically the program must be re-assessed  to ensure its goals are kept in alignment with the needs of the community.  That means going back to Step 1 and repeating the goal setting process. The overall program goal probably will not change, but specific goals should be reviewed regularly and updated as needed.

SWOT Analysis

Lastly, we shared with our class that strategic planning of this type is not very complicated, but it is also not a skill that most Program Managers have.  However, there are lots of resources available that can be of great support to a Program Manager including a SWOT Analysis where you specify an opportunity and identify the internal and external factors that are helpful or harmful to making the opportunity a reality:

• Strengths – Positive internal factors within your control.  Things you could build on.
• Weaknesses – Negative internal factors within your control. Things you should restrict or improve.
• Opportunities – Positive external factors outside your control. Things you could build on.
• Threats – Negative external factors outside your control. Things you should try to minimize.

Knowing where a program is going and how it is going to get there is critical to overall success.  Goals and objectives are the tools we use to lay out the program’s future.  They are an important aspect of managing existing programs as well beginning new ones.  Therefore, we have to develop an overall goal and several objectives using the goal setting process.

And we closed out the day with a few comments from Rudy Rudisill Jr. who became director of the Law Enforcement division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety this past January 2012.  He oversees the operations of Alcohol Law Enforcement, Butler Public Safety and State Capitol Police.

Mr. Rudsill was very complimentary to the 30 participants in our class representing 20 counties from around the state.  He encouraged the class to look for ways in which to improve the synchronization, collaboration, and communication that takes place between the local communities and the state.  As we are currently in the middle of Hurricane season, the more organizations (like CERT) that we get involved at the local level , the better.

OK, so let me close out with a few pictures from our class.  Plan to come back on July 27 for my last blog posting from this class and a special announcement for next week.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Training in North Carolina

OK, so my good friend and co-instructor “Joe” and I are in Raleigh, North Carolina this week and we’re here teaching the FEMA Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program Manager class.  We are teaching at the request of the North Carolina Emergency Management Division  which reports in to the state’s Department of Public Safety.  Like them on their Facebook page .

The Emergency Management Division is one of nine agencies within the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. The division is responsible for protecting the people of North Carolina from the effects of disasters, natural and manmade.

Like other State Emergency Management organizations, the North Carolina Emergency Management Division responds quickly to support local government emergency operations. The three branch managers and 15 area coordinators are trained equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to rapidly respond to the scene of an emergency to coordinate the delivery of state assistance.  The resources of the state can be available within a matter of minutes to assist local governments.

Recent North Carolina Disasters

Like other parts of the United States, North Carolina has been faced with hot weather too.  This week they are predicting extreme heat across the state for the next several days that may cause the hottest temps ever observed here.  Actual high temperatures for the next 5 days range between 99 – 106, but with the heat index it will make it feel like temperatures are between 105 and 115.

• Between Sept. 27 and Oct. 1, 2010, the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole dumped between five and 24 inches of rain on Eastern North Carolina.  Major flooding occurred along the Cashie, Cape Fear, Lumber, Trent, Neuse and Dan rivers.
• On April 16, 2011 the largest tornado outbreak in state history swept across central and eastern North Carolina impacted more than 30 counties, claimed 24 lives, injured 133 people, destroyed and damaged thousands of homes and businesses.
• Last year, Hurricane Irene was a sober reminder just how destructive hurricanes and tropical systems can be for NC families, businesses and communities. While Hurricane Irene struck North Carolina’s coast as a Category 1 – the weakest level hurricane – the system caused the worst flooding that many of the Inner Banks counties have seen in decades. Flood levels ranged from two feet above ground level in Aurora to more than five feet above ground in Stonewall and Mesic.  In fact, more than one-third of the state was impacted by Irene, and many North Carolinians are still recovering from that powerful storm.
  North Carolina residents and emergency managers began preparing for Hurricane Irene August 24 as the Category 3 storm approached the state with 115 mph sustained winds. Effects from the hurricane could be felt in New Hanover County by the evening of August 26. By the time Hurricane Irene made landfall at 9 a.m Saturday, Aug. 27 near Cape Lookout the winds had diminished and was downgraded to a Category 1 storm.  The hurricane caused storm surge of 2 to 4 feet along parts of the Outer Banks and up to 15 feet along parts of the Pamlico Sound.

Location, Location, Location

Recently, the Emergency Management Division moved from their former location in the State Administrative offices to the new North Carolina National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters. The Joint Forces Headquarters sits on 15 acres in Raleigh, N.C. and is built to maximum anti-terrorism standards.   Check out this You Tube video of the North Carolina National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters Dedication Ceremony .

North Carolina BBQ

My wife teases me by saying that my life revolves around food.  While it pains me to think (or say) she’s right, I can’t think of many meals I didn’t like and even fewer that I’ve missed.  And to have a good meal with family and good friends … well, that’s what makes life fun.

I’ve often heard about how great North Carolina BBQ is.  Part of the intrigue for me was the spicy vinegar sauce that’s used and the chopped preparation of the whole hog meat.  So, for our first night, Joe and I ate at the recommended Pit .  Now that we’ve been there, I can say we weren’t disappointed.  The atmosphere was more “upscale” than what I was expecting (no picnic tables!) but it’s not “snooty”.  The service was excellent.  We had three servers assigned to our area, so we had plenty of attention.  We both ordered the more traditional “chopped BBQ” which came with the chopped BBQ meat (whole hog) and two sides (I had cole slaw and BBQ beans, Joe had mashed taters and ratatouille).  Before our orders came out, we munched on a couple of warm biscuits with honey butter and some hush puppies.  Our dinners were very good.  The meat was moist and very flavorful, and the sides were outstanding, although I wish they were a little larger.  I thought the prices were modest for a place like The Pit.  Would I recommend The Pit to others?  Yes.

Class Starts Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we’ll start our CERT Program Manager class.  We’ve got a good size class with just over 30 participants.  I hope you’ll come back tomorrow and read about the class and that facility we are in.  Until then, stay safe!

A week of Public Information Officer (PIO) Training

Finally, the hot spell was broken – for a while – last week.  Extreme heat hung around the Midwest far too long and looks like it’s coming back.  Here in the St. Louis area we had 10 consecutive days of triple digit temps.  On several days we broke temperature records.  The heat took its toll on many businesses as well as individuals and families.  With the drought and dangerous dry conditions, many community’s Fourth of July fireworks displays were cancelled this year.  Agriculture has been heavily effected by the heat and drought.  The price of corn and other crops is expected to increase due to future supply shortages.  Outdoor projects (i.e. construction) may have been delayed due to workers working shorter shifts to avoid the extreme heat.  Car washes were impacted due to water conservation efforts put in place by many cities.  And just think, we still have the remainder of July and August to get through.

Earlier last week, I was in Sedalia, Missouri teaching a class for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (MO-SEMA).  The class was “Joint Information System (JIS)/Joint Information Center (JIC) Planning for Tribal, State, and Local Public Affairs Officers”.  I’ll tell you more about the class shortly.

 Sedalia Missouri 

The City of Sedalia, founded in October 1860, is the seat of Pettis County in west-central Missouri.  Sedalia is located 90 miles east of Kansas City and 190 miles west of St. Louis.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12 square miles.

Since 1899, Sedalia has been home to the Missouri State Fair – welcoming nearly 400,000 visitors every August to the third largest State Fairgrounds in the United States.  Sedalia also hosts the annual Scott Joplin Festival, celebrating one of the best-known composers of the ragtime era.  The festival is held each year in early June.

The city’s economy is based on diversified manufacturing and service.  New and expanded manufacturing operations continue to grow the service industry and to attract new businesses to the community.  Much of the area surrounding Sedalia continues to be active farmland.

Back on May 25, 2011, a large tornado struck the southern side of the city. Significant damage was done to residential areas in the city, including two mobile home parks. Damage was also done to several businesses. The tornado was part of the most devastating tornado season in United States history which, by the date of the Sedalia tornado, had killed 500 people nationwide.  You may remember that three days earlier, an EF-5 tornado first touched down near the western edge of Joplin, Missouri.

The class

The purpose of this course is to build on the solo Public Information Officer’s (PIO) competencies gained in the Basic PIO (G290) course to applying those skills in an expanding incident where coordination is enhanced through the establishment of a Joint Information System (JIS)/Joint Information Center (JIC). This training equips PIOs with the skills needed to establish and operate in a JIS/JIC.  Participants also gain a working knowledge of operational practices for performing PIO duties within the National Incident Management System (NIMS) multiagency coordination system. The course demonstrates how JIC concepts are applied in a flexible and scalable manner at the local levels. The primary audience for this training is individuals who have public information responsibilities as their main job or as an auxiliary function primarily at State, local, or Tribal levels of government.  BUT … the concepts and tactics can easily be ported into the private sector as well.  Generally, in business, we’re talking about organizations commonly called External Affairs, Public Relations, Media Relations, etc.  Unfortunately, far too often public information (Crisis Management) is only dealt with at the time of incident; there isn’t much planning (if any) that takes place in advance of an incident.

The class focuses on the strategic Joint Information System (JIS), which is the process of how PIO’s will operate during an incident, and the Joint Information Center (JIC) which is the tactile – central location – facilitation of operations defined in the JIS.  The JIC is a place that enhances information coordination, reduces misinformation, and maximizes resources by co-locating (as much as possible) PIO’s.

One of the greatest benefits of this course, beyond the core knowledge, is a series of worksheets that students complete after each unit.  While the worksheets relate the course content to the participants particular work environment, participants generally need to be back on the job to add more details to the worksheets, but what they are able to complete in class turns out to be a good starting point to assess their current capacity for developing and maintaining a JIS/JIC and identify strategies to enhance that capacity.  This exercise is very similar to the exercise I use in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program Manager class which I also teach.

STL Metro Area PIO Consortium

On Thursday, my friend Scott, who I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, hosted the first quarterly meeting of the “STL Metro Area PIO Consortium”.  One of the many Public Safety functions Scott performs is that of the PIO for the Eureka Fire Protection District.  The PIO Consortium is a revamped version of a former group Scott facilitated.

The purpose of the Consortium is to offer an opportunity where local PIO’s and local media representatives could work more effectively together.  At this meeting we had PIO’s from many local fire departments, police departments, the Red Cross, and the Postal Service.  For a first meeting, we had a great turnout and a well-diversified group.  In the future, the Consortium will meet on a quarterly basis.

Like any other segment of society, the media has continued to change as a result of both technology and economic reasons.  Today, news gathering and reporting is almost instantaneous with current communications capabilities including social media.  No longer do we see teams arrive on scene to cover a story.  Often, it’s a single reporter who also serves as a videographer.  Reporters are tasked with doing more with less.  Therefore, it’s to everyone’s benefit if we learn to be effective working together in what may be very stressful situations.

In the “Joint Information System (JIS)/Joint Information Center (JIC) Planning for Tribal, State, and Local Public Affairs Officers class earlier this week, we instructed our students that it’s critical to have a strong PIO network established BEFORE the incident and not wait until it’s needed.  The “STL Metro Area PIO Consortium” demonstrates that proactive approach.

Public Information for Search and Rescue

And finally, as the Training Officer for my Search and Rescue Team, I asked Scott (who is also a member of our team) to deliver a presentation concerning how our team might engage with the media when we are mission tasked.  I first started to consider this during a search we were involved with earlier this spring in a local community.  Back in March, we were called out to search for a lost juvenile.  Once we arrived on scene we were confronted with media from all of the local broadcast stations in the St. Louis region, and it was at that point I knew we needed to do some media training and develop a well-thought out “Field PIO” Plan.

The presentation affirmed the following points for our team:

• We do have a Public Information/Media strategy and process in place to effectively address media inquiries.
• The process works well and should be followed for all media inquiries.
• If we are tasked with speaking to the media:
  • Think BEFORE you speak – gather your thoughts
  • Look professional – in the way you are dressed as well as your body language
  • Speak clearly – and don’t speak in technical language
  • End with a preparedness or educational message

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Looking ahead, I hope you’ll mark your calendar now to check back on July 24 when I’ll be blogging from a class I’ll be teaching with my buddy “Joe” in North Carolina.  Can’t wait to have some of that great Carolina BBQ!

Getting Prepared In a Year

Let’s continue on with building our preparedness at home.  Here’s what you can do now to add to your preparedness kit:

From your local store, pick up the following first aid items:

• Anti-diarrhea medicine
• Rubbing alcohol
• Two pair of nitrile (not latex) gloves
• Ipecac syrup and activated charcoal (to counteract accidental poisoning)
• Adult/Children’s vitamins
• Denture care items (if needed)

Things to Do:

Take your family to where your utility (water, gas, and electric) shutoffs are located in your house and make sure all of you know how to shut them off properly (if necessary).  If you don’t know, or can’t find your shut-offs contact your local utility for instructions.