by Eric Holdeman: Emergency management in the blogosphere
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I have a philosophy that sometimes leaders have to exhibit what I call "False Enthusiasm." This is when things are not going that well, but we need to remain "upbeat."
Government budgets are going down, down, down. Washington State is looking at a 7%, perhaps 10% cut in state agency budgets across the board. If it had not been for a number of retirements I think there would already have been some layoffs at Washington State EMD, and I think layoffs in the future could be possible. Emergency management is not immune from these budget reductions. Fortunately there have been some federal Homeland Security Grants that have sustained some targeted efforts. For 2012 we can expect cuts there too. I proposed recently to one congressional staffer what those reductions might be and when I said a 50% cut, he did not think they would be that deep.
Which leads me to the jobs piece. If you are looking for a job I think you have to be mobile. If you are a recent graduate--look to the private sector and some of the larger consulting firms in the D.C. area. Another option is to broaden you job horizon a bit. See the job recruitment announcement below. Maybe it is not an exact fit, but in desperate times, desperate measures are required.
Safety and Health Professional
(Industrial Hygienist 3)
Washington State University's Department of Environmental Health and Safety www.ehs.wsu.edu has an opening for a Safety and Health Professional (listed as an Industrial Hygienist 3) located at the Pullman, Washington campus.
DESCRIPTION:
This position is responsible for developing and coordinating implementation of safety and health programs and conducting safety and industrial hygiene evaluations. General duties include evaluating work practices and equipment, investigating accidents, recommending hazard controls, and developing and conducting training. This position is primarily assigned to Housing and Dining Maintenance Services.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
A Bachelor's degree involving major study in occupational safety and/or health, industrial hygiene, chemistry, physics, chemical, mechanical OR sanitary engineering, environmental science, nursing, medicine, biology, OR related field AND Three years of experience as an industrial hygienist; OR equivalent education/experience.
LOCATION: Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
Washington State University is approximately eighty miles south of Spokane and seven miles west of Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho. WSU serves approximately 18,000 students. The surrounding area largely consists of agricultural and forested lands. Recreational opportunities abound in the nearby mountains and the Snake/Clearwater River system.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
Apply online at http://www.wsujobs.com The position is listed as an Industrial Hygienist 3. The position is open until September 20, 2010. Questions about the position may be directed to Ed Havey (509-335-5311; havey@wsu.edu).
FEMA has announced the 2010 National Citizen Corps Achievement Awards These awards span very large to smaller communities and also individual awards.
One of the success stories of the post 9/11 frenzy to create programs is Citizen Corps. It leverages a fairly unique American trait of volunteerism. The strength so far has been in the training that individuals receive and the awareness and education that is being shared, along with some skills.
The long term challenge is keeping "teams" energized and engaged. Certainly drills and exercises are needed to keep the fervor towards disaster preparedness going in a community. I also think that for the majority of very small cities having a "community team" is the way to go. These can augment first responders, who may be volunteers themselves.
Congratulations to everyone who got a 2010 award. You are doing meaningful work that will pay off in the long run.
Generally you see Microsoft running to catch-up with smaller software companies that have "out innovated" them. This time I think that it is Microsoft with their SharePoint software that is maybe about to outflank companies like WebEOC and E-Team.
I've now heard several emergency management programs looking to switch their EOC information management systems from a provider like WebEOC to a self-developed SharePoint solution tailored to their needs. The tools are similar and a talented SharePoint user can set up a solution that works. It also is the collaboration tool aspect of SharePoint that can be leveraged everyday in a regional setting that is very powerful. My previous organization, King County OEM is developing a regional SharePoint site that will share the collective plans of the region plus other valuable information.
If I was WebEOC I'd be looking for ways to differentiate myself from SharePoint. Otherwise their market share is going to be going down.
Who do you trust more, the National Weather Service, or the Farmers' Almanac? The winter forecast is out from the Farmers' Almanac and it looks to be a pretty typical winter to me. While we've had some warm Midwest winters, this one looks to be colder.
I'm happy to see "average" precipitation in the Pacific Northwest (which translates into a constant drizzle until the day after the Fourth of July 2011.
As the East Coast gets ready for the impacts of Hurricane Earl, it is our turn to be prepared for our own versions of severe weather in the coming six months.
There are of course thousands of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants that have been awarded. There is a total of $64.1B for transportation and other infrastructure investments. As of February $51B of that amount was obligated for 19,488 projects.
In these totals there is $210M for Firefighter Assistance Grants being administered by FEMA. These funds are building, remodeling, or repairing fire stations. By the numbers:
- Building 45 new fire stations
- Replacing 41 unsafe fire stations
- Renovating 16 unsafe fire stations
- Expanding 16 fire stations
I'm sure the communities and fire departments getting these new facilities will appreciate the new level of service that can be provide via this enhanced capability.
For more information see the report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Leave a comment
Port security has been one of the areas of emphasis following the 9/11 Attacks of 2001. The implementing legislation was the SAFE Port Act. Funding from this act has provide $1.5B in funding, an average of $400M each year. Since that authorizing legislation is expiring there is a new effort in the US Senate to reauthorize legislation to continue the program.
I see the container issue as being very similar to that of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) efforts at screening airline passengers. Did you know that there are 450M TEU (20' container equivalents) transiting the globe each year? There are 9.8 million containers that are carried to our shores each year by foreign-flagged vessels. While people are not looking at the physical container to "profile" it, there are mechanisms in place for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to screen shippers and what is being shipped. It is a pretty sophisticated operation that they have in place. Then there is the radiation detection systems that are in place to ensure that nuclear weapons or materials are not smuggled into this country.
Look for an effort following the November elections by Senators Susan Collins, R-ME and Patty Murray, D-WA to fight for the re-authorization of the legislation that has put the existing port security system in place.
My Name is Earl is of course a TV Sitcom that started in 2005. Today emergency managers who hear the name "Earl" are thinking more about Hurricane Earl and the path it is projected to take up the Eastern Seaboard.
The destruction that will happen depends on how far the storm tracks to the west. It could stay off shore far enough that it will only be a high surf event, or it could be the first big storm to hit that far north in a number of years.
Watching the national news there were several local emergency managers featured talking about preparations. I imagine the hurricane plans are being dusted off. You can count on FEMA doing a full court press to pre-station people and supplies. This could be the first big test of Craig Fugate's leadership as the FEMA Administrator. Everyone is sure to be watching how he and the agency perform.
Speaking from the "other coast" I do envy those emergency managers in seeing a potential catastrophe coming their way. In our worst case it is a "come as you are disaster" with no warning of an impending earthquake. Heck, I'd take an hour's warning!
There certainly is no reason that an agency or community should get caught with their shoes untied when the hurricane makes landfall.
Earl is coming, ready or not!
I think that if you asked most people across the nation when the most dangerous time of year is for wildfire they would say the summer. Which seems to be a logical since that is when it is the hottest.
Here in Washington State and other western states fall can also be a danger point for wildfire, especially here on the western side of the mountains. All it takes is a hot wind from the east blowing through the mountain passes to turn things crispy from an already dry summer. I keep saying that eventually we'll have a huge and catastrophic fire in Western Washington or Western Oregon and it will likely come in the fall.
Did you know that California has been experiencing a 100-year fire every five years? To me this is but another example of the hazards being amplified by climate change. The bark beetle is another example of what warmer winters have done. The bug is not killed off by the intense cold of winters and now is creating vast areas of tinder dry timber. At present, Canada is especially vulnerable.
Sunset Magazine has a good article Living with the new wave of wildfire It goes into how to fire proof your home and has some good links to web sites that can provide even more information on techniques that can save your most valuable asset.
Check out www.firewise.org and www.readyforwildfire.org the latter being a California Fire site.
One last note. My neighbors made me replace my wood shake roof with another shake roof about five years ago. Hopefully I'll be gone from this house when they realize the error of their ways. The one best wildland fire protection thing you can do for your home is have a fire retardant roof and not one made out of kindling.
I have fond memories of going to the local Carnegie Library in my home town of Freeport, Illinois. It was quiet and peaceful and the librarian was always helpful. I remember the children's section was on the first floor.
Beyond the Stacks is an article that made me think about how this very public of public spaces might be used by emergency management in the future. Traditionally we've used libraries as information points of dissemination. A place where we could have our paper brochures, etc.
Today libraries are connecting many people with the digital world. With a ready supply of computer terminals and perhaps Wi-Fi it could be a good place to help people connect with resources following a disaster.
If you local library is going beyond books to being a place where social services are provided or coordinated from, all the better to be a location that connects people with resources during a disaster recovery.
The librarian might be your next best friend!
The majority of news stories that I've seen and read have been generally positive about the status of the Gulf States for this post Katrina five year anniversary. Many news organizations have made their trips back to New Orleans to inventory the changes made over the last half decade. The NY Times article On Anniversary of Katrina, Signs of Healing is just one such story
There are success stories:
- A revitalize school system in New Orleans
- Neighborhoods rebuilt
- A levee system strengthen
- FEMA brought back to life from its depths of destruction
- A national disaster system that was "righted" from a terrorism only focus following the 9/11 Attacks
- Billions of dollars spent to try and protect people living where they should not be living
- Knee jerk decisions by congress and administrations to reverse mistakes made and in their haste, whip sawing emergency management programs around the nation.
- Disaster mitigation still in on the back burner
- People still flocking to our nation's coasts like lemmings--never thinking about the next big disaster waiting to strike
Thanks to Bill Cumming for sharing the link to the NY Times story above. Leave a comment
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National Preparedness Month aims to prepare the nation’s citizens and businesses for natural and manmade disasters.
Awards recognize innovation at the state and local levels in areas including preparedness and volunteer-first responder integration.
Grants will fund an interoperable communications network, safety audits and staff training.
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