Boots on the ground. That’s one of the things that distinguishes this podcast from others. Yesterday areas around Nashville, Tennessee woke up to devastation from a string of tornadoes that struck the region. At the same time, Dr. Joe Holley and his wife Kimberly Holley were activated by the state to respond to Cookeville, Tennessee to assist local responders.

Kimberly was called up first with both her USAR dogs to start digging through the wreckage that used to be homes there. Joe was contacted a few hours later to respond as a field medical director and help guide EMS crews in providing care.

We talked with Joe on this episode as he called in to the podcast with a report on what he encountered on the ground there and a little about Kimberly’s experiences. We will have both of them on for an in-depth after-action report on the deployment.

Our disaster weather experts Becky DePodwin and Kyle Nelson both came on to talk about how the National Weather Service meteorologists survey the damage to determine the wind speeds and categorize the tornadoes. We also talked about the need for things like NOAA Weather Radios in the home and to turn on the settings in our cell phones to allow wireless emergency alerts to show up. These things save lives.

Also on the show this week are co-hosts Sam Bradley, and Jamie Davis.

Book Links Mentioned in the Podcast:

The Mercy of the Sky: The Story of a Tornado

5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado

What Stands in a Storm: A True Story of Love and Resilience in the Worst Superstorm in History

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why

Join the Discussion

Join the discussion after the show with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis, the Podmedic in our Disaster Podcast Facebook Group now!

Paragon Brings “The Experience”

Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.