In this episode of the Disaster Podcast we look at managing mental health patients in the disaster situation. Emergency situations by their very nature bring on additional stress that can overwhelm a person without mental health issues. When a person with an existing behavioral condition confronts a disaster situation, they can quickly become unable to manage their illness.

In this episode, we look at the potential risks of solar flares or coronal ejections on electrical infrastructure. Our disaster meteorologists Dan and Becky DePodwin join us to talk about space weather prediction and some of the unique challenges posed by this little-known aspect of the national weather infrastructure.

Dr. Joe Holley was deployed with Tennessee Task Force One USAR team as part of the Federal FEMA response teams helping state and local resources in search and rescue efforts in Kentucky. Now Dr. Joe comes on the show to discuss his experiences with this particular response and the aftermath for responders as they return home from the deployment.

Dr. Joe Holley has been deployed with Tennessee Task Force One USAR team as part of the Federal FEMA response teams helping state and local resources in search and rescue efforts in Kentucky for over a week and a half. He checks in with us from the field to give us an update on what his teams are seeing and how the deployment is progressing.

Static weather fronts are dumping double-digit inches of rain on parts of the South-Western and Mid-Western United States. Kentucky in particular has been severely affected with a major state disaster declaration in place and Federal FEMA response teams on the way to bolster state and local resources in search and rescue efforts as the rain continues to fall.

Dan Chapman joins us from the U.K. on this episode. He's an emergency management planner over there and comes on the show to discuss how they're handling the messaging around the recent heat emergency they dealt with.

This week on the show, we talk about recent weather impacts across the U.S. and the unique preparedness challenges they present. From record heat waves impacting already historic drought conditions in the Western U.S. to record floods and rainfall in parts of the Eastern U.S., all people are facing some sort of weather related challenge. Even parts of Europe are facing record setting heat waves.

We tackle a difficult topic on the Disaster Podcast this week. We look at the challenges associated with gun violence and mass shooter event prevention. Guest Gary Christmann comes on to talk about the issues around stress for first responders after such events.

In today's episode we bring the Disaster Podcast regulars together to talk about preparing for summer disasters and heat related injury and illnesses associated with this time of year.

Gary Christmann has over 28 years of paid and volunteer experience in several areas within emergency services. He worked for the St Louis Emergency Management Agency for 18 years within the Department of Public Safety. Mr Christmann was the Deputy Commander of the Missouri Disaster Response System (MoDRS). Currently he is the Lead Deputy Commander of the State MO-1 DMAT/DMORT and a board member for the Interstate Disaster Medical Cooperative (IDMC). So, what does a guy like this do for fun? He’s s storm chaser!