Disaster Tough Podcast

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For the past 10 years, the best and brightest of Florida Hazmat have come together for networking, training and more.

In this episode of the Disaster Tough Podcast, host John Scardena gives us an inside look at the festivities in Daytona, Florida.

It starts with a walking tour of the symposium featuring Executive Director, Michelle Cechowski. Later on, Michelle and John join up with other symposium leaders, Chief Jonathan Lamm and Sai Oicata, along with DisasterClass Podcast host, Jason Perez for an engaging roundtable discussion covering a wide range of topics.

Items discussed include, among other topics:

(1) Best practices for hazmat response from the individual and team perspective
(2) The importance of continued education and training
(3) How Emergency Managers and Hazmat professionals can best work together and cross-train to make their efforts more effective and efficient.

The panel also responds to listener questions and comments.

This episode is a self-proclaimed "love letter" and tribute to the brave men and women who work in the world of hazardous materials, and the vital role they play in emergency response.


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How to build an Enhanced Next Level SitRep: 1. Sources – this is how you justify decision making. The more you have to follow your gut, the less information you have. Do not create chaos through guess work. With an atmospheric river… we know where the wind will blow and where the water with run. Sources should be anything that you will use to help build your sitrep. Some data sources will be live, others static. Some subjective, others quantitative I typically have 30-40 sources that I will run through each morning, including some with monitoring (like warnings or alerts) that can tell me that there is a major change or update. 2. GIS [Build a GIS tool] Obviously we will want to create a visual or the area of the county or hospital campus, by building, and the proximity to flooding and wind damage or potential cascading impacts. 3. Understand Cascading Impacts, by location [If then statements] Based on the sources, GIS tool, and understanding cascading impacts- from several if than statements for vulnerable areas. 4. Compare Known actions within Plan vs Reality [Identify Resources and staging – add as layer to map] Are the resources in your plan available, up to date, and readily available? If not, or there are new resources available – track this. Create a list of resources and staging locations. This is standard ICS so probably is not a huge shocker of an idea. What is surprising for most people is the idea that it’s included in a sitrep… which you would think is standard, but not always. For a hospital campus system… I would quickly confirm quantities of on-site resources like PPE and food. 5. Identify Unique Actions that must be taken, current ops period, 3 days, 1 week, response to recovery [work with stakeholders to achieve full scope] This is the fun part. Either set up a working group, with each stakeholder providing input on their actions… or set up a meeting and confirm. The real trick here is to get people to think in advance, despite the chaos in the moment. Always push for stabilization then normalization. Capture action items. 6. Current State of Lifelines – Viewer & and Stats Hands down, the best place I have seen do this is Florida. Hurricane Harvey was extremely effective because we developed the fundamentals of lifelines, but the viewer concept was already in highly sophisticated and in play in Florida the year before. If you must, you can set metrics for success in a response… but it’s much better to work with leadership to determine standards for: Normality Improving Degrading Stabilizing I would consider the following color system: Normal – Green Improving – Yellow Degrading – Red Stabilizing – Blue A side note- for ADA compliant, you may want to identify with something different. However, I have seen people use every version of cross hatch, vertical lines, horizontal lines, thick dots, thin dots, large symbols, text, etc. You might just have a seizor just seeing all the different lines. So, my suggestion would be to use the colors, with an overlay of black text with a white mask. For a county, you can make a county wide map with tabs for each. For a campus system, I would separate this by facility. I would also pre-idented priority facilities, such as research centers or in-patient/ resident facilities. 6. Simplify [Create an overview] – this is what it will look like by the time you are done setting this up. I would make this on ESRI platform or a similar live viewer. You should make a PDF version and save / add the previous sitreps to help with timeline tracking. Logo on the left corner Disaster Name or identifier Date / time range for when the information will be valid Name of person in charge of compiling information followed by a team if necessary Subject or Title: Enhanced SitRep Lage Full Center GIS map – An active map with the disaster overlayed, anticipated/ forecasted areas of impact, layer with cascading impact high hazard locations, Layer of current state of lifelines, as pre identified in the plan, and a layer of deployed resources. BLUF: Action Items by agency/ group Name the agency, provide the high priority missions with specific tasks. If you are only going to answer for your EM internal group- provide what you are going to do. – make it bullet point Name the areas of concern and why (bullet point) Provide opinion: Name an issue, what the team should do about it Next: Priorities Bullet Point type out the priorities of each stakeholder Next: Current Situation Bullet point stats Number of people/ staffs displaced Potential Financial Impact Geographic area of impact (as needed) Timeline viewer of the Lifelines, with pre-identified metrics for normality, improving, degrading, or stabilizing 1-2 Paragraph form explaining issues, as needed Next: Anticipated Impacts Bullet point locations with stats and time/ date range depicting when the issues will occur Next: Cascading Impacts – If then Statements Name a location followed by if X occurs this will happen, rate the likelihood of occurrence Lastly: A link to sources [a static list] If you put all of this together, you can have both a live viewer and a 2-page (front and back) PDF that will tell leadership everything they need to know about the incident. Public Relations will be able to speak to the media about the current status with accuracy. And most importantly, you will only need to update information as it changes. During a response, the missions grow then stabilize, the decrease. It may start off as simple as, “life-saving, life sustaining.” Then it will change to areas of focus after the full scope of the disaster has been captured, finally, priorities will decrease once locations are fully caught up to needs. If you do this correctly, your sources and stakeholder input will pre-fill your GIS map, action items, and areas of concerns. You can then do analysis to think beyond the current operational period and identify gaps that leadership should be made aware. Whomever will read your enhanced Next Level Sitreps will follow this train of thought as they read down the 2 page report: 1. Understand the incident scope – Answers the question of Why 2. Provide actions – Answers the question of how 3. Names resources – Answers the question of what 4. Provide impact overview with timeline – Answers the question of when 5. Sources – Answers the question of trust 6. All of this combined answer the question of who needs to be involved

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you," wrote acclaimed author, Fred DeVito.

As the calendar turns to a new year, many are looking for ways to change their routines and habits for the better, and the world of Emergency Management is no exception.

In this first episode of the Disaster Tough Podcast for 2023, host John Scardena and EM Weekly host, Zack Borst discuss what changes they see on the horizon for 2023 both personally and professionally.

Along with his duties as host of the EM Weekly Podcast, Zack is a frequent flyer on Disaster Tough. He also works as Director of Strategy at Doberman Emergency Management, and a professional

Emergency Manager for the University of Vermont. He is also active duty military, and has experience as a first responder and a firefighter.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast.

Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

We are also proud to support Instinct Ready Everyday Readiness Kits.

Learn more about Instinct Ready's incredible line of readiness products at: instinctready.com

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you," wrote acclaimed author, Fred DeVito.

As the calendar turns to a new year, many are looking for ways to change their routines and habits for the better, and the world of Emergency Management is no exception.

In this first episode of the Disaster Tough Podcast for 2023, host John Scardena and EM Weekly host, Zack Borst discuss what changes they see on the horizon for 2023 both personally and professionally.

Along with his duties as host of the EM Weekly Podcast, Zack is a frequent flyer on Disaster Tough. He also works as Director of Strategy at Doberman Emergency Management, and a professional

Emergency Manager for the University of Vermont. He is also active duty military, and has experience as a first responder and a firefighter.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast.

Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

We are also proud to support Instinct Ready Everyday Readiness Kits.

Learn more about Instinct Ready's incredible line of readiness products at: instinctready.com

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you," wrote acclaimed author, Fred DeVito.

As the calendar turns to a new year, many are looking for ways to change their routines and habits for the better, and the world of Emergency Management is no exception.

In this first episode of the Disaster Tough Podcast for 2023, host John Scardena and EM Weekly host, Zack Borst discuss what changes they see on the horizon for 2023 both personally and professionally.

Along with his duties as host of the EM Weekly Podcast, Zack is a frequent flyer on Disaster Tough. He also works as Director of Strategy at Doberman Emergency Management, and a professional

Emergency Manager for the University of Vermont. He is also active duty military, and has experience as a first responder and a firefighter.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast.

Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

We are also proud to support Instinct Ready Everyday Readiness Kits.

Learn more about Instinct Ready's incredible line of readiness products at: instinctready.com

It's been an eventful year in the Disaster Tough Podcast, and the world of Emergency Management as a whole.

Internally, the show continues to be podcast most listened to by Emergency Managers around the world. Meanwhile, The Readiness Lab as a whole continues to grow and create content related to disaster readiness and emergency management that cannot be found or matched elsewhere.

Externally, Mother Nature provided us with plenty of content to discuss and comment on in the form of weather-related disasters.

In this episode, host John Scardena recaps the year of 2022 in the world of Emergency Management. He also discusses how the industry is growing and evolving heading into 2023.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast. Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

We are also proud to support Instinct Ready Everyday Readiness Kits. Learn more about Instinct Ready's incredible line of readiness products at: instinctready.com

Support our podcasts with cool merch! www.thereadinesslab.com/shop

Wesley Long is the co-host of the show: DisasterClass

John Scardena is the host of the show: Disaster Tough Podcast

It's been said, "The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement."

As the Director of Emergency Management for the State of Vermont, Erica Bornemann knows this well, and works every day to make sure her department is operating at its highest level, especially in the winter, when the state is on high alert for emergency situations.

Erica has also served as the President of the National Emergency Manager's Association and brings more than a decade's worth of experience to the field of Emergency Managerment.

In this, her second appearance on the Disaster Tough Podcast, Erica and John discuss current policies and measures that are in place to govern the way emergencies are handled at the state level, and how various practices and procedures could possibly be improved going forward.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast. Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

We are also proud to support Instinct Ready Everyday Readiness Kits. Learn more about Instinct Ready's incredible line of readiness products at: instinctready.com

When disasters and emergencies happen, one of the first things people affected seek is comfort wherever and however they can find it.

It's been said, "Food is the most primitive form of comfort," and this week's guest on the Disaster Tough Podcast, David Marks, has been on the frontlines of making this a reality over the past decade.

David is the Head of Business Development for Operation BBQ Relief.

From Super Storm Sandy to recent refugee crises to the COVID-19 Pandemic, David has provided millions of meals to victims of these and other disasters all over the world.

During COVID, he and Operation BBQ Relief distributed 4 million meals in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over a 9 week period, while also allowing restaurant owners and workers to continue working after their establishments were shut down.

In this episode, David shares experiences of how providing a warm, high-quality meal to victims and emergency workers helps everyone feel that sense of comfort in a time of crisis they so desperately seek. He also talks about how collaboration and good partnerships make such efforts possible.

For more information about Operation BBQ Relief, visit operationbbqrelief.org.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast. Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.

Common themes in many episodes of the Disaster Tough Podcast are the importance of good communication, collaboration, and situational awareness.

These themes come up again in this week's episode, but are explored from the perspective of one of Disaster Tough Producer, Aman Chabra.

Aman has been editing and producing the Disaster Tough Podcast since April 2021. Before working behind the scenes on DTP, Aman worked for various television and radio media outlets in California, Idaho, and Colorado.

He left the media business in 2014 to pursue a career in local government in the Denver Metro area as a Videographer.

In this episode, Aman and John explore how Emergency Managers and media professionals can better work together to make sure people are informed, and how both sides can use their skillsets to work in conjunction with one another during times of crisis.

Doberman Emergency Management owns and operates the Disaster Tough Podcast. Contact us here at: www.dobermanemg.com or email us at: [email protected].

We are proud to endorse L3Harris and the BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: L3Harris.com/ResponderSupport.