Penobscot EMA
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Newsletter Date September 2015
A Picture is worth a
thousand words
St. Joseph Hospital Haz-Mat Drill
Earlier this month St. Joseph’s Hospital ran
a Haz-Mat Decon drill. The purpose of the
drill was to assess, demonstrate and evaluate the equipment located in their HazMat trailer, and set up the Decon tent.
Take videotape or photos of
your home inside and out and
store in a safe deposit box or at
a different location. This can
come in handy after a disaster
to show the insurance company, etc. and to help in filing your
claim.
Irreplaceable Family
Heirlooms
Store irreplaceable family heirlooms, jewels, etc. in a safe location such as a safe deposit
box. These items can never be
replaced. Jewelry items that
aren’t generally used on a regular basis could be kept safe in a
secure area away from your
home.
Staff from St. Joe’s, Bangor Fire, Orono
RRT, and Penobscot EMA teamed together to practice their skills and evaluate the
outcome.
Haz-Mat Decon Tent Set-Up
The drills objectives were to demonstrate the
functionality of the Emergency Operations Plan
as it pertains to a chemical spill. All objectives
were met.
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Organizational chart/resource assignments
Communications
Incident Site Map
Weather Forecast
Debriefing and discussion
Lessons Learned from Public Relations Nightmares
Avoiding a public relations (PR) fiasco is much more difficult now that social media and the Internet are primary sources of communication. One careless phrase, message, or action can damage
a department or agency for years – even if it isn’t necessarily wrong or wasn’t intended as derogatory – and the Emergency Services Sector has seen its fair share of this.
Many big PR disasters have obvious lessons we can all learn from. The PR firm Solomon
McCown publishes a twice-yearly list of news-worthy crisis communications takeaways. So far,
the first half of 2015 has had plenty to choose from, but the list released ranges from sports stories to journalistic slip-ups and all demonstrate several important lessons on leadership and management that can be applied to emergency first responders and related fields.
Most emergency services departments and related agencies will have some kind of bad publicity
hit them, though likely not at a national level. Public Information Officers and leadership should be
prepared to manage such an incident in a controlled way to minimize damage and limit rumor and
hearsay. In addition, all members of the department should be regularly reminded that their actions will affect the organization as a whole.
www.disaster-resource.com (Source: Disaster Resource Guide)
Page 2
Training Opportunities
Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC)
Military Medics & Tactical Team EMS Providers
Date: October 3rd, 2015 8:00 am—4:30 pm
Location: Eddington Fire Dept., Eddington, ME
Call: 877-0936
Register online at: www.apenm.org (Specialty Programs)
Cost: $85.00 per student— 20 student limit.
Confined Space Refresher
Date: October 3rd, 2015 8:00 a.m
Location: Brewer Fire Dept. Brewer Public Safety Bldg.
Contact: Erik Tourtillotte, Brewer Fire 989-7002
FEMA Independent
Study
Distant Learning
The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers self paced courses
designed for people who have
emergency management responsibilities and the general public. All are
offered free-of-charge to those who
qualify for enrollment.
http://traning.fema.gov/IS
Basic Public Information Officer Course (G290)
Date: October 6 & 7, 2015 8:15 am—4:30 pm
Location: MEMA-Central Maine Commerce Ctr
Contact: Mike Grant, MEMA 1-800-485-8735
Instructions: FEMA application is required; go to www.maine.gov/training
Advance Incident Command Systems (ICS 400)
Date: October 14 & 15, 2015 8:15 am –4:30 pm
Location: Jeff’s Catering, 15 Littlefield Way, Brewer, ME
Contact: Mike Grant, MEMA 1-800-485-8735
Instructions: FEMA application is required; go to www.maine.gov/training
NIMS Resource Management (G703)
Date: October 27 2015 8:15 am –4:30 pm
Location: Penobscot Cty EMA/EOC, 69 Hammond St, Bangor
Contact: Mike Grant, MEMA 1-800-485-8735 or Michelle Tanguay 945-4750,
mtanguay@penobscot-county.net
Instructions: FEMA application is required; go to www.maine.gov/training
EOC Management & Operations (G775)
Date: October 28 & 29, 2015 8:15 am—4:30 pm
Location: MEMA-Central Maine Commerce Ctr
Contact: Mike Grant, MEMA 1-800-485-8735
Instructions: Prerequisites classes are IS775online class , ICS100, ICS200,
and FEMA application is required; go to www.maine.gov/training
FMI on all upcoming MEMA training: http://www.mema.gov/mema/
training
One of the tests of leadership
is the ability to recognize a
problem before it becomes an
emergency.
Arnold H. Glasow
Page 3
September 2015
National Preparedness Month
Article prepared by: David Feeney, CCEMA
September is National Preparedness Month (NPM),
and is a reminder of the risks of natural hazards and
manmade threats and the importance for individuals,
families, schools, communities and businesses to be
prepared.
Hurricane Sandy blew throughout the East Coast October 2012; intense wildfires continue to blaze in the
West, which lay the groundwork for deadly debris flows
in their aftermath, and scorching temperatures combined with low precipitation have brought widespread
drought to much of the American heartland. Natural
hazards like these threaten thousands of lives and
cause billions of dollars in damage every year throughout the nation.
Be Informed
Being prepared means staying informed.
Check all types of media—Web sites, social
media, newspapers, radio, TV, and mobile
phones for local, as well as national and global
information. During an emergency, your local
Emergency Management or Emergency Services office will give you information on such
things as open shelters, status of the disaster,
and recovery efforts.
National Terrorism Advisory System
The National Terrorism Advisory System, or
NTAS, re-placed the color-coded Homeland
Security Advisory Sys-tem (HSAS) in April,
2011. The NTAS system effectively communicates information about terrorist threats by
provid-ing timely, detailed information to the
public, government agencies, first responders,
airports and other transporta-ion hubs, and the
private sector.
It recognizes that Americans all share responsibility for the nation's security, and should always be aware of the heightened risk of terrorist attack in the United States and what they
should do.
The NTAS Alert – How can you help?
Each alert provides information to the public
about the threat, including, if available, the geographic region, mode of transportation, or
critical infrastructure potentially affect-ed by
the threat; protective actions being taken by
authori-ties, and steps that individuals and
communities can take to protect themselves
Get an Emergency Kit
and their families, and help prevent, mitigate or
If a disaster were to strike your community, you may
respond to the threat.
not have access to food, water, or electricity for some
Citizens should report suspicious activity to
time. By taking time now to prepare emergency water
their local law enforcement authorities. The “If
supplies, food supplies, and a disaster supplies kit, you
You See Something, Say Something camcan provide for your entire family.
paign across the United States encourages all
citizens to be vigilant for indicators of potential
Make an Emergency Plan
terrorist activity, and to follow NTAS Alerts for
Make plans with your family and friends in case you’re
information about threats in specific places or
not together during an emergency. Discuss how you’ll
for individuals exhibiting certain types of suspicontact each other, where you’ll meet, and what you’ll
cious activity.
do in different situations.
Would you be ready if there were an emergency?
NPM is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Ready Campaign in partnership
with Citizen Corps, and the Advertising Council, each
September, to encourage Americans to take simple
steps to prepare for emergencies and disasters.
Page 4
Let Your Community Teach You Their Needs
Emergency communication is just as important before a disaster hits as it
is during and after. Reaching the public with the correct message in the
correct way – or in many correct ways – is key to ensuring they know what
to do when faced with an emergency. During a crisis, the public will often
communicate their needs for future communication and education by
showing gaps in their response.
Taking a look over your agency’s response to an emergency or disaster is
wise, but do you also take a good look at how the public responded? Their
actions or inactions will tell you a lot about where to focus your energy,
time, and money in the future. It will also tell which group is listening or
following a specific type of media and where gaps in messaging might be
found.
Another concern is the focus of your pre-disaster messaging. As Emergency Management Magazine recently stated, “if the goal of our risk communication is awareness, we’ve already lost the disaster resilience battle.”
The vast majority of your community is aware of their risks, so focusing on
risk is unneeded. Transforming their awareness into action is the ultimate
goal. To do that involves making the risk personal and asking for small
steps towards reducing their risk, which will lead to more confidence and
larger steps towards the goal.
A community’s needs in a disaster vary widely and many locales have
minimal resources to spend trying to find where they can improve. By
watching and listening, you can identify and address communications
gaps, overlooked populations, and education needs.
(Source: Emergency Management Magazine)
Penobscot County
Webpage
www.penobscotema@squarespace.com
Our webpage offers links to our newsletters, meeting minutes, training information, partners in Emergency Management and much more.
Please visit our site regularly as we update information and links often.
Penobscot County Emergency
Management on Facebook
Find us on Facebook too! Just search
Penobscot County Emergency Management Agency.
We post updates as they happen. Drills,
training, Maine Prepare tips, FEMA and
NWS notices, .
Maine Prepares Tips
Emergency Preparedness for Schools and Students
http://www.maine.gov/mema/prepare/schools/index.shtml
Your school is the heart
of your community. Is it
ready to weather the
storm?
School preparedness has two facets, emergency planning for the school
site itself, and educating school staff and students about hazards and
emergency planning.
Visit the above weblink and you will find the following links.
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Maine School Security Guide: 20 Simple Strategies to Safer Schools
Maine Comprehensive Library of Planning Resources
Get students thinking about emergency preparedness
 Resources for educators from FEMA Ready Kids
 Preparedness education from the American Red Cross
 Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP)
 National Youth Preparedness Strategy