Thursday, November 10, 2011

NETC Training. Free just travel costs

National Emergency Training Center
 
October 19, 2011

The application period is now open for the National Fire Academy.

The open dates are October 15 through December 15, 2011 for the classes scheduled for April through September, 2012.

If you have not been to the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland you are missing a national gem of emergency response and emergency management training.

Three entities occupy the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center- the National Fire Academy, the Emergency Management Institute and the United States Fire Administration. Located in northern Maryland, just 10 miles from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, it is the ideal location for great training and to meet other responders from all over the country.

Take a box of business cards and be prepared to enlarge your professional network many-fold.

The variety of classes range from technical to executive and are provided in a college atmosphere and professional environment. You say your budget can’t afford travel to Maryland…? The classes are free, your lodging on campus is free and the airfare is reimbursed. Your only direct cost is your meal ticket at the campus meal hall. Funded by Congress through the Department of Homeland Security via FEMA’s budget, this is a “don’t miss” destination as early as possible in your career.

Here’s the website to get you started.    www.usfa.fema.gov

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

FREE CEUs. Keeping FEMA Training Free

http://www.training.fema.gov/EMI/

Obtain FREE college level CEU (continuing education units) for associate, and undergraduate degrees in emergency managment.

Keep FEMA's Emergency Management Instititute training 'free'. 

If you are a U.S. citizen with a social security number register for any of the online distance learning courses.

The 'whole community' is everyone.  High school students, college, senior citizens, homeless, business owners, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, community organizations, sorieties, fraternities, the disabled, and incarcerated, re-entry program personnel and staff, half-way house personnel & staff, everyone.

OCCUPY......OCCUPY this....

Keep free training free.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Support 'New Proposed' Federal Snow Policy


 

 
Sunday, November 6 Washington Post
 

By , Published: November 5

We’ve all enjoyed snickering at those pathetic federal bureaucrats for suggesting that Washington area workers ought to just stay in their offices in a snowstorm or other emergency. Now can we please be adults and acknowledge that the bureaucrats’ approach is entirely correct?

Let’s go further and think seriously about how we, the public, can help make the plan succeed.
The alternative is to resign ourselves to the current reality that an unexpected workday snowstorm — or, do note, a terrorist attack — triggers instant gridlock on roads and rail that makes everything worse for everybody.

Raise your hand if that’s a problem you want to perpetuate. No one? As I expected. So let’s put on our big-kid pants, Washingtonians, and work with the authorities on this one.

Here’s the background. In an admirable effort to reduce congestion in an emergency, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has drafted new guidelines for when to shut federal offices.

The initial reaction has mostly been mocking. But it’s also focused on just one part of the plan, called “shelter in place.” Once snow hits, workers are asked to stay in the office until roads and Metro are capable of handling the load.

It’s easy to make fun. Will there be cots and free coffee while we wait out the storm? Who’s going to heed the OPM, anyway, when we’re in a hurry to get home?

Here’s the rest of the story. The other parts of the plan are designed as much as possible to prevent sheltering in place by ensuring that workers are already home when the snow falls.

For example, OPM will encourage more workers at more agencies to telework when it’s likely to snow. It will make decisions earlier than in the past on whether to close federal offices or authorize unscheduled leave and unscheduled telework. Ideally, it’ll decide the afternoon or evening before the day of the event.
“How do you get everybody out of the city? Don’t bring them in in the first place,” Dean Hunter, OPM’s emergency management chief, said in an interview.

Also, and this is crucial, when an unexpected storm threatens to materialize during a workday, OPM will strongly urge people to leave by a certain hour so as to arrive home before trouble starts. Only people who remained past the deadline would then be encouraged to stay until snow crews have had time to salt and plow. The wait would typically be a few hours.

Here’s where it’s vital for the public to buy into the plan. The OPM’s orders to leave early or stay at work would not be mandatory. So anybody who really needed to keep working or leave to pick up kids would be free to do so.

If too many people ignore the plan, then it’s sure to fail. But if just half the workers could be persuaded to respect the recommendations, then it could translate into huge relief for the commute.

“Part of this is really the need for public education,” Hunter said. “We’ll have limited success if we can’t educate people and have them internalize it. It takes some individual responsibility, really, for their own safety and security.”

The OPM guidelines, first reported Wednesday, are likely to be issued formally within weeks after final talks with other agencies. They are part of a larger Washington area snow plan, which I criticized just 10 days ago for being too modest in size.

I remain concerned that the region is investing too little and remains too fragmented to cope with the problem.
But now that I see how much the federal government is involved, I’m more optimistic. The feds employ 300,000 people in our region, and many local governments and private employers follow OPM’s lead in making dismissal decisions.

“This is a big deal that the largest employer in the region is realizing that they have a key role and the default, which has been everybody go home, is absolutely wrong,” said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), a representative on the region’s emergency preparedness committee.
Mendelson’s support is noteworthy, because he has been one of the most outspoken critics of the region’s emergency planning.

He and others credited OPM Director John Berry for taking the initiative. Berry, who grew up in Montgomery County, has a lifetime of experience with the region’s snow paralysis.

“I give Director Berry credit for getting out front and saying, ‘We need to do better than what we’ve done,’” said Charlie Bernhardt, a labor relations specialist at the American Federation of Government Employees.
For once, the authorities seem to be trying something that could make a difference to make our lives easier in a snowfall and safer in a terrorist attack. We ought to set aside our cynicism and do what we can to make it work.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

International Sector: Haiti, and Africa Short-Term Missions

http://www.lottcarey.org/


2012 SHORT-TERM MISSION ASSIGNMENTS

Pignon: Hosean International (Haiti)
Hosean International a service-based ministry, has been receiving teams and coordinating outreaches in Haiti since 1981. Mission service opportunities include: Children’s Ministry (Intensive English and Vacation Bible School) and Construction: Camp Grounds, Disaster Preparedness Warehouse and School.
Dates: Dec. 1 -9, 2011;
            Mar.16 - 23; 

            Jun 23 -30, 2012

Grand Goave: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (Haiti)
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF): The small CBF Mobile Medical clinic at Siloe is a clinic without beds. The clinic is in need of medical teams to participate in ‘mobile clinics’ to the villages in the mountain region of Grand Goave. Significant time will be spent seeing patients and addressing both emergency treatment, and providing ongoing care. Medical personnel such as: Doctors, nurses, dentists, technicians, EMTs, and more are needed.
Dates: February 8 - 15, 2012; 
            May 9 - 16, 2012


Addis Ababa: African AIDS Initiative International (Ethiopia)
African AIDS Initiative International (AAII): Offers care and support programs for at-risk populations exposed to the transmission of HIV/AIDS. AAII also helps poor women forced into sex-work to support their families. This ministry opportunity is for women only.
Date: May 14-22, 2012

Illegal to photocopy Gov't ID


Monday, October 31, 2011

Louisiana Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Louisiana Earns Perfect Score in Public Health Emergency Preparedness

State is tops in readiness for health emergencies

Tuesday, September 20, 2011  | 
Contact: Bureau of Media & Communications (225) 342-7913
 
BATON ROUGE, La.—For the second consecutive year, Louisiana scored a perfect 100 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) evaluation of the state's public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Louisiana and seven other states scored 100 two years in a row. Louisiana's public health laboratories also received exemplary marks. The CDC's "Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning" report released today evaluates the state over a three-year period, from 2007-2010.

Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein says the report reaffirms what he saw in action during the recent Pearl River fish kill, New Orleans marsh fires and Tropical Storm Lee. "Governor Jindal has challenged every state agency to execute our disaster preparedness and response functions flawlessly. I am so proud of our team at DHH, our sister agencies and all of our partners who have together proved that Louisiana is tremendously well prepared to respond to a health crisis. Whether it's been in the face of a hurricane, an oil spill or a pandemic flu, they have proven that fact time and again," Greenstein said.

DHH's Center for Community Preparedness Director Doris G. Brown, RN, MEd, MS, CNS, said the perfect score is a direct reflection of the hard work of the state and its partners through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement between the Office of Public Health, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Hospital Preparedness Program. "We plan and train with our partners so that when we are faced with a man-made or natural disaster we are ready," Brown said.

In the report, all 50 states and 4 localities directly funded by the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement were graded on their ability to effectively receive and distribute the CDC's Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), a cache of drugs and medical supplies to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out. The CDC and state public health departments conduct annual technical assistance reviews (TAR) to assess emergency preparedness plans for receiving, staging, storing, distributing and dispensing the SNS to ensure continued readiness for all disasters. The state must attain a score of 79 or higher in order to continue to receive preparedness funding from the federal government.

The report also evaluated states' public health laboratories. The DHH labs received high marks for their ability to test for and detect chemical and biological agents and their ability to assist DHH epidemiologists in carrying out epidemiological surveillance for early detection of potential threats. The DHH labs test daily for bacteria in foods and human samples to ensure rapid response to public health emergencies. The labs also help the state's public drinking water systems maintain federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards by testing for contamination. The state has four public health labs.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals strives to protect and promote health statewide and to ensure access to medical, preventive and rehabilitative services for all state citizens.

To learn more about DHH, visit http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/.

For up-to-date health information, news and emergency updates, follow DHH's blog, Twitter account and Facebook.

Trauma: Grant Funding. Crisis Counseling Assistance

https://www.rkb.us/contentdetail.cfm?content_id=56827

Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program  



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