International Association of Emergency Managers award competition announced. #SMEM #VOST

The 2014 IAEM Awards Competition is now underway!  Visit www.iaem.com/Awards for details, guidelines, and entry forms.

The purpose of the IAEM Awards Competition is to recognize and honor persons who have made special or significant contributions to the field of emergency management and have represented the profession well by their outstanding performance. You are encouraged to participate and to share your achievements with your colleagues.

·         The entry deadline is Friday, May 30, 2014, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time for all IAEM award competitions, with only one exception – the IAEM-USA Student Academic Research Presentation Awards have a later deadline. There will be no deadline extensions.

·         Notification of winners will occur during the first week in July 2014, which will facilitate travel approval for winners in USA award categories to attend the IAEM-USA Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas, to receive their awards.

The complete award guidelines and official entry forms are posted on the IAEM website at http://www.iaem.com/awards. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully and pay close attention to content requirements, format, and length specifications, before submitting your entries via email to Karen Thompson at Thompson@iaem.com.

We hope that you will read the article about IAEM awards that also will appear in the April 2014 IAEM Bulletin, “More Lessons from the IAEM Ministry of Recognition,” by Cullen Case, CEM, and Rocky Lopes. A copy of the article is posted at www.iaem.com/Awards.  Learn from the experience of IAEM Awards Judges to write an entry that will command attention and cause the Awards Judges to want to recognize your quality work. And remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter!

If you have any questions about award guidelines, please email Karen Thompson at Thompson@iaem.com. 

Good luck!

Rocky LopesIAEM-Global Awards & Recognition Work Group Chair
IAEM-USA Awards & Recognition Committee Chair

Karen ThompsonIAEM Awards Program Manager
International Association of Emergency Managers
thompson@iaem.com | www.iaem.com | www.emex.org
IAEM 2014 Awards Competition: www.iaem.com/Awards

The first America’s #PrepareAthon is coming! #OKready #AltusOK

National Day of Action is scheduled for April 30, 2014.

http://www.fema.gov/americas-prepareathon

America's PrepareAthon! is a nationwide, community-based campaign for action to increase emergency preparedness and resilience. The first America’s PrepareAthon! National Day of Action is scheduled for April 30, 2014 and you’re invited to participate!  The first National Day of Action will revolve around taking the actions to prepare for specific hazards:  tornadoes, wildfires, floods and hurricanes. 

Despite an increase in weather-related disasters, nearly 70 percent of Americans have not participated in a preparedness drill or exercise, aside from a fire drill, at their workplace, school, or home in the past 2 years.  

To move people to action, the President, through Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8), has directed all federal agencies to work with their stakeholders across the country to “coordinate a comprehensive campaign to build and sustain national preparedness, including public outreach and community-based and private-sector programs to enhance national resilience…” In support of this effort, the federal family is launching America’s PrepareAthon!^SM, a community-based campaign to increase emergency preparedness and resilience at the grassroots level. Twice yearly, in the spring and fall, America’s PrepareAthon! will provide a national focus for individuals, organizations, and communities to participate through drills, group discussions, and exercises to practice for local hazards.

Goals

Increase the number of individuals who:

·         Understand which disasters could happen in their community,

·         Know what to do to be safe and mitigate damage,

·         Take action to increase their preparedness, and

·         Participate in community resilience planning.

What can I do?

Plan your own local community or organizational preparedness event; participate in discussion forums with like-minded peers and colleagues; and not only learn the actions to take for disaster preparedness but alsopractice them!

A robust, interactive website and additional resources to help you plan your very own day of action will be made available online this spring.  Additionally, you’ll soon be able to register to participate in America’s PrepareAthon! and provide details about the activities you’re planning. 

In the meantime, please look at the following materials which provide a bit more information on why America’s PrepareAthon! is taking place and how you can play a role:

·         America's PrepareAthon! Frequently Asked Questions

·         2012 FEMA National Survey Report

·         America's PrepareAthon! Disaster Survivor Video: Please click "Download" to view the video.

Stay in Touch

To stay in touch and receive updates on America’s PrepareAthon! please email  prepareathon@fema.dhs.gov.

Additionally, please follow us on Twitter @PrepareAthon and be sure to use the #PrepareAthon hashtag so you can join thousands of other Americans in the conversation about taking action for preparedness!

Social Media in #OKwx warnings #Skywarn #SMEM

In the social media drill a few months back, +Rick Smith and friends at the National Weather Service office in Norman discovered (again) where Social Media is weak.

It's good for getting the word out.  It shines in getting the word out fast.  It fails when people see the word late.

Please remember the average tornado warning is 14 minutes.  Only 46K might
have gotten a timely warning, in an actual event.

What to do about it?

1.  Have MORE than three ways to get weather information.  "NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information from the nearest National Weather Service office." http://1.usa.gov/1kAG7M0  There surely is a transmitter near you.  You may have to put an outdoor antenna up to hear it well but 98% of the Country is covered.

2.  If your community has a community alerting system, enroll in it.  The City of Altus uses Alert Altus.  There are others.  Many Television and Radio broadcasters offer their own brand of text and email alerts.

3.  Consider WeatherCall if you need a phone call.  This would notify you of warnings when your address is in a National Weather Service warning polygon.  This would be good for a backup to the weather service radio as it would alert you at night.

4.  Get an amateur radio license. Area hams, especially those involved in Skywarn and emergency management, talk about the weather a lot.  Many of them have direct ties to the Weather Service offices.

Have you three ways to get the message?