#31 "That's your Gold Sword of Disaster Response." Interview with USAR Expert & FEMA Instructor, Joe Hernandez

Joe Hernandez is a USAR expert with experiences that include response to The Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11 Twin Towers, Haiti Earthquake, and others. He shares these experiences and lessons learned on our show. Check it out!

We can’t say enough about Joe Hernandez. His 30 year career as a USAR operations expert includes deployments to the Okalahoma City Bombing, 9/11 Twin Towers, the Haiti Earthquake, and more. He has been instructing FEMA personnel for the past 10 years and talks about the mental and emotional tole as well as tools to dealing with extreme event.

#29 Part 2: Urban Planner and Emergency Manager discusses hazard mitigation, Interview with Cynthia McCoy

We need to address the elephant in the room of emergency coordination. Emergency managers and urban planners must better work together to mitigate disaster. Lucky for us, Cynthia McCoy is both. See why her expertise matters and how that can help you as you build plans and mitigate threat.

Cynthia McCoy is a former member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and now works for the City of Seattle. She has deployed to numerous disasters including Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey, two events that have created innovation within emergency management.

This is Part 2 of her episode. We dive into the details of hazard mitigation from a theory and practice perspective. She talks about risk analysis and putting those plans into practice. We move from the socio-economic impact of disasters to the financial burden of recovery. We explain why hazard mitigation is so important what it can do in the lives of those who would be impacted by pending crisis.

#26 Federal Response to Disasters with FEMA Corps Program Liaison Kevin Coleman

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in charge of the Federal Response in Disasters. Kevin Coleman talks about his experience in the field and his current role as the FEMA Corps Program Liaison.

Kevin Coleman is an experienced Federal Response Official with years of experience and countless deployments to large-scale disasters. During the COVID-19 Federal Response, he worked on a joint agency taskforce to recommend and build federal capabilities around the county. This task force was responsible for testing over a million people by the beginning of the summer alone.

As the program Liaison for FEMA Corps, he combines his own experience with the program as a former team leader with his response experience from the IMAT to help FEMA Corps members gain experience in emergency management through training and working with field experts.

Kevin Coleman and the host John Scardena worked on the same response team. FEMA is not a paid sponsor of this podcast.

#25 October - The 2020 All Hazards Month

President Trump has COVID-19. Wildfires are raging on the West Cost. Schools are looking to reopen in a pandemic before a vaccine is available, pandemic released inmates are committing crimes, and we are still in Hurricane Season. Emergency managers must be on the top of their game and self-correct to meet the numerous challenges of this month. This episodes provides ideas to emergency managers to help them address concerns with community partners. And bonus: Halloween Hunt idea!

Using, "In the moment after actions," this episode addresses the numerous hazards and potential threats that we are currently facing. From President Trump testing positive for COVID-19, to massive wildfires burning across California, Oregon, and Washington, to hurricane recovery, to potential civil unrest, to schools reopening... we look at each sector and suggest course corrections. We also talk about Halloween and how to prepare to celebrate the Holiday in an appropriate way. Big Hint- It's time to take it's place as the rightful holiday candy hunt.

#24 Thunderclap! Wildfires & Hurricanes with Emergency Manager Meteorologist Jason Clapp

Expert emergency manager meteorologist talks about the Washington, Oregon, and California wildfires. This episode is focused around National Preparedness Month. Jason shares ideas to help emergency managers and individuals better prepared for wildfire and hurricane events.

U.S. Air Force member, Jason Clapp lead a successful career in meteorology, as he began helping response operations, he found emergency management and now works in Yakima County as an emergency planner. His unique experience allows him to address natural disasters through the lens of weather science. He uses his data background to look for gaps that others are unable to see. We talk about the Washington wildfires, the Oregon Wildfires, the California Wildfires, and Hurricanes. Jason provides advice about emergency mitigation and training for these events and settles the argument about about the differences between Global Warming and Climate Change. This podcast was recorded remotely.