Disaster Zone

New York City is a complex place in which to work within public safety. In the middle of it all is the 911 system that receives calls from citizens and dispatches first responder resources. In this podcast I interview Chris Carver, a former Chief Dispatcher and Director of Fire Dispatch Operations for the New York City Fire Department where he helped to coordinate the response to some of New York City’s largest disasters. We discuss the status of 911 systems in general and dominance of technology that increasingly is being used within 911 systems. Additionally, we talk about how New York City and other communities can work to become more disaster resilient. Today Chris is Hexagon’s Director of Sales for the Eastern United States. This podcast is sponsored by T-Mobile for Government, providing innovative connectivity solutions that help government better serve citizens by enabling agencies to work more intelligently, efficiently, and securely. Their mobile device management solutions help safeguard sensitive data and their network is ideal for unlocking game-changing loT technology.  T-Mobile provides 24x7x365 support, so they are ready to help you when communications are critical.  It all starts with America’s largest, fastest, and now according to a third-party rating service umlaut, it is the most reliable 5G network, as well as the tools that help you take advantage of 5G.  T-Mobile offers an amazing customer experience and outstanding value—with no tradeoffs.  They have the most reliable 5G according to umlaut based on crowdsourced user experience data (Sept 2020 to Feb 2021). They also have the fastest 5G according to Opensignal Awards based on average speeds (USA: 5G User Experience Report April 2021). See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com. Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Monica Sanders is a Georgetown University professor. Previously, she was a Senior Committee Counsel for both the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Homeland Security. In this podcast we do deep dive into the legislative process of the Congress of the United States. The role of committee chairpersons and their staff is explored, along with the way in which bills are introduced in Congress and move through the legislative process. The role of committee staff is discussed. The importance of the Budget and Rules Committees is also highlighted. What can you do to influence the making of laws at the national level is also addressed. This podcast is sponsored by T-Mobile for Government, providing innovative connectivity solutions that help government better serve citizens by enabling agencies to work more intelligently, efficiently, and securely. Their mobile device management solutions help safeguard sensitive data and their network is ideal for unlocking game-changing loT technology.  T-Mobile provides 24x7x365 support, so they are ready to help you when communications are critical.  It all starts with America’s largest, fastest, and now according to a third-party rating service umlaut, it is the most reliable 5G network, as well as the tools that help you take advantage of 5G.  T-Mobile offers an amazing customer experience and outstanding value—with no tradeoffs.  They have the most reliable 5G according to umlaut based on crowdsourced user experience data (Sept 2020 to Feb 2021). They also have the fastest 5G according to Opensignal Awards based on average speeds (USA: 5G User Experience Report April 2021). See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com. Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Alert and warning is one of the primary functions for emergency management agencies and first responders. You first need to detect the hazard, but then you need different ways to issue a warning. This then is the topic of this podcast with Matthew Straeb with Alert FM In the podcast we discuss the pros and cons of different technology tools being used today to issue warnings. I strongly believe that you need more than one method and if you are looking to warn people of an earthquake, I think the only reasonable tool to use today in tandem with ShakeAlert is Alert FM because of the speed with which warnings can be sent. I particularly believe in getting the alert signal sent to equipment that can automatically take actions to protect facilities, equipment and people. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are just not fast enough. Dynamis, a leading provider of information management software and security solutions, is a sponsor of this podcast.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

The Disaster Zone podcast guest is John Scardena who hosts the Disaster Tough Podcast and also heads up Doberman EMG a consulting firm specializing in supporting government emergency management programs. In this podcast we have a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of emergency management topics from ranging from GIS  to other technologies and how to address the integration of new technologies into an organization. He talks about “failing fast” with tech. This episode is sponsored by Bent Ear Solutions which offers comprehensive capabilities and deep industry knowledge necessary to help you solve the most complex issues of your organization. We advise public and private organizations on an all-inclusive approach to disaster preparedness that addresses governance, planning, operational procedures, technology implementation, training, and exercises in order to achieve a successful and sustainable program.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

All forms of science can be beneficial to people working in the emergency management and disaster related fields of endeavor. However, when it comes to working with people and their relationship and thoughts about all phases of disasters, it is the social sciences that can help us most understand and communicate with the people and populations we serve. Lori Peek, a professor in the Department of Sociology and director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder is the guest for this podcast. We run through a gamut of question about not only the center, but also why people behave like they do during disasters. She points to some of the excellent resources that the Natural Hazards Center has to offer. It is about time we start taking advantage of the research that has already been done! This podcast is sponsored by T-Mobile for Government, providing innovative connectivity solutions that help government better serve citizens by enabling agencies to work more intelligently, efficiently, and securely. Their mobile device management solutions help safeguard sensitive data and their network is ideal for unlocking game-changing loT technology.  T-Mobile provides 24x7x365 support, so they are ready to help you when communications are critical.  It all starts with America’s largest, fastest, and now according to a third-party rating service umlaut, it is the most reliable 5G network, as well as the tools that help you take advantage of 5G.  T-Mobile offers an amazing customer experience and outstanding value—with no tradeoffs.  They have the most reliable 5G according to umlaut based on crowdsourced user experience data (Sept 2020 to Feb 2021). They also have the fastest 5G according to Opensignal Awards based on average speeds (USA: 5G User Experience Report April 2021). See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com. Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Training has moved beyond the classroom and is predominantly being done on line in the COVID Pandemic environment we are in. Todd Manns, the founder of  The Blue Cell is this week’s guest. In the podcast we hear about their lessons learned from moving to a virtual environment for Incident Command System (ICS) training. Additionally, they are starting up a totally new training series of classes that provide individual position training for ICS Command Positions. What is unique is that they are providing individual mentorship beyond the actual instruction and doing it on an “on call” basis.  This can be particularly helpful for people new to ICS or moving into these command positions.This episode is sponsored by The Blue Cell, a by design crisis and consequence management consulting firm with a primary focus on education and training for government at all levels, non governmental agencies and private sector entities engaged in incident and emergency management activities.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

This Disaster Zone Podcast is a very interesting interview with Tom Moran who was instrumental in managing the early stages of the All Hazards Consortium One of the key messages Tom shared was to let the private sector lead public-private efforts. Government endeavors just don’t seem to survive changes in leadership and funding. Then, in the guts of the podcast we discuss his experiences in electrical power restoration from a coordination perspective. He developed some creative solution in coordination with others to assist power companies suffering power outages leveraging the help from other power companies next door and even many states away. This episode is sponsored by The Blue Cell, a by design crisis and consequence management consulting firm with a primary focus on education and training for government at all levels, non governmental agencies and private sector entities engaged in incident and emergency management activities.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Technology is dominating almost every aspect of our lives. It was not that long ago that emergency management and first responder agencies operated with just hardline phones and radios. Today it is a whole new ballgame. Unfortunately, many organizations have purchased technology that they are only using a small fraction of its capacity. In this podcast we explore how organizations can get the most out of the technology that they already own. It is not about buying a new system or dashboard tool, it really starts with having a vision and governance. Chris Mcintosh, Bent Ear Solutions is my guest and he walks us through some practical ideas for how we can get more out of what we already have when it comes to technology. This episode is sponsored by Bent Ear Solutions which offers comprehensive capabilities and deep industry knowledge necessary to help you solve the most complex issues of your organization. We advise public and private organizations on an all-inclusive approach to disaster preparedness that addresses governance, planning, operational procedures, technology implementation, training, and exercises in order to achieve a successful and sustainable program.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

The State of Hawaii has a unique geographical location among all states—an island state! This podcast is an interview with Luke Meyers, the Emergency Management Director for the state of Hawaii. We discuss the hazards the state faces and also their jurisdictional arrangement with a total of four counties. There is a brief discussion of the botched “the missiles are coming” warning along with other topics of interest. Think about the impact to their economy when COVID-19 stopped the influx of 35-40K tourists coming to the state. At one point they had only 150 arrivals in one day. Supply chain dependencies and being reliant on shipping for all your goods is another dynamic they have to deal with. This podcast is sponsored by T-Mobile for Government, providing innovative connectivity solutions that help government better serve citizens by enabling agencies to work more intelligently, efficiently, and securely. Their mobile device management solutions help safeguard sensitive data and their network is ideal for unlocking game-changing loT technology.  T-Mobile provides 24x7x365 support, so they are ready to help you when communications are critical.  It all starts with America’s largest, fastest, and now according to a third-party rating service umlaut, it is the most reliable 5G network, as well as the tools that help you take advantage of 5G.  T-Mobile offers an amazing customer experience and outstanding value—with no tradeoffs.  They have the most reliable 5G according to umlaut based on crowdsourced user experience data (Sept 2020 to Feb 2021). They also have the fastest 5G according to Opensignal Awards based on average speeds (USA: 5G User Experience Report April 2021). See 5G device, coverage, & access details at T-Mobile.com. Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems remain the backbone of communications for first responders across the spectrum of agencies and disciplines. In this Disaster Zone Podcast Todd Perdieu, Vice President of Products and strategy with L3Harris provides information on how LMR systems function. He goes into more depth about the challenges of coordinating radio spectrum issues in the design of new systems. Lastly, he touches on the design and specifications for new handheld responder radios capable of functioning in an all-weather environment with both voice and data capabilities. One thing Eric Holdeman learned about was L3Harris’ experience with providing military communications equipment to the United States military services. This episode is sponsored by Bent Ear Solutions which offers comprehensive capabilities and deep industry knowledge necessary to help you solve the most complex issues of your organization. We advise public and private organizations on an all-inclusive approach to disaster preparedness that addresses governance, planning, operational procedures, technology implementation, training, and exercises in order to achieve a successful and sustainable program.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.