Disaster Zone

Like many other organizations and professions, emergency management is working to improve its diversity. Diversity can come in many different forms, usually we think of race, but there are other cultural diversity aspects to consider. We are talking racial diversity in this podcast, with a focus on how emergency managers and their organizations can do a better job at expanding the diversity of the...

It is always fun to talk to someone who is a leader within the emergency management profession. In this podcast we hear from Halil (Hal) Grieb who only recently started with G&H International as a Technical Project Manager. Prior to joining G&H International, Hal spent numerous years as a County Emergency Management director in both Jefferson County, Colorado and Alachua County, Florida. E...

The United States population is aging. Baby Boomers are retiring and as they get older, there is a need for more facilities to care for them as their mobility decreases or they have more significant medical assistance. In this podcast we explore many aspects about the different types of elder care facilities and their emergency preparedness. At the end, we also have a brief considerations on how t...

One of the team members we have in any disaster event is your local media. They may be a newspaper, radio station and in some market’s multiple television stations. In this podcast we explore how the media covers a disaster. The guest, Glenn Farley, a now retired television journalist, covered many disasters when he worked for KING TV You will hear what his approach was to informing the public and...

Every region of the globe is looking to harness the full capabilities of drone technology. How do you do that and do it safely, even in densely populated areas that include cities and metroplexes? Vincent Pedrini , co-founder and CFO of Nomoko , as well as President of the Luxembourg Drone Federation is the guest for this podcast. After several years of experience in audit and management in compan...

Maritime pilots provide a valuable service to the safety of broader maritime enterprise. This podcast explores their functions and what their role is in shepherding huge ships safely to dock and then back out to sea. The guest, Captain Eric Von Brandenfels is an experienced mariner and Puget Sound Pilot. He learned to sail at an early age and worked a tugboat job in high school. He stayed on tugs...

The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is the largest such organization in the world. Their 2023 IAEM Conference will be held in Long Beach California.  Leading the conference preparations is Duane Hagelgans, Conference Chair. In this podcast we find out about the conference in general and more specifics on how the event is organized, how speakers are chosen and then other oppo...

Everyone is familiar with the functions of the National Weather Service (NWS) and its role in forecasting the weather here on earth. They also have another function which is forecasting “space weather.” That is the topic of this podcast. Yes, there are potential dangers that can come from solar activity. The podcast guest is Mr. Shawn Dahl, a physical scientist who has worked at the Space Weather...

A key player in the maritime industry comes in the form of Marine Exchanges that provide a variety of services to a wide assortment of maritime organizations. The Marine Exchange of Puget Sound is one of them. In this podcast we hear from Patrick Gallagher, Executive Director of the Marine Exchange of Puget Sound and a retired Coast Guard Commander with over 25 years of maritime experience. His ex...

The fire service is having to adapt to the realities of today’s challenges. In this podcast we hear from one of the national leaders in the fire service. To give you the depth and breadth of his experience I’m including much, but not all, of his biography. How do you measure up when it comes to experience and education? In May 2016, Mayor James Kenney appointed Adam Thiel to serve as the 20th Fire...

Disaster debris is a huge challenge for a wide range of disasters. Debris can come in all shapes and sizes to include cars, houses and hazardous materials. They pile up in front of homes and clog waterways following storms and other weather related events. In this podcast the expert guest is Rob Ray, Senior Vice President, for Operations at AshBritt, a national government solutions provider specia...

Perhaps you have never heard of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and don’t understand what the implications from one being used as a weapon against the United States or other national powers. That is what this podcast does, looking at the full impacts of such a weapon being used in the future. The guest for this podcast is William R. Forstchen who is a New York Times bestselling author and holds a d...

The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is the largest such organization in the world. It is where people join to meet their counterparts, learn from one another, and make a positive impact in advancing the profession of emergency management. In this podcast, Cathy Clark, the President of IAEM shares a great deal of information on how IAEM is organized, who the membership is com...

Election security has been in the news since 2020. How secure are elections in the United States and what specifically makes vote by mail a secure way to cast your ballot? To get answers from one state, in this podcast we hear from Kevin McMahan, Assistant Secretary of State for Washington State. He is charged with the executive oversight of the Washington Secretary of State's Elections and Inform...

The COVID 19 Pandemic has disrupted much of our society for the last three years. There was an arc to the pandemic. Moving through different phases, from a period of uncertainty to a period of Knowledge and then finally a period of Recovery—which we are still in the midst of. In this podcast we explore how businesses and governments can work in concert with one another to, from an economic standpo...

In this podcast we will be talking about technology in general and more specifically about data, the use of data and how we can mine it and apply it to a variety of purposes, using tools like GIS.   The podcast guest is Jim Featherstone , He is a native of Washington D.C. and a veteran of the United States Navy, Jim began his public service to the City of Los Angeles in 1986 with the Los Angeles F...

Doug Stockham co-founded Emergency Assistance Foundation (EAF) – a 501(c)(3) public non-profit – in 2011 to help companies take care of their team members in need. More than a decade later, EAF administers over 350 disaster and hardship relief funds in partnership with well-known sponsoring organizations on a global scale. In the last three years combined, EAF awarded over $205 million in financia...

The guest for this podcast is Jim Mullen, a long-time emergency manager who led the Seattle Office of Emergency Management for 12 years before spending eight years as the Washington State Emergency Management Director…and also being selected by his peers to be the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) President, that ended up being a two-year term. In this podcast we discuss a wide rang...

In this podcast we explore the connection between climate and the weather and how we are seeing significant changes in the frequency, level of destruction and duration of a wide variety of natural disasters. The podcast guest, Ted Buehner worked for the National Weather Service (NWS) for 40 years. His last position was as the NWS Seattle Warning Coordination Meteorologist, a key customer liaison p...

This podcast’s guest is Patrick Hardy who is the founder and CEO of Hytropy Disaster Management ™ Patrick is a Certified Emergency Manager®, Certified Risk Manager®, Master Business Continuity Professional®, and a FEMA Master of Exercise®, he has extensive experience working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors in disaster management from micro-businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He has...

Before you get to the hospital, after calling 911, there is an entire pre-hospital medical system that exists to come to the medical aid of people who are sick or injured. These are the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Paramedics who have received specialized training and operate under strict protocols for providing medical aid. In this podcast, we hear from Eric Kuehlthau, a Paramedic wit...

In this podcast we learn about the mission and functions of our nation’s most recently established Federal office. We also achieve a better understanding of the challenges that came with starting from scratch, hiring staff and supporting states and local jurisdictions on the subject areas of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure security. Pat Massey is the guest. Mr. Massey has served as the R...

Not everyone can lead during a crisis. Some think they can, others fear that they will not be up to the task. Sometimes the crisis finds you, whether you are ready or not. In this podcast, Pete Gaynor, the immediate past Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator shares his ideas on Leadership Essentials for Unthinkable Events.  See www.femapete.com for more information. Before becom...

Can you believe it—we are coming up on the three year anniversary of the COVID Pandemic. In this podcast we explore the challenges that we faced collectively and then in particular for public health and the rest of the emergency management community who responded. The podcast has an excellent guest with intimate experience with the pandemic. Nathan Weed is the Chief of Resiliency and Health Securi...

Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) are the facilities where governments and other organizations coordinate and manage their response to disasters. They are a critical element in being able to respond quickly and effectively. One aspect of 21st Century EOCs has to do with the integration of various technologies into these centers. In this podcast, my guest is Brendan McCluskey who is the Director o...