On Tuesday, February 2, President
Obama signed an Executive Order: Establishing
a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard, which will
improve the capability of federal buildings to function after an earthquake,
reducing risks to people, lowering post-quake recovery costs, and making it
easier for communities to recover swiftly.
The Executive Order requires that federal agencies responsible for the design and construction of a new building,
or an alteration to an existing building, ensure that the building is
constructed or altered using the earthquake-resistant design provisions in the
most current building codes.
The latest building codes, which encompass the
current understanding of the earthquake hazard potential, are one of the best
ways to achieve earthquake safety and preserve the lives of the people who live
in a building. This Executive Order will also help ensure that federal assets
are available to support recovery efforts.
Additional information
is available online including the Executive Order and
a fact sheet outlining
steps to increase the Nation’s resilience to earthquakes.
FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System's (IPAWS) Program Management Office (PMO) and the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Digital Engagement Committee co-hosted a digital event about public alert and warning capabilities.
On December 15, the IPAWS PMO partnered with state and local emergency management professionals from New York City, Minnesota, Virginia, and Tennessee to engage participants - via webinar and real-time social media feeds - in discussions about solutions to common public alert and warning challenges. They discussed how IPAWS alerting channels, such as Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS), are used across the country, and best practices (i.e., testing, training, governance, messaging) for implementing IPAWS.
The “IPAWS Voices of Experience” session had more than 648,000 social media impressions. For a link to the event recording, or for more information about IAEM Think Tanks, visit www.iaem.com.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will conduct a course to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with either establishing or enhancing their emergency management curricula.
This course addresses issues unique to HBCUs and begins the process of identifying and overcoming institutional roadblocks of emergency management-related offerings.
The target audience includes department chairs in disciplines such as sociology, geography, public administration, and psychology from minority and minority-serving institutions of higher education.
A goal of the training is to achieve a more diverse population of emergency management professionals who reflect the communities in which they live and work. Enrollment is limited to the first 20 applicants.
For more information, contact Lillian Virgil at Lillian.Virgil@fema.dhs.gov.
Dates: April 11-12, 2016
Location: EMI, National Emergency Training Center (NETC), Emmitsburg, Maryland
Registration deadline: Submit an application no later than Friday, February 19, 2016
To apply: Complete a FEMA Form 119-25-1, General Admissions Application, with student signature and signature of supervisor or sponsoring agency official. Mail, scan, or fax the application to:
NETC, Admissions Office Room I-216
16825 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727-8998
Phone: (301) 447-1035 Fax: (301) 447-1658
Email: netcadmissions@fema.dhs.gov
Link to the course description: “Integrating Emergency Management into Your Institutions”
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will present a webinar titled "Understanding the Basic Relationship between Public Information Officers and Journalists" on February 24 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST.
This webinar provides college-level emergency management and homeland security educators with a basic understanding of the relationship between public information officers and journalists.
This webinar discusses how to find public information professionals in government, non-governmental agencies, and hospitals.
Participants will gain an appreciation for the importance of colleges and universities offering emergency management, homeland security, and related programs that integrate risk communication and highlight the dynamics of the public information officers' roles.
To participate, register in advance. Closed captioning is available.
A fire started in a home in Hardin County, Kentucky, two
days after Christmas. All three family members were asleep. The daughter was
awakened by smoke alarms to a bedroom filling with smoke. She was able to wake
up the rest of the family. When they found their primary escape route blocked
by the fire, all three climbed out the bedroom window, and called 911 from
a neighbor’s home.
This family was saved by a smoke alarm thanks to local
American Red Cross coalition members and firefighters who are teaming up to
conduct safety visits to homes across the country and install smoke alarms.
During a routine safety visit in October, the family had no alarms. Once
American Red Cross coalition members and local firefighters installed the
alarms, they taught the family about the risks of fire and the importance of
identifying two escape routes. They also educated them on the risks of local natural
disasters.
Since the Red Cross launched their smoke alarm effort in
October 2014, coalition members visited more than 111,000 homes and installed
more than 239,000 smoke alarms. They have reached more than 417,000 kids in
schools and after school programs with initiatives like The Pillowcase Project.
They have been able to formally validate their installation efforts have
resulted in 48 lives saved.
The U.S. Fire Administration partners with the American
Red Cross on this initiative through the Fire is Everyone’s Fight Campaign by
informing the Nation’s fire departments about the program and providing safety
materials.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) will conduct a course to assist tribal colleges and universities with either establishing or enhancing their emergency management curricula. This course addresses issues unique to Tribal Colleges and Universities and begins the process of identifying and overcoming institutional roadblocks of emergency management related offerings.
For more information, contact Lillian Virgil at Lillian.Virgil@fema.dhs.gov.
Dates: March 21-22, 2016
Location: EMI, National Emergency Training Center (NETC), Emmitsburg, Maryland
Registration deadline: Submit an application no later Friday, February 5, 2016
Link to the course description: “Integrating Emergency Management into Your Institutions”
FEMA will conduct a statewide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in 22 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia on February 24. State, local, and tribal authorities use EAS to deliver emergency information to the public. The voluntary, bilingual test is intended to assess readiness and verify the functionality of EAS stations to receive and broadcast a national test message.
In preparation, informational webinars are scheduled for broadcast and cable management and emergency management representatives to discuss the regional test. The webinar will provide a non-technical overview of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and how it will be used to activate the EAS next month.
The test will be conducted in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virginia.
In addition to a session in late January, two webinars are scheduled in early February. Participants are encouraged to attend only one session.
What: Informational Webinar on the upcoming Emergency Alert System test
When: Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (EST)
Where: Webinar Link: http://tinyurl.com/helbcfb
You may listen to audio on the webinar or dial in to a conference line.
Conference Line: 1-650-479-3207 Access code: 662 357 165
~~~ OR ~~~~
When: Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (EST)
Where: Webinar Link: http://tinyurl.com/jtvs4ca
You may listen to audio on the webinar or dial in to a conference line.
Conference Line: 1-650-479-3207 Access code: 667 519 455
On Thursday, February 4, 2016, from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST, the FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Division will host a webinar focused on engaging the public on disaster preparedness and resilience efforts serving children and youth.
How to Join the Webinar: Adobe Connect Registration
Please register for the event and test your Adobe Connect connection prior to the meeting by clicking here. This webinar will offer closed captioning.
FEMA will hold a National Advisory Council (NAC) public meeting in Raleigh, NC from February 9 - 11, 2016. The NAC was established to ensure effective and ongoing coordination of Federal preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.
Members of the public are invited to attend and provide comments. Go to the NAC webpage or the Federal Register Notice for directions and instructions how to submit public comments.
If you are attending in person or need more information or reasonable accommodation, contact FEMA-NAC@fema.dhs.gov.
In early January, FEMA entered the next phase of tribal consultation for the Stafford Act disaster declaration process for tribal governments. The draft guidance is posted to the Federal Register and will be available for comment until April 7, 2016. Additional information regarding the consultation process may be found at Second Draft Tribal Declaration Pilot Guidance.
FEMA is seeking applicants for its Youth Preparedness Council formed in 2012 to bring together leaders from across the country engaged in advocating youth preparedness.
Council members are selected based on their dedication to public service, efforts in making a difference in their communities, and potential to expand their impact as national advocates for youth preparedness.
All applications and supporting materials must be received no later than March 1, 2016, 11:59 p.m. PST in order to be eligible. New Youth Preparedness Council members will be announced in May 2016. For more information and to access the application materials, visit Youth Preparedness Council.
Over the past several
years Members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the
Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have
asked FEMA to look at how the federal government supports states following
disasters and the associated costs. In response, FEMA is exploring the concept
of a disaster
deductible.
The Agency believes that
such an approach has the potential to incentivize mitigation strategies and
promote risk-informed decision-making to build resilience, including to
catastrophic events; reduce the costs of future events for both states and the
federal government; and facilitate state and local government planning and
budgeting for enhanced disaster response and recovery capability through
greater transparency.
This concept would include
the establishment of a predetermined level of state disaster funding or
investment in resilience before FEMA would begin to provide additional
assistance through the Public Assistance program following a disaster
declaration. The deductible concept would include how to calculate the
deductible, the scope of the deductible, how to satisfy the deductible, how
this concept could influence change, implementation considerations and an
estimated impact.
FEMA is seeking public
comments on all aspects of this concept until March 21, 2016 which may be submitted
through Regulations.gov
under docket ID FEMA-2016-003.
This is a significant change, so FEMA is seeking early public feedback through
an advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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