FEMA Bulletin Week of August 8, 2016

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FEMA BULLETIN

Week of August 8, 2016

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In this Edition:

Important Dates & Deadlines

August 15, 2016

Draft Interagency Concept for Community Resilience Indicators and National-Level Progress Measures Comment Period Ends

august 22

FEMA National Training Program Continuing Grant Application Deadline

September 28 EMI Webinar highlighting relationship between research study and FEMA goals

Emergency Management Institute Higher Education Program Webinar

September 30 is National Preparedness Month

National PrepareAthon! Day

Campus Fire Safety Tips and "See It Before You Sign It" Campaign

As college students head back to school, take a moment to talk with them about fire safety. Each year, on-and off-campus college and university students are impacted by hundreds of fire emergencies. Most of these fires are caused by flammable materials and cooking. The United States Fire Administration (USFA) suggests the following campus fire safety tips as young adults head off to school:

 

When cooking:

• Cook only in spaces where it is permitted.

• Keep cooking area clean and uncluttered.

• Keep an eye on what's being cooked, especially if cooking at high temperatures.

• If a fire starts in a microwave, keep the door closed and unplug the unit.

 

If smoking:

• Make sure cigarettes and ashes are out. Never toss hot cigarette butts or ashes in the trash can.

• After a party, check for cigarette butts, especially under cushions because chairs and sofas catch on fire fast and burn quickly.

• Be aware of how risky it is to smoke when drinking or drowsy.

 

Never disable or remove batteries from smoke alarms. Smoke alarms could provide the crucial extra minutes necessary to escape from a fire. Have a plan, and practice it, that includes multiple escape routes for the same location.

 

Join USFA’s campaign, “See It Before You Sign It” encouraging parents to ensure that off-campus housing is fire-safe before signing a lease for their child. Visit the campaign website for more information.

 

Visit the USFA website at www.usfa.fema.gov for more information on fire safe college housing.

 

See It Before You Sign It Campaign encouraging parents to see off-campus housing before signing the lease for their child.

Mark Your Calendar: September Is National Preparedness Month

Don't Wait. Communicate. Make a family emergency plan today. September is National Preparedness Month. Learn more at www.ready.gov/September.

 

Each year, September is recognized as National Preparedness Month, serving as a call to action to prepare, now and throughout the year, for the types of emergencies that could affect us where we live, work, and visit.

 

This year’s National Preparedness Month theme is “Don’t Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.” Don’t wait! Make a plan with your family and friends for how you will stay safe and communicate during an emergency or disaster that can affect your community. Download the Family Communication Plan for Parents and Kids, and fill out the sections before printing or emailing it to your family and friends.

 

The themes for the four weeks in September raise awareness about emergency preparedness including emergency communication plan, community involvement, and individual preparedness. The last week leads up to National PrepareAthon! Day on September 30, when the nation will come together to take action and practice their preparedness in advance of an emergency.

 

Download the digital toolkit and become involved with promoting National Preparedness Month by visiting www.ready.gov/september. More information about National Preparedness Month will be included in September editions of the FEMA Bulletin.


Disaster Recovery Progress at Pine Ridge, One Year Later

One of the 196 manufactured homes that were brought to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation provided through the Permanent Housing Construction program
One of the 196 manufactured homes that were provided to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation through the Permanent Housing Construction program.

 

August 7, 016, marked one year since President Obama’s disaster declaration for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, kicking off the largest housing effort in the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s history. To support this effort, FEMA continues to have staff deployed to the reservation and office space at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

 

FEMA initiated a permanent housing construction program for the first time in the continental United States to address the severe housing needs on the reservation following the May 2015 disaster. In addition to the housing construction program, FEMA provided more than $435,000 in direct financial aid to tribal members.  Of that, more than $217,000 was for home repairs and $219,000 was for personal property losses and other emergency needs as a result of the 2015 storm. In addition, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) approved $943,000 in low-interest loans to 58 tribal residents and businesses.

 

To read more on this effort, click here.


Higher Education Webinar in Emergency Management Education

FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute Higher Education Program invites all employees to a participate in a webinar on September 28, 2016 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT highlighting efforts to address research issues in emergency management higher education programs. The webinar will examine the results of a recent research study by Arkansas State University students, who will discuss the relationship between the results of their research, and the perceptions and experiences at their institutions.

 

The webinar called "The Role of Research in Emergency Management Education: Current Status and Future Directions," features presenters from higher education institutions:

 

Deborah J. Persell, PhD, RN, APN, Director, Regional Center for Disaster Preparedness Education College of Nursing and Health Professions Arkansas State University 

Jessica Jensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Management Co-Director, Center for Emergency Management Education and Research, North Dakota State University

 

Interested individuals should register using the event registration link and contact Wendy Walsh at wendy.walsh@fema.dhs.gov for more information on the webinar.


FEMA Congratulates Master Exercise Practitioner Graduates

Graduates of the Master Exercise Practitioner Program Series #37 from the National Emergency Training Center campus in Emmitsburg, Md.
Graduates of the Master in Exercise Practitioner Program Series #37 from the National Emergency Training Center campus.

FEMA congratulates 33 participants in the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEPP) Series #37 that graduated on June 20, 2016, from the National Emergency Training Center campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

 

MEPP is a series of three courses focusing on advanced exercise design, conduct, and evaluation practices in each phase of the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). Candidates apply best practices and lessons learned from their organizations and experiences, as well as key learning concepts from the curriculum to exercise planning team assignments. The MEPP is designed to challenge candidates to demonstrate their expertise within all levels of exercise design through both in-class and take-home proficiency demonstrations.

 

The program targets experienced individuals with significant responsibilities for progressive, all-hazard exercise programs consistent with the principles in the HSEEP.  Ideal candidates will have three to five years of experience designing and conducting emergency management exercises consistent with the HSEEP doctrine. 

 

Congratulations graduates! Interested professionals should visit http://www.training.fema.gov/mepp/ for more information.


FEMA app travel

Reminder of Upcoming Deadlines

Draft Disaster Resilience Indicators Concept Released By Mitigation Federal Leadership Group Subcommittee

FEMA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and their federal partners in the Mitigation Federal Leadership Group (MitFLG) Disaster Resilience Indicators Subcommittee released the “Draft Interagency Concept for Community Resilience Indicators and National-Level Progress Measures."

 

This concept is the result of a year-long effort to identify potential indicators of community resilience capacity building that align with the Mitigation and Recovery Core Capabilities under the National Preparedness Goal. Learn more details about this joint FEMA/NOAA initiative here www.fema.gov/community-resilience-indicators.

 

The document, compiled in response to broad public interest in identifying key factors of community resilience nationwide in order to promote better-informed capacity building strategies, is intended to start a broad conversation among public- and private-sector stakeholders on how best to define and track improvements in community resilience capacity across 28 key indicator categories.

 

Interested stakeholders seeking to add their input can submit comments and feedback to the Disaster Resilience Indicators Subcommittee of the MitFLG at FEMA-CommunityResilience@fema.dhs.gov by August 15, 2016.

 

The MitFLG subcommittee was led by representatives of FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and includes significant contributions from federal partners such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

 

FEMA National Training Program Continuing Grants

FEMA announced funding opportunities for the Fiscal Year 2016 Continuing Training Grants program. The Homeland Security National Training Program’s Continuing Training Grants will provide $11.5 million to qualified applicants to help improve the nation’s ability to respond to and recover from all-hazard events.

 

This highly competitive program attracts applicants from state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, eligible non-profit organizations, and higher education institutions. Funding is provided as cooperative agreements, and awarded directly to the selected applicants. 

 

For more information and to download the application package, visit www.grants.gov and submit applications no later than August 22.

 

EMI Offers Advanced Public Information Officer Training

Through multimedia lectures and individual and group activities, FEMA’s Advanced Public Information Officer (PIO) course provides participants with the knowledge and skills to establish, manage, and work in a joint information center. The training will allow students to develop strategic messaging in support of incident action plans and manage a joint information center, including personnel. The course uses exercises and lectures to achieve its objectives. The Advanced PIO training is part of a series of eight courses designed for PIOs to teach them to communicate effectively and provide accessible information for all affected disaster survivors. 

 

Nine Advanced PIO course trainings are scheduled over the next year on campus at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Md.

 

The PIO training program is enhanced by its partnerships with states teaching basic courses that prepare new PIOs for handling daily challenges of informing their communities during emergencies. 

 

The Advanced PIO course enhances skills of the participants through interactive lectures from subject matter experts and functional exercises, including strategic communications and incident action planning as it relates to Joint Information Center operations.

 

The next Advanced PIO course will be held on August 22-26, 2016 in Broward County, Fla. Interested individuals should contact mike_jachles@sheriff.org to register. For information on prerequisites and course schedules go to http://www.training.fema.gov/programs/pio/e388.aspx.