Author: kg4vma

So, I know how to design a disaster exercise; not surprising, considering I’ve already written hundreds for school.

…okay, not hundreds–closer to ten, I think.

…anywho, if you care, the details of what I just went through:

Course Overview

Emergencies happen. Emergencies can be limited in scope or they can reach disaster proportions, sweeping through an entire community or multiple communities. Being prepared to respond to and recover from emergencies is everyone’s challenge. Whether your organization is a government agency tasked with a particular response role, a volunteer agency that responds to the community’s needs, or a private sector entity that may be faced with an emergency situation, you have an important role in that preparation. As an outcome of your community’s or organization’s emergency planning process, plans should be in place that specify how you prepare for emergencies, how you will respond if an emergency occurs, how you will mitigate the potential effects of emergencies, and how you will recover. Practice is an important aspect of the preparation process. Experience and data show that exercises are a practical, efficient, and cost-effective way for organizations in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors to prepare for emergency response and recovery.

This course is based on one important premise: Emergency exercises are worth the effort. Exercises identify areas that are proficient and those that need improvement. Lessons learned from exercises can be used to revise operational plans and provide a basis for training to improve proficiency in executing those plans. This course is designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of exercise design and to prepare you to design and conduct a small functional exercise for your organization. It addresses: The value of conducting exercises. The components of a comprehensive exercise program. The exercise development process ¾ development tasks, organization of the design team, exercise documentation, and the steps in designing an exercise.

This course will cover the purpose, characteristics, and requirements of three main types of exercises: Tabletop exercise Functional exercise Full-scale exercise In addition this course will cover: Exercise evaluation. Exercise enhancements. Designing a functional exercise.

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-139

…of the courses I’ve taken thus far, I believe this has been the most painful. Though the process is essentially common-sense, everything is laid out in a specific format that is all but simple. I do understand the reasoning behind establishing and laying out such a huge methodology/guideline-system/overly-cumbersome-process-that-made-my-head-spin, however; the idea is to make sure that, when it comes to creating and evaluating an exercise, nothing is disregarded/overlooked. But, seriously, this was/is over-the-top.

Course Overview

IS 130 introduces the basics of emergency management exercise evaluation and improvement planning. It also builds a foundation for exercise evaluation concepts as identified in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you will:

• Understand the Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning steps
• Comprehend the process of designing and developing exercise evaluation criteria
• Identify the necessary tasks in conducting an exercise evaluation
• Understand methods of analyzing exercise data
• Identify the steps necessary to prepare an After Action Report (AAR) and conduct an After Action Conference (AAC)
• Recognize the requirement of developing and implementing an improvement plan

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-130

I now have a pretty little certificate stating that I grasp the basic concepts of developing and implementing disaster exercises…

…so, what’d I learn this time? See below:

Course Overview

IS 120.A introduces the basics of emergency management exercises. It also builds a foundation for subsequent exercise courses, which provide the specifics of the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) and the National Standard Exercise Curriculum (NSEC).

This course will introduce you to the following concepts:

• Managing an exercise program
• Designing and developing an exercise
• Conducting an exercise
• Evaluating an exercise
• Developing and implementing an improvement plan

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you will:

• Identify the five phases of the exercise process
• Distinguish the tasks necessary to complete each phase of the exercise process
• Understand how exercises complete the emergency preparedness cycle
• Comprehend the role of exercises in the testing of facilities, equipment, and personnel in a performance based environment
• Recognize how exercises prepare communities to respond to and recover from major emergencies

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-120.a

I figured it was time to jump back into taking the independent studies. First class for today: Livestock in Disasters.

…here’s what I learned:

Course Overview

This course combines the knowledge of livestock producers and emergency managers to present a unified approach to mitigate the impact of disasters on animal agriculture.

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are to learn understand issues that arise when disasters affect livestock, determine a farm””””s susceptibility to hazards, and identify actions to reduce economic losses and human and animal suffering in disasters.

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=IS-111.a

Ugh!!!

Hello, Earlier today, we announced that Google Latitude is no longer part of the Google Maps app, and we’re retiring Latitude on August 9, 2013. This means that after August 9, your Latitude friends list will be deleted and you’ll lose the ability to share your location with them. There will also be some changes to Location Reporting and Location History, including changes to third-party applications that use Google Latitude. Please see our FAQs for more information. We understand some of you still want to see your friends and family on a map, which is why we’ve added location sharing to Google+ for Android (coming soon to iOS). Thank you for using Google Latitude. Sincerely, The Google Latitude Team

© 2013 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to the Google Latitude product.