FEPA Intermediate Academy 2016

President’sMessage

PUBLICATION OF FLORIDA EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ASSOCIATION

Serving Emergency Preparedness in Florida Since 1956

FALL 2015

Mitch Smeykal, FPEMPresident

Continued on page 4

First of all, I would like to extend my personal thanks for all the hard work of those who attended the FEPA Mid-Year Work Session. We accomplished a great many things in a very short period of time as several of you stepped up to the plate to take on some of the projects which had been languishing as good ideas for several years. Instead of just being good ideas during our times at the information

sharing pavilion, these projects now have a coherent direction and should result in tangible outcomes. This will not only benefit the Association but also our profession as a whole. And I am excited to report that it was also a record breaking year for attendance at Mid-Year with more than 175 attendees!

I’d also like to thank all the Committee Chairs and Work Group leaders for submitting

their committee and work group “one page summary sheets” to the Executive Director in a timely fashion. My request to all the Committee Chairs and Work Group leaders is to provide a written project update to Eve by December 10, 2015. A “summary report” just like you submitted from the Mid-Year Work Session would be perfect to keep not only the Board of the Directors, but the entire membership, updated on your projects’ status. Members: by the time you read this newsletter you should be hearing from your committees or work group leadership regarding the schedule for three month project update committee/work group conference calls. Committee Chairs and Work Group leaders if you need assistance setting up a conference call bridge, please contact Eve or me for scheduling assistance with these calls.

As I write this President’s Message, I am sitting in the Charlotte, North Carolina airport waiting for my connecting flight to the 2015 Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) exercise in Lexington Kentucky. For those of you who don’t know, CSEEP is a partnership between FEMA and the U.S. Department of the Army that provides emergency preparedness assistance and resources to communities surrounding the Army’s chemical warfare agent stockpiles. This will be my third year serving as an evaluator for this week long multi-county exercise. Many of you

During their August meeting, the FEPA Board of Directors approved the dates and location for the FEPA 2016 Intermediate Academy. The Intermediate Academy is scheduled for March 13-19, 2016 at Camp Blanding. The Academy is one of FEPA’s most popular and unique professional development opportunities. At the Academy, student cadets bunk, eat, train and exercise together in a format that is designed to mimic a real world emergency management deployment. Camp Blanding, in Starke, Florida provides an exceptional venue to accommodate the week of training and practical activities. While at the Intermediate Academy, students complete more than 80 hours of course work that includes three Advance Professional Series courses - G-775 - EOC Management and Operations, G-191 ICS/EOC Interface and G-272 - Warning Coordination.

There is a $275 registration fee for the Intermediate Academy which includes lodging and all meals for the week of training. All registration is conducted through FEPA. Please visit the FEPA website at www.fepa.org for additional details and registration information.

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The 2015 FEPA Mid-Year Work Session was a tremendous success with more than 175 participants gathering at the Clearwater Beach Hilton. Mid-Year kicked off on Wednesday afternoon August 14, 2015 with welcoming remarks from FEPA President Mitch Smeykal, Pinellas County Emergency Management Director Sally Bishop, Florida Division of Emergency Director Byran Koon and special guest Gracia Szczech, Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IV Administrator. Following opening remarks, Brooke Kelley-Hunt and Logan McFaddin provided attendees with an update on the Property Casualty Insurers Association’s Partners in Recovery Program and recent legislative activities affecting the insurance industry.

Wednesday afternoon’s General Session included reports from FEPA members participating on statewide work groups and task forces. Mid-Year participants heard presentations on the Statewide Emergency Alert and Notification Project, the All Hazards Incident Management Team Qualification process and the latest activities regarding the Statewide Special Needs Registry. Featured speakers focused on the successful collaboration of the work groups comprised of state and local emergency management officials who contribute their time and expertise for statewide benefits. Wednesday concluded with a FEPA Membership Business Meeting and a meeting of the WebEOC User Group.

FEPA President-Elect Paul Womble presided over Thursday morning’s General Session which included a Legislative Update, a presentation on the results of the recently concluded FEPA County Emergency Management Program Survey as well as an update on the statewide Gap Analysis Project. Following these presentations, FEPA Committees met through the remainder of the day to discuss committee priorities and projects and progress on action items outlined in the FEPA Business Plan. Nine two hour time blocks with three meetings per session allowed each FEPA committee to its conduct business. In addition to the formal committee meetings, municipal emergency management program managers had time reserved on the agenda to discuss their specific priorities and share best practices.

Friday’s Mid-Year General Session included full Committee reports and a review of the FEPA Strategic Plan and its relationship to the Association’s Business Plan. As President Smeykal closed the meeting, he thanked all participants, presenters and facilitators for their hard work and dedication to FEPA. A summary of the 2015 Mid-Year Work Session proceedings as well as the General Session presentations are available on the Home Page of the FEPA website www.fepa.org.

FEPA Mid-Year Work Session

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In addition to the full complement of Committee Meetings conducted at the 2015 Mid-Year Work Session, FEPA convened both a Board of Directors and a General Membership meeting. The Board met prior to the start of Mid-Year and received reports and updates on Association projects and programs. At the meeting, recently selected FEPA Area 7 Alternate Governor Kimberly Spill-Cristiano was formally sworn into office by FEPA Parliamentarian Ed Ward. As the Board worked through its agenda, it accepted the FEPA Treasurer’s Report, approved the FEPA Social Media Policy and the FEPA County Emergency Management Program Survey Report. Specific action items related to FEPA Committees included approval of the move of the FEPA Instructor Certification program under the Certification Commission and the recommended additions of members to the FEPA Certification Commission. The Board also received updates from the Association’s liaisons to allied agencies and organizations as well as Area Governor Reports on activities in their respective regions.

The FEPA Membership Business Meeting was conducted as part of the Mid-Year 2015 agenda. At the meeting, the members voted on recommended changes to the FEPA By-Laws to implement changes to the slate of FEPA Officers and terms of service. The By-Laws revisions were reviewed and approved by the FEPA Board of Directors during their May 2015 meeting and circulated to the membership for review. At the Business Meeting, ballots were distributed to members by their Area Governor and FEPA Parliamentarian Ed Ward presided over the vote. After ballots were collected, tallied and certified by FEPA Secretary Mary Blakeney, it was reported that each of the recommended By-Law changes were approved by the members present by the required two-thirds vote. An updated version of the FEPA By-Laws based on this action is available on the FEPA website and recommended changes to the FEPA Administrative Policies and Procedures to reflect the By-Laws revisions are expected to be considered by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors at their November meetings.

FEPA thanks the members of the Board of Directors for their service, leadership and commitment to the Association.

FEPA Conducts Business at Mid-Year Work Session

IKimberly Spill-Cristiano is formally sworn into office as

Area 7 Alt. Governor by Ed Ward.

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President’s Message continued from page 1

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

The Florida EmergencyPreparedness Association, Inc.

400 Capital Circle, SE

Suite 18-263

Tallahassee, FL 32301

850/274-1835

email: fepa@fepa.org

Eve RaineyExecutive Director

“Serving Emergency Preparedness in Florida Since 1956”

Serving Emergency Preparedness in Florida Since 1956

have heard me speak often of how very fortunate we are in Florida compared to other states. We have extremely robust local emergency management programs with dedicated funding support via the Emergency Management, Preparedness and Assistance (EMPA) Program. This is not the case in many states around the nation and I have come to appreciate this even more every time I return from this exercise. I encourage you as you travel either for work or for leisure to investigate other states’ local emergency management programs and share some of the best practices we have learned (many times the hard way) in Florida.

I hope to see many of you at one of the Division of Emergency Management’s Current Issues in Emergency Management October sessions in Tallahassee. I’ll close this President’s Message with wishing you all a Happy Halloween, Veterans Day (special thanks to my brothers and sisters in arms) and Thanksgiving.

Mitch Smeykal, FPEMPresident

FEPA Welcomes New Corporate Member xG Technology, Incorporated is FEPA’s newest Corporate Member! xG Technology is headquartered in Sarasota Florida and their FEPA representatives are East Coast Sales Director Jason Cohen and Vice President of Sales Tim Moynihan. FEPA welcomes Jason and Tim and xG Technology to the Association and looks forward to working with them on programs and projects. For more information on xG’s products and services please visit www.xgtechnology.com.

FEPA Welcomes New Corporate Member  

xG Technology, Incorporated is FEPA’s newest Corporate Member!   xG Technology is headquartered in Sarasota Florida and their FEPA representatives are East Coast Sales Director Jason Cohen and Vice President of Sales Tim Moynihan. FEPA welcomes Jason and Tim and xG Technology to the Association and looks forward to working with them on programs and projects.  For more information on xG’s products and services please visit www.xgtechnology.com.   

 

http://www.xgtechnology.com

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I n addition to the full agenda of activities for the formal Mid-Year Work Session, three training classes were conducted during FEPA Mid-Year 2015. On Monday and Tuesday, August 10-11, 2015, thirty three students attended the FEPA County Emergency Management Director/Key Staff Training Course. The comprehensive training curriculum developed by FEPA includes a review of the requirements of county programs, leadership and influence skills, modules on emergency management areas of emphasis as well as training on fund acquisition and management. Mid-Year 2015 was the third offering of the FEPA training and with each delivery the Association continues to update the extensive compilation of resource documents provided to each student.

Following the closing session of Mid-Year, two training sessions were offered on Friday afternoon. With the support of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Headquarters General Counsel, Lindsay Stoudt, presented the FEMA Procurement Disaster Assistance Team (PDAT) training. FEMA PDATs are organized and specifically trained to assist state and local governments and other eligible applicants with procurement processes under federal disaster assistance programs. This training is focused on the requirements of 2 CFR, Part 200, often referred to as the “super circular” as it combines procurement and grant management guidelines previously found in multiple sections of the Code of Federal Regulations. Ms.

Training at FEPA Mid-Year 2015

Stoudt’s extensive knowledge of the regulation and willingness to provide practical examples of the circular’s application to procurement scenarios contributed greatly to the success of the training.

Friday afternoon also included WebEOC Administrator training to continue to enhance WebEOC user’s ability to fully utilize the emergency management software package. The training included local emergency managers sharing their best practices and “tips” based on their use of the system in real world settings. In all, more than 75 Mid-Year attendees participated in FEPA sponsored training. FEPA thanks the full cadre of trainers, presenters and organizers who made these professional development opportunities a success.

The comprehensive training curriculum developed by FEPA

includes a review of the requirements of county

programs, leadership and influence skills, modules on

emergency management areas of emphasis as

well as training on fund acquisition and

management.

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FEPA Reception at Current Issues Sessions

Two October Current Issues in Emergency Management (CIEM) sessions have been scheduled by the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM). The traditional fall sessions allow the Division and its local emergency management constituents to come together to discuss topics of mutual interest. With the Division’s Tallahassee headquarters serving as the host location, CIEM also provides for interaction with DEM staff and a renewed orientation to the State Emergency Operations Center.

From 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on the Tuesday evening of each CIEM session, October 6, 2015 and October 20, 2015, FEPA will host a reception at Georgio’s restaurant. Georgio’s is located immediately adjacent to the Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites host hotels. Please stop in to one of the receptions to network with your FEPA friends and colleagues and continue the CIEM discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.

FEPA County Emergency Management Program Survey Report

The results of FEPA’s highly successful county emergency management survey have been compiled into a final report. Sixty-five of Florida’s 67 county emergency management agencies responded to the spring survey of emergency management program attributes and characteristics. This exceptional response rate provided FEPA with a remarkable opportunity to establish a quantifiable baseline of comprehensive program data.

A final report based on an analysis of the data includes summaries of responses to the sixteen survey areas. This comprehensive report is available to FEPA members via the FEPA website at www.fepa.org. A presentation from the FEPA Mid-Year Work Session on the survey, data collected and future enhancement and applications for similar survey instruments is also available on the Home Page of the FEPA website. FEPA thanks county emergency management programs for their support for and participation in the survey effort.

 

 

  

      

A compilation of comprehensive information and characteristics of Florida County Emergency Management Programs 

FloridaCountyEmergencyManagementProgramSurveyDataAnalysisandReportofFindings–2015

Florida Emergency Preparedness Association 

http://www.fepa.org

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Chaplain’sChatBy Roger Hagan

Remember, to everything rises and falls on leadership.

H ow blessed can any one man be? I can hardly believe I am on my second day back to work. I am so happy to be able to be back if only for a short time working with Emergency Management. I have been asked to come out of retirement again to assist Holmes County for a couple of months as they search for a new Director. If the tropics will stay calm a few more weeks, I will have the opportunity to help close a budget, submit some quarterly reports, review some plans, and move along with our Scope of Work (also known as “Deliverables”). Though flattered by being asked, it has only taken a couple of days and a visit from our Regional Coordinator to know I am way behind pace. I think I can still activate an EOC but am sure the technology, the reporting, the accounting, etc. would soon give me a headache.

As we come to this point in the year, I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say they did not love the fall. There may be some exceptions from those among us that suffer from hay fever or fall allergies. Football season is upon us. The hunters among us are anxious for that season to open and before we can think about it shopping and holiday seasons will be here.

Often times we use events and dates on the calendar of our memory to put things in

perspective. We remember where we were and what we were doing when certain events took place. It tends to make things relevant. Some of us remember where we were when JFK was assassinated. Some remember where we were when man first landed on the moon.

None of us remember when the Cubs won a pennant. I spoke to Lynne in Washington County earlier today and we could hardly believe it has already been 16 years since we were all activated for Y2K. September 11 marked the 14th anniversary of the awful attacks on our nation.

James M. Barrie is most often remembered as the author of Peter Pan. And while he authored a number of other works that might be lesser known, one line of his has often times been one of my favorite to use at a memorial service of older friends. In May of 1922 James Barrie assumed the duties as Rector of St. Andrews University. In the opening lines of his address he gives us a wonderful line relating to the things of memory. He said, “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December”. The Apostle Peter said that as long as he lived he thought it was necessary to

stir our memories concerning spiritual matters. Memory is such a wonderful faculty. As the end of the year comes I encourage us all to take the time to reflect on the good things of the year. Let us water the roses in our memory. I am sure yours will bloom so beautifully.

As I speak of memory let me urge you to remember forward. The next newsletter issue will be our Winter issue and more will be

said, but let me begin now by reminding you it is just a short time before it is time to consider nominations for our upcoming elections and awards at the Annual Meeting. Remember, to everything rises and falls on leadership. Many of you have proven yourself as capable leaders in your organization. I am sure you would bring those same capable qualities to the leadership team of FEPA. Why not offer yourself for an office in our upcoming elections.

Looking forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.

If I can ever help, give me a call.

Blessings

Roger Hagan, FPEMChaplain

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Certification Corner

The FEPA Certification Commission met in conjunction with the August Mid-Year Work Session to continue work on Certification Program projects. During the meeting, the Commission welcomed new Certification Commissioner Lee Mayfield and returning Commissioner Anne Miller to the group. Lee and Anne are from FEPA Area 6 and the recommendation to appoint them to the Commission was unanimously supported by the FEPA Board of Directors. The Commission continues to recruit members from other FEPA Areas that do not have a full complement of representatives.

With the formal move of the FEPA Instructor Certification Program under the Commission, Commissioners reviewed and updated the elements of the Association’s Business Plan related to emergency management trainer qualifications. These items were moved under the Certification Section of the Business Plan and include the establishment of the Instructor Certification Sub-Committee chaired by Jeffrey

Goldberg. The instructor program is on track to finalize its specific application and review process by the end of the year.

As we approach the end of the year, please don’t forget that all applications for FEPA Certification or Re-Certification for the Class of 2016 must be uploaded to the FEPA website by November 1, 2015. The Certification Section of the FEPA website includes detailed instructions to successfully complete and upload your application. It also includes a list of individuals who are due for Re-Certification with the Class of 2016 as well as a roster of Certification Commissioners who are available to help you complete your application.

FIND OUT WHY EMERGENCY MANAGERSARE MOVING TO NOGGINThe next-generation software platform for emergency management.

THRIVE DURING DISRUPTIVE EVENTSvisit www.noggin.io email Laurie Wood at lwood@noggin.ioDirector of Emergency Services Solutions, North America

All applications for FEPA Certification or Re-Certification

for the Class of 2016 are due

November 1, 2015.

http://www.noggin.io

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The FEPA Annual Meeting Committee conducted its first meeting to plan the week of events for the 2016 Annual Meeting during the Mid-Year Work Session. Since that time committee members continue to meet by conference call to review the responses to the “Call for Presentations” for the Association’s premier professional development event. Next year marks FEPA’s Diamond Jubilee with sixty years of service to Florida’s emergency management community; so the 2016 event is sure to include many outstanding activities to mark the distinguished occasion.

FEPA 2016 Annual Meeting and Work Session

Please mark your calendars

for February 1-5, 2016 for

the 2016 Annual Meeting

and Work Session at the

Daytona Beach Hilton.

Preliminary program,

schedule, lodging and

registration information is

posted to the Home Page of

the FEPA website.

http://www.gilbaneco.com

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