Emergency Management Solutions

Volume 6 No. 11 November 2014

In This Issue

Monthly Video

Blog Highlights

Leadership Coaching

Featured Article

Professional Development

Life Balance

From the Bookshelf

Speaker's Corner

Monthly Video

1918 influenza pandemic survivor interview: Mrs. Edna Register Boone

This fascinating bit of oral history tells the story of the impact of the 1918 flu pandemic on a small rural community as seen through the eyes of a survivor. It's a reminder that government can only do so much; ultimately it's the actions of the community that determines survival.

Blog Highlights

The following are excerpts from my blog

Canton on Emergency Management. Please visit my blog to see the rest of my articles.

Reflections on Veteran's Day

11-12-2014

We are not a military family - yet three generations of us have been soldiers. Soldiers are not different from you - we are you....ť

When Did We Solve the Ebola Crisis?

11-07-2014

Problems don't disappear just because media attention moves on to something else....ť

Oakland University Hosts World's First Zombie Health Symposium

10-30-2014

Using a fantasy scenario engages participants but does the medium obscure the message?...ť

Leadership Coaching

Free Coaching Session

I'm so impressed with the Leadership ChallengeŽ that I want to make you a special, no risk offer.

In conjunction with Sonoma Leadership Systems, I am able to offer you an individual Leadership Practices InventoryŽ at cost - you pay only the materials cost of $50 and, in exchange, I'll give you $200 worth of value.

Here's what you get:

The LPIŽ online self-assessment
A customized report comparing your assessment with the LPIŽ database of over 1 million leaders
A free 30 minute telephone counseling session valued at $150 to review your LPIŽ report
A $50 credit towards my Jump Starter or Full Monty coaching programs

I believe that once you experience the Leadership ChallengeŽ for yourself you'll see the value of a full coaching program. You may even consider bringing the workshop to your team. However, this offer won't be around forever as I only have a limited number of free coaching slots available.

Just click on the icon below to take the Leadership ChallengeŽ today:

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The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

by James M. Kouzes & Barry Posner

The Leadership Challenge is a registered trademark of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. www.leadershipchallenge.com

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My Book

Welcome to the November issue of Emergency Management Solutions.

November brings one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving. For me it's always been a time for gathering with family and friends and reflecting on all the blessings life has bestowed on us. But for us as emergency managers, we also know the risks that come with the season: winter storms, freezing temperatures, potential terror attacks, etc. But this just makes it more important that you pause for just a short moment to consider what you have achieved and remember that you are not alone. Be thankful for the progress you've made and for the friends and colleagues who will be there when they are needed.

There are still opportunities available to try take the Leadership Challenge at no risk. For just the administrative cost of $50 (it goes to the publisher, not me) you can get an individual Leadership Practices Inventory, a free half hour coaching session, and a $50 credit towards a full coaching program. Check it out!

And my Consulting Transitions website? It's at the "any day now stage" so stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

Regards,

Lucien Canton

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Featured Article

Exercise Decision Making Skills

Do your exercises train senior managers for success?

When United Flight 232 crashed at Sioux City in 1989, many of those who survived owe their lives to a coordinated interagency response. The outcome might have been much different. The Sioux City airport was not rated to handle large jumbo jets. However, the county's emergency services manager, Gary Brown, understood the strategic implications of the many flight paths that crisscrossed Sioux City airspace and anticipated that there might one day be a need to respond to a crash. Against much opposition, he exercised local responders and hospitals in dealing with mass casualties. This strategic thinking meant that county agencies and hospitals were ready to respond on that fateful summer's day.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE

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If you are having trouble viewing my featured article, try clicking on the link at the top of the page. You can always find my articles in the white paper section of my blog site, Canton on Emergency Management.

Professional Development

Free Emergency Management Book

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a new e-book, Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management: A Dialogue Between Researchers and Practitioners, edited by Joseph E. Trainor, PhD, and Tony Subbio, CEM, MS. The goal of this work is to bridge the gap between practitioners and scientists (academics) that focus on disasters. It is also to describe to the reader what each set of stakeholders knows about key issues in emergency management and to facilitate an exchange of ideas and strengthen the emergency management system.

The entire book is available for free in the Homeland Security Digital Library. Click here for the book.

Discount on TC103: Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management

My fellow blogger at Emergency Management, Brandon Greenburg, highly recommends the Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management Course offered by the Institute for Technology and Social Change. The course topics include:

Social Media for Crisis Response
Mapping the Crisis: New Techniques for Disaster Response and Preparedness
Mobile Response: How Mobile Technology is Changing Disaster Response
Looking Ahead: Where New Technologies are Taking Us

Featured Technologies include Twitter, Facebook, Tomnod, OpenStreetMap, OSM Tasking Manager, Ushahidi, Kobol Toolbox, TextIt, Crisis Cleanup, FieldPapers, FrontlineSMS, and more!

Be warned, though, this is a serious course requiring 5 to 7 hours a week and it is not free. It might be worthwhile passing it on to your IT support to bring them up to speed on this subject. Brandon has arranged a $100 discount if you sign up before November 22 - use the discount code "EM1L3".

Hashtag Standards for Emergency Management

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has just issued a report urging governments to adopt standard hashtags for use in disasters. (For the social media challenged, hashtags allow the user to identify Tweets related to a given topic). Doing so would allow better situation analysis and increase the amount of actionable information provided to responders. You can find the more information and a link to the report here.

Life Balance

Passion keeps you going
During my time as Director of Emergency Services for San Francisco, I kept a panoramic photograph of the damage to the Marina District after Loma Prieta on my wall. It was the first thing I saw on arriving in the morning and it was just a glance away during the day. It was a reminder to me that the job I was doing was not about me but about my family and friends who lived in the City. It reminded me to take the job personally.

Over the years I have found that the colleagues I admire most have that same passion for their work. Indeed, I have come to believe that is an essential characteristic for success in a profession that offers few rewards. We certainly don't do it for the money or for the recognition. We often work unacknowledged - passing credit to those with whom we have collaborated. So being passionate and truly caring about those we serve keeps us going.

Do you have that kind of passion? If not, are you sure you're in the right job?

From the Bookshelf

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Turning Points in Ancient History)

by Eric H. Cline

Hardcover

List Price: $29.95

Our Price: $18.10

Imagine a world much like our own - sophisticated civilizations bound by a complex web of trade and a global economy.This was the world of the Late Bronze Age. But by 1177 BCE this world had collapsed, ushering a dark age that would last for centuries. Historian Eric Cline traces the events that led to this collapse, demonstrating how wars, climate change, migration, and natural disasters in the preceding three hundred years led systemic failure.

This book is not easy reading. Cline illustrates his points using archaeological evidence, sometimes in excruciating detail, so I did find myself skimming some sections rather than reading. But unlike a lot of authors, he does not cherry pick his facts: he covers the evidence that supports his points and addresses the evidence that contradicts them. He is also quick to distinguish what we know from what we theorize.

The take away for emergency managers is the complexity of our world and how a disaster can have ripple effects. It highlights the importance of social vulnerability and how that vulnerability can cause systemic collapse under certain circumstances. Not high on my recommended reading list but fascinating if you have an interest in history and geopolitics.

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Interested in more books on emergency management and related topics?

Check out my bookstore at:

Speaker's Corner

Looking for a Speaker?

Need a speaker for your next conference? I offer keynotes, seminars and workshops.

Three Reasons Why I'm the Right Speaker for Your Conference

You can find more details and sample videos on my website or on my SpeakerMatch page.

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ISSN: 2334-590X