Kellye Junchaya: Welcome to the Round Table today... Kellye Junchaya: We are talking from the Community and Family Preparedness conference... Kellye Junchaya: In hot hot hot Virginia! Kellye Junchaya: There are a varied group here from all over the United States. Kellye Junchaya: Also, many different backgrounds. Just meeting people and talking about the varied jobs, interests and areas is very interesting. Kellye Junchaya: I would like to introduce a couple of people who are participating in the conference with me. Kellye Junchaya: The first one is Steve Marks. He is the assistant Coordinator for the Greensboro-Guilford County Emergency Management in North Carolina. Kellye Junchaya: He is going to tell us a little about the benefits of a conference like this and expand on that. Take it away Steve. Steve Marks: Hello All! This is my first CFP conference, so I am soaking up some great info... Steve Marks: like a giant sponge! Not only is there some great info available for us, but the... Steve Marks: networking opportunities are fantastic! And this is also my first attempt at on line chat so please excuse any typos... Steve Marks: and misspellings! I have some info on severe weather preparedness, amateur radio coordination, and CERT if there are any questions. Kellye Junchaya: Steve, tell us about how local Emergency Management agencies can provide Preparedness information in their communities. Steve Marks: We have already developed programs on severe weather (in cooperation with local broadcast meteorologists), family disaster planning, and of course, Y2K... Steve Marks: In addition, we are partnering with agencies like Red Cross and other VOADs to develop and disseminate similar programs... Kellye Junchaya: (VOAD = Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters) Steve Marks: We are also pursuing Project Impact status as well as utilizing HMGP. We hope to develop a very successful preparedness program as part of the EM cycle: Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Mitigation. Thanks for the question, Kellye! Kellye Junchaya: What are some of the programs available at the local level? Kellye Junchaya: (HMGP = Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) Steve Marks: One of our premier programs is the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program... Steve Marks: This 17-20 hour program is designed to prepare citizens within neighborhoods and communities to handle the initial... Steve Marks: phases of disaster response (the first 3 days until additional assistance can arrive). There are details of the program... Kellye Junchaya: Thank you Steve. We hope you will continue to participate with us on Tuesday Round Tables... Kellye Junchaya: (Keep going) Steve Marks: available on FEMA homepage or at our site at www.ci.greensboro.nc.us/ema/. Thanks, Kellye! Kellye Junchaya: I didn't mean to cut Steve off, I hit the wrong button. Next I want to let Rocky Lopes say a few words. He has to run soon but will give us a quick update. Amy Sebring: ( http://www.ci.greensboro.nc.us/ema/ ) Rocky Lopes: Hi, greetings from the Family Disaster Preparedness Conference in a new location this year, Mt. Weather, VA. We're just about to hear from Dr. Dennis Mileti, the Director of the Natural Hazards Center at the Univ. of Colorado in Boulder... Rocky Lopes: Dennis will tell us about the implications of a second assessment of disaster research and its implications for disaster preparedness. Rocky Lopes: More info about this entire conference will be published in the EMFORUM and in a post-conference report from FEMA. Look for it! Rocky Lopes: Gotta run... enjoy this forum and be sure to look for more info on the web site mentioned above and from my colleague Ralph Swisher. Bye! Kellye Junchaya: Rocky is the Community Education guru from Red Cross and helped organize the conference. He has a lot of responsibility here so we thank you for taking the time to join us. Kellye Junchaya: Next we will hear from Sherry Kenyon. She is from Community Disaster Education from Red Cross. She is a volunteer instructor for them and also a Safety Educator for the City of Boulder Fire Dept. Kellye Junchaya: Sherry, tell us a little about teaching preparedness in your local community. CFP Participant: Hello everyone! It is good to be attending this conference again. I have learned so much from the participants from years past and look forward to this year's brain trust! Kellye Junchaya: (Sherry will be the CFP participant) CFP Participant: Right now the hot topic is Y2K and I am using this as an opportunity to teach preparedness for any and all disasters that may happen - so I guess my first tip is to use any window of opportunity you find to send your messages. CFP Participant: The next tip would be to find the best possible messenger to deliver your message - maybe a firefighter is the best person to teach about alternative light and heat sources during a power outage caused by a disaster in your area, CFP Participant: or the bilingual housing site manager to teach about the Family Disaster Supplies Kit for families in subsidized housing units - the point is you need someone who is recognized and has credibility in the community that you are teaching. CFP Participant: Remember that your community leaders can open the doors for you - don't be afraid to ask for their help. Find others who have a vested interest in your messages, as well. Then it is easy to build relationships and CFP Participant: enlarge your sphere of influence! Kellye Junchaya: Thanks Sherry. Frannie Winslow is also here. She is the Director of Emergency Services for San Jose California. She will talk to us about the theme for the conference and her role here. frannie winslow: The conference theme is "Living Disaster Preparedness". This is the real challenge for all of us in emergency management. Many here have said that people are willing to get educated. frannie winslow: The real problem is getting them to ACT on their education. We will have some workshops here to share successes in communities that have had both education and action. frannie winslow: The session I will be leading will explore how to prepare the community for the realities of terrorist activity with either scaring people unnecessarily, or giving terrorists suggestions for activities. We look forward to learning from each other this week. frannie winslow: And especially to developing materials that can be shared throughout the emergency management network. Kellye Junchaya: Thank you very much Frannie. Kellye Junchaya: Before I turn the floor over to questions and comments, I want to mention a couple of things. Kellye Junchaya: We will have the Disaster Saves awards on Friday this week and we will keep you updated on the winners. Kellye Junchaya: Also, I have been a busy salesperson here getting people to sign up for the CFP mailing list. We currently have over sixty people signed up... Kellye Junchaya: and I think I can double that number by the end of the conference. With that many people, we should have some good discussions... Kellye Junchaya: Please sign up for the mailing list so you can all be involved with our discussions and give us your perspectives. Peggy Peirson: ? Amy Sebring: Kellye, here is the link to subscribe ... Amy Sebring: http://www.speccomm.com: 81/guest/RemoteListSummary/actnow Amy Sebring: and Kellye will be posting additional conference news this week. Kellye Junchaya: If you have a question or comment, please insert a question mark. Go ahead and type your question but wait until you are recognized to hit enter or send. Kellye Junchaya: Peggy, go ahead with your question. Peggy Peirson: You answered my question with the address. Thank you! Amy Sebring: ? Kellye Junchaya: Thank Amy! Amy go ahead, please. Amy Sebring: Kellye, I understand there will be several working groups this week. Have they gotten started yet? Amy Sebring: And what will they be trying to accomplish? Kellye Junchaya: This afternoon is the first concurrent session. There will be several tomorrow as well. Kellye Junchaya: I think the idea is to break the group down into smaller groups so we can have discussions and also we can focus on areas that are of interest to us individually... Kellye Junchaya: In addition, it allows us to have many more topics covered than if we had everyone together all the time. Avagene Moore: ? Kellye Junchaya: Avagene, please. Avagene Moore: Kellye, what are some of the other topics on the program this year? I attended last year and was impressed with the diversity of speakers and topics. Kellye Junchaya: CERT, How to get people to act, one on terrorism, partnerships with business and industry, partnerships with NWS and other govt. agencies. Kellye Junchaya: There are more but I don't have my agenda with me. Steve Marks came to the rescue with a good memory! Peggy Peirson: ? Kellye Junchaya: Peggy, please. Peggy Peirson: Is there a way for persons who are not attending the conference to get more detailed information on particular topics??? Amy Sebring: ? Kellye Junchaya: Ralph will probably publish something to summarize the information. There is a lady here who does not work in disaster preparedness but is here just to summarize everything. Kellye Junchaya: Also, I will update you at the end of the conference and I may have more information as to available materials. Kellye Junchaya: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: Last year we received the post-conference report and made available for download in the library. We can also let you know of availability via the mailing list we mentioned ... Peggy Peirson: Thank you- I am particularly interested in "motivating" change. Amy Sebring: and I expect we will have an issue of Act Now out in June I hope ... Amy Sebring: that is a newsletter via a separate mailing list to which you can also subscribe ... Kellye Junchaya: Peggy, I think many people here are interested in that topic. When we introduced ourselves, many people wanted to discuss how to motivate people to act. Peggy Peirson: Yes - we have an unique opportunity right now, but that will soon pass and we will be searching for ways to motivate again - hopefully short of any disaster experiences! Amy Sebring: Sorry, the address I put up before was for Act Now ... Amy Sebring: here is the one for CFP list again ... Kellye Junchaya: There are volunteers who are recording information from each session so we should have a good report at the end. Amy Sebring: http://www.speccomm.com: 81/guest/RemoteListSummary/CommunityPrep Kellye Junchaya: Thank you all for participating and for your comments. Especially thanks to all my co-conference participants for their efforts today. Clap Clap. Kellye Junchaya: Avagene, do you have some upcoming events to announce? Amy Sebring: Ava is having a problem ... Amy Sebring: Tomorrow we are having Carole Macko in the Classroom at noon ... Amy Sebring: she will be speaking about Risk Management Plans ... Amy Sebring: and is with the CEPPO office of the EPA. Amy Sebring: The deadline for filing is June 21 and she will be telling us about what is next. Amy Sebring: Next Tuesday's Round Table will be hosted by ... Amy Sebring: Ava is back and has details. Ava Moore: Next week, the Congressional Fire Service Institute (CFSI), one of the Founding Partners of the EIIP, will lead the first of their monthly Round Tables. This will give us regular opportunities to hear more fire service issues and discussions. Please mark Tuesday June 15, 12: 00 Noon EDT for the CFSI Round Table dialogue. ... Ava Moore: On Wednesday, June 16, 12: 00 Noon EDT (please note once again that both weekly sessions are at the same time now!), we have an EIIP Panel session on Global Sustainable Development. ... Ava Moore: As you recall, we had a panel discussion last month on domestic sustainable development following the recent National Town Meeting on a Sustainable America. ... Ava Moore: The topic is of global concern since all inhabitants of the planet face similar hazards, risks and problems related to disasters and the costly impacts to human beings, the infrastructure, property, and the environment. ... Ava Moore: This was emphasized again last week in San Jose, Costa Rica, at the Hemispheric IDNDR meeting. Sustainable development and disaster vulnerability are extremely hot topics as we near the end of the Decade and look forward to the 21st century. ... Ava Moore: For example, Rocky Lopes mentioned that Dennis Mileti will be speaking at the CFP Conference this week about the Second Assessment -- stressing that research indicates we must approach things differently and smarter. This is now a global theme. ... Ava Moore: Next week, we will have Helene Valdes from Costa Rica with us as a panelist; Helene is with the IDNDR Secretariat and vital to the wrap up meeting last week in San Jose. ... Ava Moore: Steve Bender, Organization of American States (OAS), headquartered in Washington DC, will also participate. ... Ava Moore: Ollie Davidson and possibly one other representative of the World Bank, Washington DC, will complete our expert panel. ... Ava Moore: This is a vital topic to anyone interested in any aspect of disaster preparedness or management. I assure you this is a subject you will hear more and more about -- join us next week for dynamic discussion and an opportunity to ask questions of our panelists. That's all for now, Amy. Amy Sebring: Thanks very much to Kellye for a good job ... Amy Sebring: and also thanks to AK Miller for helping us out with connections. Ava Moore: Great job, Kellye! Kevin Farrell: Amy Sebring: We will close for today, but you are certainly welcome to stay longer. Kellye Junchaya: I need to run back to the conference. The next speaker is already underway. Thanks to everyone!