The Current of Emergency Management Cody Powell and Dr. Maribel Martinez-Mejia

In this conversation, Maribel and Cody discuss various topics, including their faith and how it keeps them grounded and helps with their work-life balance in the field of emergency management and how respecting each other's faith and family is crucial in maintaining a strong relationship. They continue the conversation with discussing how their faith helps them avoid burnout and deal with the stress of the job. 




Support the show

In this episode, Cody and Maribel discuss the recent AT&T outage and its impact on voting sites during an election. They introduce their guest, Daniel Blount, who has extensive experience in radio communications. Daniel shares his background in civil air patrol and ham radio and discusses the recent wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. The importance of redundancies in communications and the need for radio caches are also highlighted. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the balance between efficiency and preparedness in emergency management. The conversation explores the availability of radios and the challenges faced in obtaining them. It discusses different radio systems, the difference between simplex and repeated channels, and the use of patching at the console. The conversation also touches on building a communication platform, satellite communications, and the role of ham radio as a backup. It delves into packet radio and APRS, ham radio license classes, and the concerns of EMP and cybersecurity. The conversation concludes with the importance of backup communication options and the need for an immediate action plan and family. In this conversation, the topics discussed include communication redundancies, the use of drones and mesh networks for communication, the role of the Civil Air Patrol in emergency management, the integration of radios in aircraft. Other topics covered include the adoption of ICS by law enforcement, the importance of training and using communications effectively, the role of dispatch and EOC communication, the need for ham radio licenses in EOCs, and the organization of ham radio drills. 



Support the show

Summary

In this episode, Cody and Maribel discuss their absence from the podcast and express gratitude for the continued support from listeners. They reflect on the passage of time since the COVID-19 pandemic, recent changes in emergency management in Texas, including realignment and the introduction of new positions. They highlight the importance of productive busyness, discuss using ChatGPT for writing letters, the potential of AI,  the Enhanced Incident and Unified Management course, upcoming events and projects, concerns about TikTok and UAS, and electric vehicles and emergency planning. Maribel and Cody discuss their plans for the podcast in 2024 and express their excitement for the upcoming year. The hosts express their gratitude to the listeners for their support and feedback. The conversation concludes with closing remarks and anticipation for a fun 2024.

Takeaways

Changes in emergency management in Texas, such as realignment of regions and new positions, have impacted the field.

Productive busyness and effective coordination are essential in emergency management.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance emergency management practices and improve decision-making.
Support the show

On this episodes we talk about why we took a summer break which has a lot to do with summer conferences. We discuss the ones we went to, the benefits and some unconventional conferences that EMs may not go to often. We also spend time discussing the summer heat wave and wildfires that have created so many problems here in Texas this summer. 
Support the show

This is the second of two episodes with recently retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Justin Aiken who served in the United States Marine Corps for 31 years. 

Our initial plan was for this interview to be mostly focused around what lessons we could learn from someone who served at the highest level about leadership and training. However, to prepare for the interview, Master Guns Aiken spent weeks listening to all our podcast and doing independent research about the EM profession as a whole. We quickly realized we needed to soak up as much knowledge and wisdom as we could. So we didn't take breaks and didn't worry about time. The end result was just short of three hours soaking up knowledge and wisdom from someone who achieved the highest rank possible in the Marine Corps, in the most difficult job field to do it in, the infantry. Additionally, Master Guns Aiken was the senior enlisted infantry advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. There are only around 75 infantry Master Guns in the entire Marine Corps and only one is selected as the infantry advocate.

In this episode we discuss the importance of the EM profession from out outsiders point of view, the importance of professional identity, and existing in the shadows vs. advocating for your profession. . 
Support the show

This is the first of two episodes with recently retired Master Gunnery Sergeant Justin Aiken who served in the United States Marine Corps for 31 years. 

Our initial plan was for this interview to be mostly focused around what lessons we could learn from someone who served at the highest level about leadership and training. However, to prepare for the interview, Master Guns Aiken spent weeks listening to all our podcast and doing independent research about the EM profession as a whole. We quickly realized we needed to soak up as much knowledge and wisdom as we could. So we didn't take breaks and didn't worry about time. The end result was just short of three hours soaking up knowledge and wisdom from someone who achieved the highest rank possible in the Marine Corps, in the most difficult job field to do it in, the infantry. Additionally, Master Guns Aiken was the senior enlisted infantry advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. There are only around 75 infantry Master Guns in the entire Marine Corps and only one is selected as the infantry advocate.

In this episode we talk about leadership, training, burnout, mental health, and learn from Master Guns about 'Post-Traumatic Winning.' 
Support the show