Introduce Yourself!

Welcome to the National Preparedness Coalition Forums! 

We want this to be a great resource for you! It should be informative, creative and just a bit fun. 

Please make sure to keep things polite and helpful, and do take a second to review our  Discussion Policy

Let's get started with some introductions! Who are you, why are you here, what experiences do you have with community preparedness and what type of projects are you working on etc.

Thanks for being a part of this community, I am sure we all have a lot to teach and a lot to learn.

Hi all,

I hope this intro is in the correct place on the forum...

My name is Shelomo Alfassa and I am from NYC where I am the PIO of the New York City Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Service. NYC-ARECS is a NYC based auxiliary communications service. Our organization is made up of New York City based licensees of the Federal Communications Commission who specialize in Amateur Radio emergency communications.

Personally, I have a been in EMS for 25 years and disaster / emergency management for 20. I used to be with the USPHS and was based at Denver ,CO.  Anyone in New York or the surrounding area want to chat, let me know.  We are currently exploring VOST and experimenting with new digital technologies used in communications.

Our site: http://nyc-arecs.org

Best,
SA

Our organization. Marshall County Preppers, just joined the National Preparedness Coalition.  Our all volunteer group conducts seminars and workshops throughout our county in Alabama to help families and communities be better prepared.  Currently we have over 120 members.  www.MarshallPreppers.Com 

Hi Everyone,

Since next week is the beginning of Hurricane Preparedness Week, I wanted to pass along a disaster preparedness and recovery resource that can help people become more resilient to disasters like hurricanes and expedite the recovery process.

 After a disaster like a hurricane, one of the most daunting tasks for a resident can be creating an inventory of the personal belongings that were damaged or destroyed in or around a home.   People who have insurance will be required to provide an inventory to their insurance adjuster in order to receive money to replace such items. The Personal Property Memory Jogger is a pre-populated Excel spreadsheet with over 5,000 common household items, broken down into a room-by-room format.  Once downloaded, you have the option to delete items that may not apply and/or add items that may not appear in the list.  The Personal Property Memory Jogger can be downloaded free-of-charge at www.theredguidetorecovery.com.

 For people who have lost everything and do not have photos or any documentation of what they owned prior to a disaster, the Memory Jogger can be a real asset.

 Take care!

 Sincerely,

 Sean Scott

Author

The Red Guide to Recovery - Resource Handbook for Disaster Survivors

sean@«hidden»

My name is Terry Allshouse. Im currently a member of Guernsey County CERT. I have been unofficially been involved in emergency work for the past 26 years. Looking foreward to sharing ideas with everyone.

Hi Terry,

Best regards from NYC

Shelomo Alfassa

http://nyc-arecs.org/

Hello and thank you for your responses. I am Helen and a firefighter/medic

For 21 years. I am a Miami Dade fire rescue cert for Dade county.

It would be my pleasure to share with you.

Thank you

Helen

My name is Bryan McLaughlin I am the CEO and founder of Family Preparedness Consulting. I am also a member of the Tatum Tx Search and Rescue team, Tatum fire department, and member of the Rusk county CERT team.

I work full time for my company as a preparedness consultant and CEO. We work with families, churches, communities and Government groups to help get people better prepared for emergencies.

Our web site:

https://familypreparednessconsulting.com/

Face book:

http://www.facebook.com/Family.Preparedness.Consulting

John W. Noble Sr

Chester, Mass

Director of Communications

Greater Westfield and Western Hampden County MRC/CERT

Amateur Radio Operator ( W1JWN )

RACES,ARES,SKYWARN

Hello,

My name is Reginald Newberry.  I live in Cleveland, OH.  I'm a Crisis Coordinator at a local charter school.  I've taken several courses through FEMA's EMI ISP.  I attended the "Youth Preparedness" training on May 11th in Columbus.  I am currently working on getting a "Youth Preparedness Program" started in my school. 

Hello, My name is Michael J. Cyran. I'm a Communication Unit Leader for a local group in Los Angeles, California.I saw your introduction and that you have taken several IS-Courses. In your position I would suggest your taking thefollowing courses through Ohio State Emergency management; Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools (G364), Planning for the Needs of Children in Disasters (G366), Mitigation for Emergency Managers (G393), Earthquake Safety for Schools (G434.a), Seismic Sleuths: A Teacher’s Package on Earthquakes for Grades 7–12 (G439) (G439). If you need additional information, please contact Phil Johnson at 614-799-3680 or Lisa Jones at 614-799-3824.

Hello everyone,

It is great to finally get involed. My name is Daniel G. I retired from the Navy in late 2009. I now live in my home town of Portland, Or. I specialized in Fire Science and Training Leadership while serving as a Fire Marshal/Counselor in the Navy. I currently own my consulting company that  analyzes ,creates new, implements and trains employees in Disaster Preparedness for Long Term Care Facilities.  I'm a member of the Oregon Health Care Associasion and the NFPA. I thank each and everyone of you for your time and knowledge. I look foward to the ongoing ideas and strategies.

Thanks,

Daniel G

(Smile it's Reflective)

Hello, my name is Pedro Serrano I'm from Cataño Puerto Rico I work for the Emergency Management Office and Desaster Administration in my city I'm an Instructor in Huracanes, Earthquakes, Tsunamis I'm in charge of all Emergency equipment in the office I'm glad to be part of the National Preparedness Coalition, and I'm also part in the C.E.R.T. group in my city, I hope qet to now more people in the Coalition.

Hi Pedro!

I'm Edgardo Alvarez from Aguada, PR. I'm a CERT voluntary and have a web in construction: http://certaguada.tripod.com . I will be honor if you visit my page and send any comment using my home page form.

Hi everyone. My name is Jaison Scott and I am the Disaster Manager for Southwest Arkansas for the American Red Cross.  I am responsible for preparedness and response for a fourteen county area and have almost 100 volunteers as the only staff member for the area. I have a Bachelors in Emergency Management, Associates in Emergency Medical Services-Paramedic Technology. I am a former County EM & Safety Director, Paramedic, Firefighter, dispatcher, and former Cadet Officer with ten years of service with Civil Air Patrol (Senior GT/ES specialities). I teach basic disaster courses for the ARC, incident command system, and have numerous instructor certifications.

I am here to find out best practices, make new contacts, and borrow your ideas :)

Hi Jaison,

My name is Kathy Reynolds, EM from Texarkana.  I was wondering about your coverage area and courses offered through your office.  You can contact me at cert@«hidden». Thanks

Hi Jaison,

Thanks for joining the National Preparedness Month Coalition!  Have you made contact with the state Citizen Corps Coordinator, Chad Stover, in Little Rock?  He would be interested in coordinating and working with voluntary organizations in disasters.  His email is:  chad.stover@«hidden»

Are there any CERT teams in your area?  Here in north Texas, the CERT teams and Red Cross cross train to assist each other when needed.  You might want to suggest that as a possible collaboration to Chad.

I hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Shari Brand, Community Preparedness Officer, FEMA Region VI 

Hello!  My name is Michael Taylor.  I am a Certified Planner (AICP) and the Principal Planner for the City of Gulfport, FL.  My interest in the planning field has changed from land use planning to hazard mitigation planning.  It is an interesting and exciting field to in.  Plus, I enjoy helping people as they try to understand issues in the mitigation and flood insurance world.

I joined to learn more, learn from others, share ideas, and understand different points of view on issues.

Hello Everyone,

My name is Marina Diaz, I am the Programs Manager for a not for profit organization and lead trainer.  I train local citizens focusing on youth and seniors on emergency readiness, and train local faith and community leaders on managing their constituents during an emergency. Pretty new in the field as I switched careers recently, but have 4 years of volunteering experience with ARC and CERT.  I have my Masters in Public Administration with a Focus in Emergency and Disaster Management and hope to learn from everyone :). I also travel a lot and hope to meet some of you and talk shop face to face.

Intro:

Hello my name is Lydia (lilly) Gonzalez -D'ross. I am a graduate from Regent University with a Master's in Gov't Public Admin and Homeland Defense Against Terroism: I am pursuing my second master's in science at OSU with emphasis in Fire/Emergency Management Adminstration (FEMP).  I represent the State of Oklahoma for a National Organization and also serve as a Hispanic Public Relations in Public Safety/Emegency Response and responders via National Disaster Relief. I am several committes locally, nationally and federal level. I am also on a few State Advisory Councils for the State of OK and my husband and I serve as Community Chaplains. We work very closley with faith based and health & human services; Iam in the process of completing my CEM portfolio. I hope to be of service to this extradionary Coalition of team members.

Greetings from Grand Prairie, TX (Dallas)

I'm Lynn Scarborough and my team from Shady Grove Church are having our first Prep2Bless Emergency Prep training Sun. July 8th.  Our focus is to help the members of our church community be prepared so that when there are Emergency situations,  we are ready to Bless others in our communities who are in need. This one hour program includes Five Steps to Basic Prep and then presentation by Emergency Prep. City official. We are planning a full day Training session for the City of Grand Prairie in September.  We have created a "getting started" approach to keep people from being overwhelmed.

The workshop is interactive, includes group activities with multigenerational approach - the younger are helping olders load apps on their phones. We are providing materials and giveaway "Buckets" to give people a boost.

We have had overwhelming response - and are maxed out on seating. Yikes - so grateful for a great team.

We will post some pictures later and our Prep2Bless theme.  For Faith based communities it is important for them to appreciate that being Prepared is a biblical principle.

Cheers and forging on with Joy. . .