Yesterday DEM held its largest emergency preparedness exercise of the year, based on a simulated earthquake. The drill tested logistics, interoperable/backup communications, and cross-sector coordination across four sites, with local and private participation despite the federal shutdown.

April 13-19 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. This week, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of the unsung heroes of San Francisco's emergency response system – our incredible 911 Public Safety Dispatchers.
Dispatchers work 24/7 to keep our communities safe.

I'm sitting down now to watch the "Future of FEMA: Perspectives from the Emergency Management Community" hearing which was held yesterday by the Emergency Management and Technology subcommittee so I'll post some thoughts as I go along.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGA6...

This is a good article that does a nice job of explaining what local dispatch centers do. It's unfortunate that it had to be written under these circumstances.

There's a lot of specialized equipment and tech in dispatch centers that are not easily moved or replaced. 1/

Strong & clear statement by @ametsoc.org: "Recent terminations within the government workforce for science are likely to cause irreparable harm & have far-reaching consequences for public safety, economic well-being, & United States' global leadership." www.ametsoc.org/ams/...

It's worth pointing this out because this is summer in Australia i.e. fire season. Historically the us, Australia and iirc Canada have shared resources and personnel which you know we're not in a great position to do right now since California is taking in firefighters from other states

Maybe now we'll finally get serious about a decently-paid, permanent, and dedicated wildland firefighting force instead of relying on seasonals during the summer months, right?

Nah, that's crazy talk.

Shoutout to the Los Angeles Times reporters who are doing essential journalism under very difficult circumstances.

They’ve dropped their paywall, but their ongoing coverage is a good reminder of why local newsrooms need support — and what we lose when those outlets are hollowed out.

How to protect your health from wildfire smoke:

Evacuate if active fire is too close

Wear a high quality mask with headstraps; N95s are great, P100s are most protective

Stay indoors, and close your windows and doors

Run air purifiers on high to filter smoke that seeps inside

One of the main issues wee outlined in our fire/water report was about water availability during fires. Despite article focus on this being an LA problem, it’s a widespread problem. Many recommendations here for addressing (hint: during a fire is too late) innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/u...

Our hearts may be in San Francisco, but today they’re with Los Angeles. @sfgov.sf.gov

Disasters are political. Risk creation is political. Risk reduction is political. Emergency management is political. Disaster science is political.

Pretending it isn’t gets people killed and communities destroyed.

🧵 2/2 [continued]

🧵 1/2 Seems like a good time to share these words from @mskellymhayes.bsky.social. I believe they were from an old tweet thread of hers. I return to them often.

The emergency management/ disaster community on Blue Sky is growing!! 😭😭😭 This website might actually work out.

I'm adding people to the starter pack as I see them. We're using #GreySky for EM-related content.

go.bsky.app/DsHYNgg