Veoci Blog

The FEMA Community Lifelines outline seven basic functions and structures communities rely on to survive. Emergency management practitioners have always been aware of the webs of continuity in communities; the Community Lifelines framework brings those connections to the forefront and helps all stakeholders work within the response.

What those testing kits packages from federal and state governments lack is a solid plan for distribution. While some towns and cities may be able to repurpose old processes or current infrastructure for this task, many others are left wondering how they can get this shipment of supplies out to their residents.

For those who have never worked as a first responder, it’s difficult to understand what a day, or night, in the lives of those who arrive on the scene of an emergency first really looks like from the inside. Hearing these stories firsthand from responders on the Veoci team.

NEPPA coordinates crew assistance from neighboring utilities when other member utilities are impacted by significant weather. This October nor’easter was no exception.

The University of Southern California (USC) is a long-time participant of the Great ShakeOut. This year, however, USC decided to execute their exercise differently, completely running the drill from start to finish utilizing their new emergency management software: Veoci.

In the past few decades, resilience has come together through emergency management and business continuity programs. The understanding professionals hold of program must-haves has also changed over time in response to new environmental, political, and regulatory landscapes.

Eric Rynerson, Lead Safety Investigator at Atlas Air, took on the task of transforming and digitizing the organization’s Emergency Response Center (ERC). Like many organizations of its kind, its growth increased the complexity of coordinating an efficient response to emergencies. Luckily, Veoci seemed to be able to help.

Very few organizations need to be ‘told’ that they need to revisit and streamline their emergency management and business continuity plans any longer; laws reinforce the idea, and new Texas legislation puts the idea of resilience under a new light. 

In March 2021, (NOAA) unveiled the latest update to the agency’s weather forecasting infrastructure: WaveWatchIII. This upgrade will help NOAA and other weather forecasting entities predict weather-related disasters.

For Lance Lynch, MBA, CBCP, a career in public safety and response should allow a practitioner to not only raise themselves, but the people around them. And through that lens, he’s continually sought out chances to expand that helping reach and increase the positive influence on people through his work.

Public safety telecommunicators also play important roles in EOCs across the country; their functions within the EOC supply critical information to emergency managers, other EOC players, and citizens as part of the response process. Let’s take a look at that role during this year's National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

With just under 59,000 enrolled students and over 19,000 employees, planning and responding to the pandemic have been a challenge, but the NYU team has found a way of controlling the situation and maintaining a common operating picture throughout the organization.

Despite how prone an agency, municipality, or community is to earthquakes, it’s possible to prepare. Many states and areas across the US dedicate February to earthquake awareness, hoping to prepare their residents and stakeholders for these events.

Maintaining a sense of normalcy for students throughout this pandemic has continued to be a priority. School districts have been doing all that they can to ensure their students can continue with their education, while maintaining their safety. Chris McLaughlin, Emergency Management Coordinator for Keller Independent School District (ISD) and his team have made sure to adjust day-to-day operations to guarantee that not only can students get back to school, but stay safe in school.

Preparedness is important in every industry. But it’s especially so in healthcare, as many people’s health and safety rely on the continuity of services and operations.

That COVID-19 vaccine will need to be distributed, and local organizations may be tapped to help out. Colleges and universities may be part of that cohort. Participating schools will need to run points of distribution (PODs) to accomplish this. And if a school’s staff is unfamiliar with this type of operation, a practice run is worth their time.