Disaster Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jamie Davis, Sam Bradley, Joe Holley, Kyle Nelson
ER Doctor and toxicologist Peter Akpunonu from the Kentucky Poison Control Center joins us on the show this week. He’s also joined by Tim Conley from MedGlobal. We talk about the unique challenges seen during disasters when there is a need to contact poison control centers. Poison Centers are 24/7/365 emergency hotlines. 70% of the people who call poison control centers are able to be managed and advised so they can remain at home. This results in a huge savings in needless healthcare costs.
Previous Disaster Podcast Episode on Med Global with Tim Conley
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Disaster Podcast Episode PlanningJamie and Sam welcomed Peter Akapanu, an ER doctor and toxicologist who runs Kentucky’s Poison Control Center, as a guest. The conversation briefly touched on weather conditions in different regions and introduced Tim Conley, from MedGlobal.
Poison Control Center FunctionsPeter discussed common unintentional poisonings, including children accessing medications at home and seasonal mushroom and plant exposures. He explained that poison control centers serve as a 24/7 medical lifeline staffed by toxicologists, pharmacists, and nurses who provide treatment recommendations to keep people out of emergency rooms and save healthcare costs. Peter highlighted the centers’ capabilities in disaster scenarios, where they can scale operations and assist first responders with triage and guidance.
Poison Control Protocols for First RespondersThe discussion focused on poison control procedures and protocols for first responders. Peter explained that while he can provide guidance and recommendations, he cannot give medical orders, and emphasized that field providers should first treat the patient in front of them with symptomatic and supportive care.
Jamie shared that in Maryland, the poison center is integrated into the med radio system and can be accessed alongside medical direction, though they cannot issue orders either. The conversation highlighted how toxicologists like Peter can provide valuable guidance over the phone, including information about chemical properties, severe effects, and necessary protections, though they must communicate one step at a time and focus on basic recommendations.
Poisoning Situations and Provider AwarenessSam and Peter discussed the importance of field providers gaining information about potential poisoning situations to take appropriate precautions. They shared experiences about unknown toxic exposures, including Sam’s story about a patient who had ingested Jimson weed. Peter emphasized the need for providers to maintain situational awareness and trust their instincts when dealing with altered mental status cases, suggesting that poison control should be considered early in the differential diagnosis process.
Poison Treatment and Response StrategiesThe group discussed what responders have available in ambulances for treating poisonings, with Peter confirming that most necessary treatments involve medications already carried by emergency services. Sam and Peter discussed how toxicologists use the principle that “the difference between poison and cure is a dose” when treating various poisonings. Jamie shifted the discussion to how poison centers adapt their response during major disasters like hurricanes, flooding, or chemical releases, though this portion of the conversation was cut off in the transcript.
Poison Centers in Disaster ResponsePeter explained how poison centers operate as 24/7 public health services that report data to the National Poison Data System every 7 minutes, which helps identify patterns and anomalies across the country. He described the collaborative network of poison centers that can provide mutual assistance during large events or disasters, with centers able to track and follow up on cases across different states.
Peter also detailed specific disaster-related issues, noting that while tornadoes cause trauma concerns, poison center problems typically arise from utility disruptions leading to carbon monoxide exposures from generators and potential mold issues after floods.
Poison Center Emergency Support RolePeter explained that while poison centers don’t typically handle disasters directly, they can provide essential support during emergencies like sewage line disruptions, floods, and snake bites. He described how poison centers can help determine treatment needs, provide antidote guidance, and coordinate with hospitals across the state 24/7.
Peter also clarified that the national hotline number 1-800-222-1222 routes calls to local poison centers based on area codes, and during overwhelming situations, calls can be automatically routed to other states through their IT infrastructure.
Poisoning Prevention Advice MeetingThe meeting focused on preventing poisonings, with Peter providing general advice including keeping cleaning supplies locked up, properly labeled, and out of reach of children, and using pill minders effectively. The group discussed where listeners could find them online, with Peter providing his email address and Tim mentioning his new position with MedGlobal.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Disaster Meteorologist Dan DePodwin joins us again today on the show. We look at recent severe weather impacts on the U.S. including Tropical Storm Bertha skirting the gulf coast of the United States. Bertha had two landfall impacts with most of the issues caused due to flooding inland and local storm surge on the coast.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Tropical Storm Bertha UpdateThe meeting focused on Tropical Storm Bertha, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression. Dan explained that while the storm caused some flooding and storm surge in Louisiana and Texas, its overall impact would likely be minimal and short-lived. He noted that Bertha’s unusual westward movement into Mexico rather than eastward was due to wind shear, and that the storm would not significantly impact the northeastern United States over the weekend.
Western US Flash Flood RisksDan discussed weather conditions in the western United States, highlighting the risks of flash flooding from heavy thunderstorms in mountainous regions like Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. He explained that even small amounts of rain can quickly cause dangerous flash floods due to the terrain’s rapid channeling of water through rivers, creeks, and dry washes. Dan recommended using NOAA Weather Radio for alerts in remote areas without cell service and advised starting outdoor activities early in the morning to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.
Flash Flooding Risk and PreparednessDan and Sam discussed the risks of flash flooding in low-lying areas during summer, particularly referencing a tragic flood at Camp Mystic in Texas that killed over 100 people. Dan explained that while overall precipitation may not have increased significantly, heavy rain events are becoming more intense due to climate change, which causes more flash flooding.
The discussion covered practical flood preparedness measures, including checking FEMA maps for flood zones, considering insurance, and creating drainage solutions, with Dan sharing an example of Becky clearing a clogged street drain during a recent storm.
Heat and Storm Safety GuidanceDan discussed the current heat wave affecting the western United States, particularly the desert southwest, with Phoenix expected to reach 110 degrees. He advised people to stay hydrated, seek shade, and do outdoor activities early in the day to avoid the dangerous heat.
The discussion also covered hurricane preparedness, with Dan explaining that people in hurricane-prone areas should consider evacuation plans and have emergency supplies ready, noting that hurricanes typically provide advance warning unlike flash floods. Regarding tornado safety, Dan advised having a way to receive warnings and knowing where to go for shelter, particularly recommending interior basement locations if available.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Tim Conley joins us on the Disaster podcast this week to look at the international response to two concurrent disasters. In his role and Chairman of the Board with Med Global and as a co-founder of Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative (IDMC), Tim discusses how these organizations are working to help manage the Ebola outbreak response in Africa while they simultaneously send teams to assist with medical care of victims following the earthquakes in Venezuela.
Previous Disaster Podcast Episode on Med Global in Ukraine
MedGlobal provides free, sustainable healthcare services to refugees, displaced persons, and other vulnerable communities in crisis areas and low-resource settings worldwide. They deploy healthcare volunteers, support local medical teams and humanitarian partners with training, funding, and technology, and donate medical equipment, medications and supplies.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
New Board Chair Introduction MeetingSam introduced Tim Conley as the new chair of the board and vice president of MedGlobal, explaining how they first connected in 2006 when Sam was building a disaster team for California and sought Tim’s expertise from the Illinois team. Tim described his current roles as an emergency management supervisor for Mercy Health and his work with MedGlobal’s emergency management and chemical weapons programs, noting his ongoing liaison with IDMC which he helped found. The discussion focused on MedGlobal’s current global healthcare initiatives, including responses in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Colombia, and other locations, as well as their work in Ebola and Venezuela responses.
MedGlobal Healthcare Mission DiscussionSam discussed MedGlobal’s mission of providing free sustainable healthcare to refugees and vulnerable communities through deploying healthcare volunteers and building resilient healthcare systems. Tim explained that his role in emergency management involves providing tools and systems to healthcare providers so they can effectively respond to emergencies, noting that while the concept is simple in description, it’s more complex in practice. The discussion highlighted MedGlobal’s international training programs, including chemical weapons response and surgical techniques, with examples from Ukraine, Gaza, and Bangladesh.
International Medical Logistics CoordinationTim discussed the logistical challenges of working with international medical communities, noting that physical movement of materials and coordinating with local partners and governments are the main hurdles, especially in countries like Ukraine, Ebola outbreak regions, and Venezuela. He explained that working with organizations like WHO is crucial for navigating local regulations and ensuring proper distribution of PPE and training programs that align with local practices and WHO recommendations.
International Medical Aid ChallengesThe discussion focused on the challenges of providing medical equipment and training in international aid situations. Sam shared an example from Ukraine where outdated equipment was sent without proper training, leading to the equipment being unused.
Jamie asked about balancing access to modern technology with local healthcare system capabilities, to which Zoom responded that it’s crucial to assess what the local system can sustain long-term, noting that healthcare systems often excel in some areas while lacking in others.
Ebola Response in Ukraine ChallengesThe discussion focused on the challenges of responding to the Ebola outbreak in Ukraine, with participants noting the complex logistics due to the strain of the virus, detection difficulties, and ongoing conflicts in the region. Tim explained that Med Global is working with the WHO to determine the best locations for setting up training programs, considering factors like responder fatigue and logistical access.
The conversation highlighted the importance of addressing both physical and mental health challenges for first responders, with participants acknowledging the long-term emotional toll of working in dangerous environments with limited PPE and family support.
Volunteer Disaster Preparedness Training ChallengesTim discussed the challenges of preparing volunteers for different disaster scenarios, noting that while MedGlobal staff and volunteers receive training from healthcare professionals and emergency managers, there is no single recipe for mental preparation due to varying dangers like Ebola outbreaks, local conflicts, and natural disasters.
Tim emphasized the importance of proper training, including PPE use and safety protocols, and mentioned specific examples like emergency management volunteers providing safety training in Venezuela after an earthquake. The discussion concluded with Sam considering the situation of federal employees eager to join USAR and DMAT teams but waiting for disaster deployments.
Venezuela Earthquake Relief EffortsTim explained their earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela, describing how they are working with NGOs and local authorities through advanced teams that are conducting assessments and establishing logistics for medical supplies and patient care.
The discussion highlighted the challenges of accessing the country and the importance of planning for needs 2-3 weeks ahead rather than immediate requirements. Sam noted similarities to their previous experience with Ukraine relief efforts, mentioning concerns about distribution, security, and implementation logistics.
Venezuela Earthquake Disaster ResponseThe group discussed the situation in Venezuela following an earthquake, with Jamie reporting that official death tolls are likely underreported, with estimates ranging from 3,700 to potentially 10,000 or more deaths.
Tim highlighted the dedication of disaster response teams, including medical professionals and volunteers, who willingly enter dangerous areas to help others despite personal risks. The conversation also covered the collapsed chronic disease care system in Gaza, where healthcare infrastructure has been destroyed, leading to significant problems with untreated medical conditions.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
On this week’s episode of the Disaster Podcast, we chat with Dr. Tehnaz Boyle. Dr. Boyle is a pediatric emergency physician and a scientist who studies how to use technology to bring expert care to disaster situations remotely. She works with Health Tech Without Borders who we talked about three years ago on the show related to their work during the early days of the Ukraine war.
Previous Disaster Podcast Episode on Health Tech Without Borders
Health Tech Without Borders is a global non-profit organization aiming to mitigate healthcare crises by leveraging digital tools and technology to provide immediate access to health resources. They work in disaster and war torn areas of the world to bring medical and health expertise.
ASPR Telemedicine Program Site
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis and they were joined by Disaster Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Global Earthquake Response DiscussionThe team discussed recent earthquake events, including a 7.2 magnitude earthquake followed by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Venezuela, along with additional earthquakes in Northern California and Japan. Becky explained that the back-to-back high-magnitude quakes in Venezuela would likely worsen the already devastating impact, with many older structures built in the 1950s and 1960s failing to meet modern earthquake safety standards.
The discussion highlighted that USAID’s traditional role in international disaster response is no longer available, creating a gap in global disaster relief efforts. The team planned to have a more detailed discussion about the Venezuela situation in next week’s episode, including updates on response efforts from organizations like Med Global and Health Tech Without Borders.
Health Tech Without Borders OverviewTehnaz, an associate professor and pediatric emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center, explained Health Tech Without Borders, a nonprofit that uses digital tools to provide access to medical care during humanitarian emergencies. She described their work in Ukraine, where they partnered with local providers and international clinicians to deliver telehealth services to displaced populations.
Tehnaz also discussed the organization’s role as an innovative hub connecting companies with medical experts, and highlighted the potential for AI and satellite communications to enhance their capabilities in providing remote care.
Telehealth Applications and Remote MonitoringTehnaz explained various telehealth applications including digital consultations, remote patient monitoring, and digital therapeutics, using examples from Ukraine and burn care centers in the US. She described how remote monitoring could allow patients to receive care at home instead of in long-term facilities, particularly benefiting those in healthcare deserts and rural areas.
When asked about connected medical equipment, Tehnaz noted that while many devices can connect to networks, not all collected data is necessarily helpful or interpretable, requiring research to determine useful signals from noise.
Telehealth in Crisis ResponseTehnaz discussed Health Tech Without Borders’ work in providing telehealth services and training for clinicians in crisis areas, including Ukraine. She explained the challenges of licensing and governance barriers for remote clinicians, particularly across different jurisdictions.
Tehnaz highlighted ongoing research into streamlining these barriers and developing AI tools to enhance telehealth capabilities, including potential applications for pediatric patients. The group expressed interest in having Tehnaz and Jerone return for future discussions about disaster response and telemedicine deployment.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Dr. Joe HolleyOn this episode of the Disaster Podcast, Dr. Joe Holley joins us to share his insights following the 2026 Gathering of Eagles Conference recently held in Florida. This annual conference brings together the EMS leaders and physicians from the largest cities and jurisdictions. Its purpose is to give them a chance to share new science and trends in the field and find consensus on where best practices lie in those trends.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Midwest Tornado Weather DiscussionThe podcast episode focused on severe weather conditions in the Midwest, particularly tornadoes. Dan explained the meteorological ingredients needed for tornado formation, including warmth, moisture, wind shear, and atmospheric conditions. He noted that while Illinois had experienced a record number of tornadoes in June, the actual number of tornadoes on the day discussed was lower than expected, though there were significant wind damage reports and hail. The weather discussion concluded with a brief mention of weather concerns for upcoming World Cup events, particularly regarding uncovered stadiums in areas prone to summer storms.
Severe Weather and Emergency PlanningThe group discussed the end of the Midwest severe weather season and the impact of Tropical Storm Arthur, which caused catastrophic flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi. Becky mentioned the emergency preparedness planning for World Cup events and suggested getting a Philadelphia emergency management official on a podcast after the tournament.
Dan explained that while Arthur was short-lived, it demonstrated how tropical systems can cause significant impacts regardless of category, and noted there was a slight chance it could reform off the East Coast.
Gathering of Eagles Conference OverviewJoe explained that the Gathering of Eagles meeting is the annual conference of the Metropolitan EMS Medical Directors Global Alliance, bringing together medical directors from large cities worldwide to discuss challenges and share experiences. The conference was held in Florida in conjunction with the Florida State EMS Conference, consisting of several days of state-of-the-science presentations and discussions on problematic issues.
This year’s meeting focused on topics including mass gathering medicine, weather-related concerns, VIP management, immigration issues, infectious diseases, and terrorism-related threats.
World Cup Event Preparation PlanningThe group discussed preparations for large events like the World Cup, focusing on challenges such as managing non-English speaking athletes and fans, potential health risks including infectious diseases, and ensuring public safety. Joe highlighted new scientific advancements in pre-hospital care, including blood transfusions and trauma treatment.
Becky emphasized the importance of local planning and coordination in emergency management. The team agreed to conduct a deeper dive into event planning and preparation after the games, potentially involving experts like Kyle for insights into event management.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
First Line Tech CEO Amit KapoorOn this episode of the Disaster Podcast, Amit Kapoor, CEO of First Line Technology joins the show to talk about hazardous materials and decontamination techniques and tools. Among the novel tools and techniques are methods of Dry Decon which uses methods other than washing and dilution with copious amounts of water.
First Line Technology designs and manufactures disaster preparedness and emergency response equipment – taking ideas from the Lab to Life-Saving Products. Among those products is FiberTect. This is a multi-layered, nonwoven composite designed to absorb and adsorb hazardous substances, including CWAs and TICs. Its lightweight, flexible design ensures easy use in emergency response and field operations.
B-A-R Method Training teaches the Blot, Apply, Remove technique for effective decontamination. This structured approach ensures proper contaminant removal while maximizing efficiency and safety in the field. The BAR method is trusted by professionals to simplify decontamination while maintaining safety and effectiveness in high-stakes scenarios.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
CBRN Technology for First RespondersSam and Jamie discussed weather conditions, with Sam reporting dry weather in rural Missouri and Jamie updating on Tropical Storm Amanda in the eastern North Pacific. Amit Kapoor, president and CEO of Firstline Technology, joined the conversation to discuss his company’s 23-year focus on developing technology for first responders and first receivers, particularly in CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) situations. Sam highlighted the importance of CBRN protection for first responders, sharing a personal experience about a paramedic who developed chemical pneumonia during a hazmat incident.
CBRN Contamination Decontamination MethodsAmitKapoor discussed the gap in secondary contamination issues during CBRN and hazmat incidents, focusing on challenges in transporting contaminated casualties to hospitals. He explained the differences between dry and wet decon methods, noting that dry decon eliminates the need for water, making it safer and more practical in various environments. AmitKapoor mentioned the PRISM study conducted by HHS, which provided scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of dry decon methods.
Emergency Decontamination Misconceptions DiscussionAmit Kapoor discussed common misconceptions about decontamination (Decon) in emergency medical services and fire communities. He explained that decon is often viewed as unattractive compared to more exciting aspects like detection and triage, and highlighted two key misconceptions: how clean is clean, and that decon has been overcomplicated. Amit emphasized the importance of hybrid decon approaches combining dry and wet methods, and stressed that while there’s no silver bullet solution, having the right knowledge and tools is crucial, particularly noting that water and dilution are not always the best approaches.
CBRN Patient Decontamination MethodAmitKapoor explained the BAR method (Blot, Apply, Remove) for decontaminating patients at CBRN incidents using FiberTech material, which is a DOD-funded textile containing activated carbon that absorbs and holds chemical threats. He demonstrated the method using a kitchen cleaning analogy, showing how contamination should first be blotted up, then a cleaning solution applied, and finally any remaining contamination removed. Jamie expressed interest in learning more about organizations’ responses to this approach and requested more information about presentations at conferences.
Hospital Decontamination Systems TrainingAmit Kapoor discussed hospital decontamination systems and training approaches, explaining how his company provides modular decon kits (MDK) that can scale from single patients to mass casualties, along with comprehensive training programs including online courses and a free Decon Field Guide app. The discussion highlighted the importance of proper decon training, with Amit noting that many hospitals only train staff once yearly on outdated mass-casualty protocols rather than addressing everyday contamination scenarios. T
he conversation also covered access to training resources through Firstline Technology’s learning management system and the need for better preparation across fire departments, EMS agencies, and hospitals for various contamination threats.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
This week on the Disaster Podcast Dr. Joe Holley comes on the show for a clinical update episode on Heat-Related Medical Emergencies. As we head into the summer months here in the Northern Hemisphere, the likelihood of encountering patients with heat emergencies increases. For disaster responders in the summertime, the risks are even greater as they wear gear and carry equipment that adds to their load while working in hot weather. Co-Hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis join Joe on the discussion.
Types of heat emergenciesHeat Cramps – The symptoms of heat cramps include painful involuntary muscle spasms brought on by loss of sodium through excessive sweating. Most often seen in people exerting themselves in extreme heat situations without rehydrating themselves or taking adequate breaks to allow the body cool down.
Heat Exhaustion – Next on the spectrum of heat emergencies is heat exhaustion which progresses from heat cramps as the body starts to lose the ability to compensate for lack of adequate cooling. Symptoms include early signs of shock like dizziness, nausea, cool, pale, and clammy skin.
Heat Stroke – The most severe level of heat emergency is heat stroke which is a true medical emergency that may result in permanent disability or death. Hot, dry skin, loss of consciousness, and complete failure of the body’s cooling mechanisms are key signs.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Heat Safety and Weather DiscussionThe group discussed weather conditions and heat safety. Sam shared updates about her new home in Missouri, including drainage issues due to lower acreage and recent heavy rains. Joe explained how humidity affects the body’s cooling system, noting that high humidity makes sweat less effective at evaporating and cooling the body, which can increase the risk of heat illness for people transitioning from drier climates.
Heat Illness Spectrum and PreventionJoe explained the spectrum of heat illnesses, from heat cramps (caused by heavy sweating and salt loss leading to muscle cramps) to heat exhaustion (when cooling mechanisms fail and body temperature rises, causing symptoms like nausea, dizziness, and clammy skin) to heat stroke (when internal temperature exceeds 104°F with severe neurological and cardiovascular effects).
Jamie asked about factors affecting the progression from milder to severe heat illness, to which Joe responded that various factors including physical condition, medical conditions, medications, ambient conditions, and physical activity all influence how quickly someone might progress through the heat illness spectrum. Joe emphasized the importance of prevention through proper education, preparation, and having readily available cooling methods, noting that work cycles may need to be limited in extreme heat conditions.
Heat Management in Disaster SituationsJoe explained that preparing for heat management in disaster situations is crucial, especially for first responders working in austere environments with limited support systems. He highlighted the increased physical and mental demands of search and rescue operations in debris-filled areas following adverse weather conditions. When asked about immediate actions for heat stroke emergencies, Joe indicated that it is a life-threatening situation requiring immediate attention, though the specific response was not fully detailed in the transcript.
Heat Stroke Treatment TechniquesJoe shared his experience with a 16-year-old who suffered heat stroke during football practice, explaining the importance of cooling techniques like exposing skin, using water and fans, and eventually ice baths for treatment. He emphasized the need to monitor body temperature and avoid overcooling, noting that recovery from heat stroke typically requires intensive care and is not possible in the field. When asked by Jamie about managing teams in extreme conditions, Joe’s response was cut off at the end of the transcript.
Heat Safety Response ProceduresJoe explained the primary methods for managing heat safety during responses, including the buddy system and using cooling stations like ambulances or air-conditioned vehicles with vital sign monitoring every 30 minutes. He noted that dogs can only work for about 15 minutes in hot weather before needing downtime due to their fur covering and inability to communicate thirst effectively.
Heat Stress Signs in DogsThe discussion focused on recognizing signs of heat stress in dogs, with Joe explaining that behavioral changes, lack of response to commands, stumbling, heavy panting, and laying down in cool areas are key indicators. Joe noted that dogs primarily regulate temperature through panting rather than sweating, and mentioned that temperatures over 103 degrees are considered high for dogs, with many dogs having temperature chips for monitoring.
Jamie emphasized the importance of refreshing knowledge about heat stress as summer and hurricane season approach, highlighting the need for people to know their limitations and watch out for each other during emergency responses.
Paragon Training Activities PlanningJoe discussed upcoming training activities for Paragon, including attending the Gathering of Eagles conference in Florida and conducting cadaver-based procedural training for paramedic programs. The group shared their social media handles and podcast information, with Jamie encouraging listeners to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast. The conversation concluded with well-wishes for Joe’s upcoming conference trip and acknowledgment of his busy schedule.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
This week on the Disaster Podcast we take a look at the 2026 hurricane forecast put out by several universities, NOAA, and groups like Accuweather. One key variable in predicting the coming season is the presence or absence of El Niño or La Niña in the equatorial region of the central Pacific Ocean. Dan DePodwin, our disaster weather expert breaks down the coming forecast and talks about how global weather and climate patterns impact storm formation half a world away.
Dr. Joe Holley joins the discussion as well and we look at the messaging around hurricanes as they approach landfall. The National Hurricane Center recently updated their forecast cone graphic to make it easier to understand. Dan and Joe share their thoughts about the adjustments and about disaster messaging in general. Joe also shares his thoughts about preparedness for the coming season at the local, state, and federal levels.
What to know about the new cone graphic:
- Incorporates all land-based (coastal and inland) tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings in effect for the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
- Uses single shading for the entire 5-day outlook cone;
- Legend depicts symbols for areas where a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are both in effect (represented by diagonal pink and blue lines); and
- Full and intermediate Tropical Cyclone Advisories are/will be publicly available on hurricanes.gov.
NHC will also be introducing a new experimental version of the NHC’s Tropical Cyclone Track Forecast Cone. Since its debut in 2002, the cone has shown where the tropical cyclone’s forecast center is likely to go, based on past forecast calculations.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Hurricane Season Forecast DiscussionThe podcast host Jamie Davis welcomed back Dr. Joe and Dan Depodwin to discuss upcoming weather events, particularly the hurricane season. Dr. Joe shared his upcoming schedule, including a Paragon lab in Florida and the First Care Conference in Fort Lauderdale in early June, which runs alongside the Gathering of the Eagles event. Dan discussed unusual weather patterns in the Northeast, noting chilly conditions in May despite early warm spells, and shared AccuWeather’s forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season, predicting 11-16 named storms and 4-7 hurricanes, which is around or slightly below average. He emphasized that even in a below-average season, multiple hurricanes could still impact the United States, using Hurricane Andrew in 1992 as an example.
El Nino’s Impact on HurricanesDan and Jamie discussed how El Nino and La Nina affect hurricane seasons in the Atlantic Basin. Dan explained that El Nino, characterized by warmer than average water temperatures in the Pacific, typically leads to increased wind shear in the Atlantic, resulting in fewer hurricanes. They noted that while El Nino years generally have fewer storms, they don’t eliminate the possibility of storms. Dan mentioned that current forecasts indicate a strong or potentially record-breaking El Nino developing later in the summer and continuing into the fall.
El Niño and Hurricane SeasonDan explained that El Niño is driven by weakening easterly winds along the equator in the Pacific Ocean, which reduces cooler water upwelling and leads to warmer ocean temperatures. He noted that hurricanes play a crucial role in transferring energy globally by moving heat from the equator to higher latitudes. Dan emphasized that while this year’s hurricane season may have fewer storms than normal, the warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico will continue to fuel storm intensification, making preparation essential during the season running from June 1st to November 30th.
Hurricane Preparedness and Response PlanningThe group discussed hurricane preparedness and response capabilities ahead of the upcoming hurricane season. Joe explained FEMA’s reorganization, noting that while federal response capabilities are effective, there may be variability in state-level preparedness and recovery efforts. The discussion included an analysis of updated National Hurricane Center forecast cone graphics, which now better show inland risks and warning areas. Dan and Joe emphasized the importance of heeding evacuation orders and preparing well in advance of storms, with Joe highlighting the need for experiential training and partnership between federal and state teams.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
New Look to Forecast ConeToday on the Disaster Podcast, co-host Sam Bradley and I discuss her recent move from Colorado to Missouri. She almost immediately ran into severe weather in the new house and talks about the things she did to improve her preparedness in the face of a change of location. Sam’s experience during the move had a profound impact on her and led her to locate the nearest shelter to their home for storm safety.
We also looked at the upcoming hurricane season and discussed a quick overview of the 2026 hurricane forecast. We’ll have a more in-depth discussion with our meteorologists in a coming episode. One interesting topic that came up was the updated messaging from the National Hurricane Center and their cone of forecast track for hurricanes. They implemented new messaging upgrades to the graphic.
What to know about the new cone graphic:
- Incorporates all land-based (coastal and inland) tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings in effect for the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands;
- Uses single shading for the entire 5-day outlook cone;
- Legend depicts symbols for areas where a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are both in effect (represented by diagonal pink and blue lines); and
- Full and intermediate Tropical Cyclone Advisories are/will be publicly available on hurricanes.gov.
NHC will also be introducing a new experimental version of the NHC’s Tropical Cyclone Track Forecast Cone. Since its debut in 2002, the cone has shown where the tropical cyclone’s forecast center is likely to go, based on past forecast calculations.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Hurricane Season Preparation DiscussionSam shared her recent experience moving from suburban Colorado to rural Missouri, including challenges with severe weather, particularly tornado warnings during her drive. The group discussed upcoming hurricane season predictions, noting that while the storm count is projected to be near to below average, the risk remains significant due to potential rapid intensification and elevated early season threats. Jamie emphasized the importance of being prepared for hurricane season by having emergency supplies ready and staying informed through local emergency management centers and weather forecasts.
Hurricane Forecast Graphics UpdatesJamie and Sam discussed updates to hurricane forecast cone graphics from the National Hurricane Center, which will now include tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings, as well as single shading for the entire 5-day cone outlook. Jamie explained that these changes aim to make the information more understandable and help people better assess their risk and evacuation needs. They also discussed the importance of staying informed through apps and alerts, emphasizing the need for immediate action during severe weather events.
Weather Updates and Emergency PreparednessJamie and Sam discussed the impact of constant weather updates and news notifications on public awareness and decision-making. They also talked about military drills, with Sam sharing his experience from a 2015-2016 Urban Shield exercise in Alameda County that involved emergency services training. Sam described how the realistic nature of the exercise surprised some hospital interns who initially viewed it negatively but gained valuable insights during the debriefing.
Emergency Response Training CollaborationSam and Jamie discussed emergency response training, particularly focusing on the evolution of collaboration between police, fire, and EMS teams in active shooter situations. They highlighted the development of training programs like Rescue Task Force and Active Violence Emergency Response Training (AVIRT), which aim to improve coordination and patient care in high-risk scenarios. Jamie mentioned the importance of unified communication systems and the challenges of maintaining effective communication in underground settings. The conversation concluded with plans to discuss recent severe weather trends and hurricane forecasts in a future episode with Dan.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Hail DamageThis episode of the Disaster Podcast featured a discussion about resilience and preparedness with guest Jake Sorber from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Jake explained IBHS’s research on severe weather hazards, particularly focusing on hail damage and wind-driven hail, which can cause significant additional damage to homes. He described IBHS’s unique ability to manufacture scientific ice spheres to accurately test building materials’ resistance to hail impacts.
Becky DePodwin, our disaster emergency management expert joined the discussion along with our episode host, Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Disaster Podcast: Resilience and PreparednessJamie Davis welcomed listeners to the Disaster Podcast and introduced the topic of resilience and preparedness. He noted that Sam was unavailable due to her recent move, but Becky was present as a guest. Jamie then introduced Jake Sorber, a research project scientist at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, who discussed his background in atmospheric science and his current work studying the effects of hail and wind on residential homes and commercial structures.
IBHS Structure Testing and MitigationJake explained how IBHS, an insurance industry organization, was founded to conduct full-scale testing of structures to better understand vulnerabilities to severe weather events like hurricanes, hail, tornadoes, and wildfires. He described a specific hailstorm in Rock Hill, South Carolina in April 2024 that demonstrated how wind-driven hail can cause damage beyond rooftops, including siding and windows, which can lead to water intrusion and significantly increase losses by 2-4 times. Jake emphasized the importance of identifying “damage amplifiers” – structural elements that fail and cause disproportionate damage, which helps in developing mitigation strategies.
Hail Risk and Insurance InsightsJake explained that there is limited historical data on wind-driven hail frequency, and IBHS is developing an instrument to measure impact angles and forces during their annual hail field campaign. He noted that while storm severity has shifted, socioeconomic factors like urban sprawl and increased building costs have had a greater impact on insured losses than weather changes. Jake mentioned that severe convective storms now cause annual losses of $40-60 billion, up from $15 billion historically, primarily due to increased population in hazard areas rather than increased weather risk.
Hail-Resistant Building Materials AssessmentJake explained that hail-resistant building materials do exist and are assessed based on IBHS’s testing protocol, which involves simulating hailstorms in a lab. He mentioned that synthetic composite roofs like F-Wave and metal roofs perform well against hail damage, though metal roofs may have cosmetic issues. Jake noted that while some materials like synthetic composites show no damage after multiple hail exposures, the distinction between cosmetic and functional damage is important to consider.
Residential Building Weather ResilienceJake from IBHS discussed residential building resilience against severe weather hazards. He explained that while completely hazard-proof homes don’t exist, building materials and construction methods can significantly reduce risk, particularly in high-risk areas like Tornado Alley. Jake described IBHS’s work on developing resilience scores for structures and their unique ability to manufacture hailstones for testing building materials. He also covered wildfire preparedness, emphasizing the importance of defensible space and structure separation. The discussion concluded with information about IBHS resources available at ibhs.org.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Sonnet Daymont, clinical therapist, joins the show this week with a look at the treatment and management of mental health trauma in both victims and responders following a major event. Her experiences following devastating wild fires in the Los Angeles area in January of 2025 help her define the needs of individuals in the short and long term.
Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group and Becky DePodwin, our disaster emergency management expert joined the discussion as well. The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Disaster Podcast Planning MeetingThe team introduced themselves and discussed upcoming topics for the Disaster Podcast. Sam mentioned moving to Missouri and plans to build a tornado shelter in his garage. Becky advised keeping an eye on the severe weather forecast during the move. The group then introduced their guest for the episode, trauma expert Sonnet Daymont, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist and consultant on films. They discussed her background and her upcoming book “When Dangerous Feels Like Home,” a true crime memoir about healing from trauma.
Sonnet’s Trauma Therapy Memoir DiscussionThe discussion focused on Sonnet’s background as a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in trauma treatment. She explained her upcoming book “When Dangerous Feels Like Home,” which is a true crime-inflected memoir about her journey to becoming a therapist through experiencing relational trauma. The conversation also touched on Sonnet’s work in the film industry, including consulting on a horror film about child abuse titled “Women in the Yard.” When asked about red flags for narcissistic personality traits, she began explaining how these traits relate to antisocial personality disorder and the challenges they present in relationships, though the transcript ended before she could complete her answer.
Narcissistic Behavior Identification DiscussionSonnet advised that identifying narcissistic behavior involves paying attention to genuine empathy and listening carefully to others. They explained that while some behaviors like love bombing and grandiosity can be normal early in relationships, pathological versions might indicate manipulative or harmful intentions. Sonnet also clarified that mental health disorders like narcissism lack biomarkers and diagnostic criteria change over time, while explaining that Machiavellianism describes manipulative and cunning behavior lacking empathy.
Psychological Disorders and ResilienceThe group discussed psychological disorders, focusing on the differences between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder as defined in the DSM. Sonnet explained that while these conditions share some traits like low empathy, they represent distinct diagnostic categories, and individuals can exhibit multiple disorders simultaneously. Becky raised questions about nature versus nurture in personality development, to which Sonnet responded that brain scans show differences in people with reduced empathy or antisocial behavior, though the cause could be either genetic or environmental factors. The conversation then shifted to trauma and resilience, with Sonnet sharing insights about how supportive caregivers or mentors can help individuals process trauma constructively rather than developing problematic behaviors. Jamie introduced a new topic about disaster resilience, asking about preparation methods for people living in disaster-prone areas, but the transcript ended before this question was addressed.
Disaster Responder Mental Health StrategiesThe meeting focused on discussing self-care and mental health strategies for disaster responders and survivors. Sonnet explained key components of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), including mindful awareness, thought restructuring, and exposure therapy, as effective tools for managing trauma and anxiety. The discussion highlighted how community support and social connections are crucial during disasters, with examples from recent wildfires in Los Angeles. The group agreed to bring back Sonnet for future discussions on mental health topics, particularly focusing on meteorologists’ experiences with disaster forecasting and its impact on their mental well-being.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
The Disaster Podcast hosted Ben Gilliland from Future Proof Property Intelligence to discuss his company’s AI-powered solution for assessing and mitigating climate-related risks to homes. Ben explained how their technology uses smartphone video scans, NVIDIA AI, and IBM climate data to create 3D models of properties, identify risk factors, and provide remediation plans and cost estimates. The discussion covered how their system addresses the mismatch between rising weather risks and shrinking insurance options, with an average cost of $10,000-$40,000 for home remediation.
Becky DePodwin joined the call as well to offer her thoughts on this technology. The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Disaster Response Program EvolutionThe group discussed Joe, a Memphis-based medical director and ER doctor who runs Pentagon Medical Education Group, which provides experiential training for disaster responders using cadaver labs. Benjamin shared that his organization has shifted focus to develop a private sector solution for disaster mitigation after FEMA’s funding changes, working with Thomas Chandler from Columbia on developing remediation programs. Benjamin explained how their program has evolved to include three main areas: remediation, education, and preparedness, moving from a initial focus on house hardening to a broader approach including people engagement and warning systems.
Resilience Technology Podcast PreparationThe meeting focused on preparing for an upcoming podcast episode about using technology to enhance home and workplace resilience. Benjamin Gilliland from Future Proof Property Intelligence was introduced as the guest. The hosts, Jamie and Sam, discussed the format of the podcast and introduced Becky, a meteorologist and emergency management expert, as a participant. The conversation briefly touched on weather conditions and El Nino before transitioning to prepare for the main discussion about resilience technology.
AI-Powered Home Assessment SolutionBenjamin shared his extensive background, from his early career in lighting design for rock bands to his involvement in early Silicon Valley computing, where he funded several technology projects including the first spelling checker and multimedia initiatives. He explained how his non-profit TPHA.org, which focuses on affordable and climate-resilient housing in Hawaii, led to the development of Future Proof’s AI-powered solution. The system uses iPhone video recordings to create 3D models of homes, generating repair plans, budgets, and material lists while also identifying available government grants and financing options for home improvements.
Disaster Preparedness and Risk MitigationBenjamin and Sam discussed disaster preparedness and risk mitigation, particularly focusing on a three-silo approach involving home assessments, education, and emergency alerts. Benjamin explained their work with Columbia University, which includes developing a vision system using AI to help homeowners identify safe areas in their homes during disasters, while simultaneously creating video records of their belongings for insurance purposes. They also discussed a comfort bot with patent-pending technology that can adjust its messaging based on the listener’s age and situation during emergency alerts.
AI Emergency Warning ConflictsBecky raised concerns about how AI systems might handle competing emergency warnings, such as conflicting advice during Hurricane Ida where tornado and flooding warnings contradicted each other. Benjamin acknowledged this was still an area being developed, mentioning NVIDIA’s work on reasoning components and noting that while the system could potentially handle house-related alerts, direct AI instructions for emergency warnings were still 2-3 years away. The discussion highlighted the need to address how AI systems might triage conflicting alerts based on house mapping and personal information, though current AI trustworthiness for direct emergency instructions was deemed insufficient.
Address-Level Risk Assessment SystemBenjamin explained that their risk assessment system operates at the address level rather than broader grid squares, providing more granular data than what insurance companies currently use. He described how they can identify specific risk factors like trees near homes in Southern California versus central Missouri, where different hazards prevail. The system aims to empower homeowners with property risk information while creating a bridge between homeowners and insurance companies, allowing for better-informed decisions about insurance and potential remediation work.
AI-Driven Home Hardening InitiativeBenjamin and Jamie discussed the importance of homeowners advocating for themselves with insurance companies regarding home hardening measures. Benjamin shared that they are building a collective expertise, including partnerships with NVIDIA and Lawrence Livermore Labs for AI model validation, and Columbia University for educational content and chatbot development. The team is developing AI tools to help homeowners, contractors, and insurers, with plans to automate forms processing and certification of completed work. Benjamin emphasized the life-saving potential of their technology while ensuring proper guardrails are in place, particularly given the AI’s deep learning capabilities.
Magic Window App DiscussionBenjamin discussed the Magic Window app, which assesses weather risks and helps homeowners address damage, noting that it started as a non-profit educational tool before becoming a public benefit corporation. He shared that the average cost to remediate a house is estimated at $10,000 to $40,000, with an aggressive federal program potentially saving 80% of at-risk homes over 20 years. Benjamin and Becky highlighted the app’s potential benefits, particularly in preventing wildfire damage through defensible space creation, while acknowledging challenges in addressing natural hazards like sea level rise.
Climate Change Risk Assessment AppBenjamin discussed the implications of climate change using his FutureProof app, which analyzes risks for specific locations. He highlighted that Riverside, California, and an area near Dallas are expected to face the worst conditions in the U.S. by 2075-2100. The app, available through the Apple Store and Google Play Store, provides detailed risk assessments and reports for $24, helping individuals understand their vulnerability to seven major disasters. Benjamin encouraged listeners to spread awareness about the issue and visit futureproof.org for more information.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Dr. Joe Holley in USAR trainingThe Disaster Podcast’s Dr. Joe Holley has been busy over the last month and a half traveling to conferences and training scenarios. In this episode, we talk with Joe about his recent travels to get his take aways from these events and what he sees in the near future for disaster responders. Also on the show were disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin and our disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin.
The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
US Severe Weather DiscussionThe group discussed recent severe weather events across the United States, including tornadoes, snowstorms, and a heat wave in the West. Becky explained that March is typically an active weather month due to jet stream patterns, and current conditions are being influenced by an amplified jet stream rather than El Nino or La Nina patterns.
The discussion covered impacts including power outages, road closures, and challenges for emergency services in affected regions. The group noted that while weather conditions have been extreme, the forecast for the coming week appears calmer with no severe weather expected.
EMS Developments and Education UpdatesJoe discussed his recent activities in EMS, including attending the National Association of EMS Physicians meeting in Florida and teaching a medical specialist class for urban search and rescue. He highlighted new developments in EMS, such as blood administration programs, changes in DEA regulations, and technological advancements in airways and patient monitoring.
Joe also mentioned his work with Paragon Medical Education Group and the Commission on Accreditation of Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPSE), emphasizing the importance of quality continuing education for EMS providers. The group discussed potential future collaborations, including a planned episode featuring James Corbin to discuss experiential training.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
The Winter X-Games are back! Disaster Podcast OG meteorologist, Kyle Nelson, comes on the show to discuss his work with the 2026 Winter X-Games in his capacity as a leader in the Pitkin County, Colorado Incident Management Team (IMT). The IMT helps to prepare for and run emergency services response to the X-Games.
Kyle discusses the various roles he’s assumed over the years for this special event in Aspen, Colorado. The team explores how the event prepares for managing emergency events and treating injuries for both athletes and attendees.
The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Snow Impact and Emergency RolesJamie Davis, Sam Bradley, and Kyle Nelson discussed the impact of recent weather events, particularly heavy snowfall across the East Coast and Colorado. Kyle provided an overview of his roles, including ski patroller, avalanche dog handler, manager of Pitkin County Telecommunications, and Emergency Support Function 2 communications lead. He also shared his background in meteorology and experience as a 911 dispatcher, highlighting his work with state incident management teams and his role as a contract instructor for Argonne National Labs and FEMA’s training centers.
Kyle’s Projects and Weather UpdateSam and Jamie discussed Kyle’s involvement in various projects, highlighting his contributions to the team. Kyle provided a weather update, predicting warm temperatures in the desert southwest and a return of winter in the east. He also explained the significance of the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, as an Olympic qualifying event and a platform for pushing the boundaries of winter sports.
Olympic Qualifying and Incident ManagementSam and Kyle discussed the Olympic qualifying system, where athletes can make or break their Olympic bid by achieving high scores and podium spots. Kyle explained his role in the Incident Management Team (IMT), which provides structure and coordination for local responders during incidents, whether planned or emerging. The IMT’s mission is to support local entities and coordinate resources, ensuring effective management of events.
X Games Incident Management EvolutionKyle has been involved with the X Games in Aspen for over 10 years, starting as a ski patrol member and later becoming the Winter X Games lead for Aspen Skiing Company. He helped reshape the athlete medical component and worked with Dr. Joel Buzzi to enhance safety. Kyle transitioned to a 911 dispatcher role, managing event schedules and staff, before joining the Incident Management Team as a Type 3 team member. He initially worked in the planning section, was qualified as a Type III plan section chief, and this year took on the Communications Unit Leader role, combining his experiences in dispatching and telecommunications.
X Games Emergency Communication StrategiesJamie and Kyle discussed emergency preparedness and communication strategies for events like the X Games. Kyle explained that their team manages venue safety, coordinates with X Games and local authorities, and prepares for various emergencies, including athlete injuries. They emphasized the importance of pre-planned messaging to quickly and effectively communicate with media and the public in case of incidents. Jamie inquired about how such situations are handled at X Games events, particularly regarding the evacuation of injured athletes.
X Games Medical Response TeamKyle explained the multi-faceted athlete medical team at the X Games, coordinated by Dr. Buzzy, which includes ski patrol from Aspen Skiing Company, the Aspen Ambulance District, and Medicine in Motion. He described how they handle athlete injuries, from minor incidents to major emergencies, ensuring the closest provider assesses and reports the injury while calling for additional resources if needed. The medical team works to provide the best care for athletes, with dispositions ranging from self-care to medical tents or ambulance transport, and noted that helicopter evacuations are not typically necessary due to the venue’s low elevation and efficient toboggan evacuation methods.
Overcoming Language Barriers in SportsJamie asked about challenges with translation and language barriers for international athletes and their support teams. Kyle explained that they have systems in place to address these issues, including allowing coaches or parents to assist with communication, using translation apps, and having a dedicated medical team. They emphasized their ability to adapt and solve problems as they arise, ensuring all athletes receive the necessary care and support.
X Games Planning and OperationsKyle discussed the planning process for X Games, explaining that it starts with a hot wash after the event to capture learning points. He described the scale of the event, comparing it to building a small city for a one-week TV show. Kyle also mentioned his recent promotion to managing people instead of projects, and expressed appreciation for his predecessor’s work.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
This week on the Disaster Podcast we chat with Seamus Leary ,MPA, CEM about leading through catastrophe: when systems fail. He is President of Meridian Strategic Services, Inc. and is an emergency management expert who worked at the state and local levels and later with FEMA at the Federal level.
With responses to numerous major disasters, Seamus brings a unique perspective to how emergency managers can cope when all the usual systems break down.
The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
FEMA’s Disaster Response MethodsSeamus Leary, president of Meridian Strategic Services, discussed his experience in emergency management, including his role as a federal coordinating officer for FEMA Region 2 and his work as a county emergency manager. He explained FEMA’s disaster classification system, highlighting that catastrophic disasters, or Level 1 events, require national-level responses involving resources from across the country. Seamus shared insights from his deployment to St. Thomas ahead of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, emphasizing the collaborative efforts required to address such catastrophic events.
Enhancing Disaster Response StrategiesThe discussion focused on disaster response challenges, with Seamus sharing his experience in St. Thomas after a storm where they faced significant communication and infrastructure failures. They discussed how multiple issues can cascade, making it difficult to manage complex disasters, and emphasized the importance of having both digital and traditional emergency management tools to handle various scenarios. Jamie contributed by mentioning their county’s use of both digital screens and physical maps for nuclear incident planning, highlighting the value of having multiple systems in place.
Blending Digital and Traditional CommunicationThe group discussed the importance of combining digital media skills with traditional communication methods, emphasizing the value of explaining the “why” to younger team members who excel in digital but may lack traditional skills. Seamus shared his experience as an emergency manager during Hurricane Irene, highlighting the need for rest and backup plans for teams working around the clock, and Jamie referenced Joe’s practice of maintaining a notebook of contacts during responses to quickly access needed resources.
Emergency Response Coordination StrategiesSeamus emphasized the importance of building relationships with local emergency responders and understanding cultural differences when working in unfamiliar communities. He and Sam discussed the need for contingency plans when communication systems fail, such as having backup power and redundant communication channels. Seamus also highlighted the challenge of managing disasters while dealing with personal emergencies and suggested leveraging non-traditional resources and coordinating with neighboring jurisdictions to overcome resource shortages.
Emergency Management and Community ResilienceThe meeting focused on emergency management and disaster response strategies. Seamus, an experienced emergency manager, discussed the importance of training organizations to be adaptable and flexible during crises, emphasizing the need to prepare for when systems fail rather than when they work. He highlighted the importance of partnerships with non-traditional organizations like churches and hardware stores, as well as the role of community leaders in fostering relationships with local businesses.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and the team encouraged listeners to stay safe. The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Helen Hynson Vettori (https://www.helenhynsonvettori.com/) is a former EMT/paramedic and retired senior medical intelligence analyst at the Department of Homeland Security. We have her on the show to share her insights and the two sci-fi thriller novels she wrote based on her experiences. Helen channeled her real-world emergency response and pandemic-planning experience into her sci-fi disaster thriller series, beginning with Black Swan Impact and followed by Black Swan Shock. A “Black Swan” event is a term used to describe a catastrophic incident that no one could have foreseen or imagined because of its unprecedented impact.
Helen didn’t imagine crisis from the outside, rather she spent years preparing for biological threats, including pandemics, and then watched COVID unfold in real time. That insider perspective and her frustration with confusing messaging and federal missteps became the fuel for fiction that feels uncomfortably plausible.
Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group joined the podcast as well as our disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin and our disaster weather expert Dan DePodwin. The episode is co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Winter Storm Impact and PreparationsThe meeting focused on a major winter storm expected to impact large parts of the United States, with Dan providing detailed forecasts of snow, ice, and travel disruptions across multiple regions. The group discussed the storm’s potential effects on various cities, including Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and the Northeast, emphasizing the danger of ice accumulation and power outages. They also advised listeners to consider rescheduling flights and prepare for travel disruptions, particularly in the affected areas. The conversation ended with an introduction to their guest, Helen Hinson Vittori, a former EMT and intelligence analyst at the Department of Homeland Security, who will discuss her experiences during the pandemic.
Emergency Response Expert’s Pandemic NovelHelen shared her extensive background in emergency response, including her work as a paramedic, her role in biothreat planning at DHS, and her experience creating pandemic response plans. She retired in 2018 but became concerned about the government’s response to COVID-19 in 2020, which led her to write a sci-fi political thriller novel called “Black Swan Impact” that explores a catastrophic pathogen event in the year 2113. The novel served as a cathartic way for her to process the chaotic response to the pandemic she had witnessed firsthand.
Emergency Preparedness Through Personal WritingHelen shared her experience as an emergency manager and author, discussing how writing provided her with both peace and a mission to educate others about emergency preparedness. She emphasized that individual preparedness is crucial for both personal and community-level disasters, and highlighted a book club question in her second book, “Black Swan Shock,” that encourages readers to assess their own emergency preparedness.
Federal Pandemic Planning and LeadershipHelen shared her experience working on federal pandemic plans and witnessing their partial abandonment during the actual crisis, expressing disappointment in leadership’s failure to communicate effectively and adhere to established protocols. The discussion explored how better preparation and public education could improve future responses to pandemics and other disasters, with Helen emphasizing the importance of all-hazard planning that starts at the individual level. The group agreed to have Helen return for another podcast episode, and several connections were made between participants for future discussions.
Wrap up and updatesThe team went through contact information and Joe shared that Paragon is working on a new cadaveric-based simulator for pericardial tamponade training. The team encouraged listeners to stay safe and check out Helen’s books.
The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
We delve into the recent surge of Influenza cases across large swaths of the United States in recent weeks. This year is shaping up to be a particularly difficult year for health care facilities and the patients who need them for treatment. Dr. Joe Holley joins us today to discuss what he’s seeing in the Memphis, Tennessee area and what the national flu outlook is.
The most common Influenza A strain right now is causing a surge in ER visits and hospital admissions across the U.S. right now. The dominant Influenza A strain for the 2025-2026 flu season is the A(H3N2) subclade K, a variant with notable mutations. The annual vaccine is moderately effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization and the subclade K variant responds well to antivirals such as Tamiflu.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Flu Trends and Vaccination ImpactJoe and Jamie discussed the recent surge in flu cases, particularly affecting unvaccinated individuals and those with underlying health conditions. Jamie shared his experience of being admitted to the ER with influenza A and noted that vaccinated individuals were more likely to be discharged. Joe confirmed that national trends showed higher hospitalization rates and deaths among the unvaccinated, elderly, and those with other medical issues.
Flu Awareness for HealthcareJamie shared his severe flu experience, which included a high fever, chills, and muscle cramps, leading him to seek emergency care. He emphasized the importance of flu awareness for healthcare professionals, noting the recent increase in flu-related deaths and pediatric deaths reported by the CDC.
Healthcare Virus Transmission PreventionJamie and Joe discussed protective measures for healthcare providers against virus transmission, emphasizing hand hygiene, respiratory protection, and avoiding confined spaces with sick individuals. Joe highlighted the risk of virus spread in confined environments like airplanes, while Jamie shared personal experiences and encouraged listeners to take transmission prevention seriously, noting its impact on their community.
Post-COVID Brain Fog SymptomsJamie described experiencing “brain fog” after recovering from COVID-19, which made mental tasks difficult and required significant mental effort. Joe explained that this could be due to increased inflammatory markers and the body’s energy expenditure in fighting the infection. Sam noted that their household member who had not been vaccinated experienced different symptoms, and both Sam and their household member took about two weeks to regain their energy levels.
Influenza Symptoms and ManagementJoe explained that vaccination can reduce the severity of symptoms, and both Jamie and Sam experienced typical symptoms of influenza A, with Jamie noting the importance of IV fluids in managing his symptoms. Sam described severe gastrointestinal symptoms, while Jamie mentioned being prescribed Zofran despite not experiencing nausea. Joe elaborated on how dehydration and inflammatory mediators contribute to symptoms, and rehydration can help alleviate them.
Winter Virus and Flu UpdatesJamie shared his experience of being delayed for release from the hospital due to low blood pressure, which was unusual for him. The medical team tried various methods to increase his blood pressure, including making him angry and having him walk around. Joe explained that while having the flu is unpleasant, it leads to the development of protective antibodies. Sam noted that the flu often overshadows other winter viruses, and Joe confirmed they are still seeing a variety of other respiratory infections.
Early Flu Treatment and TestingJoe and Sam discussed the importance of seeking medical attention and testing for flu symptoms, with Joe recommending early treatment with antiviral drugs like Tamiflu, which are most effective within the first 48 hours of symptoms. Sam acknowledged that healthcare professionals might be reluctant to visit doctors when they need to, possibly due to a false sense of invincibility. Jamie emphasized the significance of early testing and treatment for flu, aligning with Joe’s advice.
Influenza Testing and Treatment DiscussionThe group discussed influenza prevention and treatment, with Joe emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis and medication, particularly given the availability of over-the-counter rapid flu tests. Jamie noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had increased access to home testing, which Sam and Joe hadn’t previously considered. They agreed that while many people might choose to tough it out, getting tested early could be beneficial.
Flu Prevention and Training UpdatesThe team discussed the flu, including its incubation period and how it spreads. Joe explained that people are most infectious when symptoms start, as their viral load is high. Jamie mentioned that the team had been affected by the flu in various ways. Joe also shared that Paragon is working on a new cadaveric-based simulator for pericardial tamponade training. The team encouraged listeners to stay safe and follow guidelines to prevent the spread of the flu.
The group discussed the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
We gather our podcast regulars for a look at the past year on the show with our 2025 Disaster Podcast year in review. Dr. Joe Holley joined co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis for this episode. Kyle Nelson, Becky DePodwin, and Dan DePodwin sent in their top episode picks by email.
Joe Holley kicks off the look back at last year with a vote for the clinical topics, especially the recent 5-episode run on head-up CPR during sudden cardiac arrest. We assembled a special page for the head up CPR topic with all 5 episodes listed.
Joe also discussed the importance of understanding how research works and not to get caught up in a single social media post on a novel subject without really understanding the context amidst other research. His final choice was the look at K9 and USAR dog training with Kimberly Holley. Kimberly has extensive training alongside her two trained USAR dogs and the third dog she has in training.
Kyle talked about the episode with the Combat Midwife, Jessica Arno. This was an in-depth look at maternal and pediatric disaster care. In addition, Stump Dan the weatherman was another favorite episode as host Sam Bradley used the internet to come up with some novel weather terms and try to stump our own Dan DePodwin. These episodes are an annual favorite as Dan has an amazing understanding of weather, especially winter weather.
Investigating airline disasters with Edward Colson of Ready Northwest was one of Becky DePodwin’s favorites as we delved into aviation industry disaster planning. She also put in her vote for the Stump the weatherman episode linked above.
Jamie added the annual look at the Winter X-Games in Aspen. Our own Kyle Nelson worked as Planning Section Chief for the incident management team before and during the event this past year and shared some of the challenges they faced making such an event as safe as possible.
We covered many other excellent topics this past year. If you have a different favorite from the ones listed in this episode retrospective, leave your answer in the comments below.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions comes back for a final look at Head-Up CPR as we pull all the pieces from the earlier four episodes together. Dr. Joe Holley is back to bring in the latest research into the process as well. We will tie all this back to the global health disaster that is sudden cardiac arrest.
Recent research from across the emergency medical community has pointed to impressive improvements in both return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) as well as survival to discharge and neurologically intact survival when compared to conventional supine CPR performance. We’ll have links below to some of those studies and papers.
Research Bibliography for Head-Up CPR Studies
The episode is co-hosted again by our regular hosts, Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Elevated CPR Series Episode One
Elevated CPR Series Episode Two
Elevated CPR Series Episode Three
Elevated CPR Series Episode Four
CARES Registry for Cardiac Arrest Stats
Follow up on more of these segments as we continue to look at the current research trends in future episodes and what is on the horizon for the future.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Head-Up CPR Research UpdateJamie and Sam discussed the upcoming podcast episode, which will focus on wrapping up the last four episodes about head-up CPR and recent research. They mentioned the challenges of implementing new approaches in rural systems with volunteer staff. Sam noted that Dr. Joe and Kurt Bramer have been working on presenting the information in a way that can be applied responsibly.
Joe briefly mentioned that SENA teams were activated to assist with floods in Seattle. The main focus of the episode will be on the latest data on head-up CPR, including improved physiology, survival rates, and neurological function, particularly for non-shockable rhythms like asystole.
Advantages of Head-Up CPR StudiesSam, Kurt, and Joe discussed the significance of two seminal studies on head-up CPR. The 2016 preclinical animal study showed significant improvement in perfusion when compared to standard CPR, with a synergistic effect when using additional devices like the ITD and suction cup. The 2022 independent registry analysis demonstrated that head-up CPR resulted in a five times greater likelihood of neurologically intact survival compared to conventional CPR, even up to 20 minutes post-cardiac arrest.
Joe explained that the bundled care approach for cardiac arrest patients involves multiple components, including appropriate ventilation, high-quality CPR, and post-resuscitation care, all of which contribute to improved outcomes.
Bystander CPR System ImplementationThe discussion focused on the importance of proper implementation of bystander CPR, AEDs, and advanced techniques like impedance threshold devices and suction cup CPR to improve patient outcomes, particularly neurologic ones. Kurt emphasized the need for a system-wide approach, from first responders to hospital care, highlighting successful partnerships like Louisville’s, where continuity of care is prioritized.
Jamie inquired about best practices for implementing this system-wide approach, to which Kurt responded with examples from different regions, noting that while ideal partnerships exist, proactive agencies can still achieve good outcomes even with less supportive hospitals.
Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Bundle ImplementationThe team discussed the importance of addressing multiple aspects of cardiac arrest resuscitation simultaneously, as highlighted by Joe, who emphasized that successful outcomes require implementing all elements of the care bundle equally. Jamie inquired about training approaches, to which Joe responded that effective training involves both initial instruction and ongoing feedback through quality improvement processes, stressing that successful resuscitations require adherence to the entire bundle rather than just some components.
Prioritizing Tasks in ResuscitationJoe and Kurt discussed the importance of prioritizing tasks during resuscitation, emphasizing the need to focus on the overall process rather than individual steps. They highlighted the benefits of the Head-Up CPR model, which organizes priorities and reduces chaos during medical emergencies. Kurt explained that this method allows for more efficient and coordinated delivery of therapies, leading to better patient outcomes.
Head-Up CPR Survival BenefitsThe group discussed two significant studies on CPR techniques. Kurt presented findings from a 2023 preclinical study showing that early administration of head-up CPR resulted in a 40% 24-hour survival rate compared to 9% for delayed conventional CPR.
Joe highlighted an observational study from 2024 showing that head-up CPR improved survival rates for non-shockable rhythms from 2.8% to 7.6%, representing a nearly 3-fold improvement. Both studies suggested that head-up CPR could significantly enhance survival chances, particularly when administered early.
Non-Perfusible Rhythm Blood Flow MethodThe group discussed a new methodology for perfusing patients with non-perfusible rhythms, which allows for continued blood flow and preserves neurological status. Joe explained that this could open up windows for interventions like ECMO or cardiac catheterization while CPR is underway.
Kurt shared anecdotal evidence from agencies that have gained confidence in staying longer during arrests, leading to increased rates of ROSC in non-shockable rhythms. The group also touched on the importance of proper ventilation during CPR, with Joe highlighting the lack of focus on this aspect in many clinical trials.
Head-Up CPR Survival BenefitsJoe explained the concept of pressure-volume loops in CPR, demonstrating that head-up CPR generates greater blood flow and pressures compared to standard CPR. Kurt presented data from two studies comparing outcomes between CARES and head-up CPR data, showing improved survival rates for head-up CPR patients over one and five-year periods. The research suggests that head-up CPR may lead to better patient outcomes, though these findings were not included in the 2025 American Heart Association guidelines.
Cardiac Arrest Economic Impact DiscussionThe group discussed the economic impact of cardiac arrests, with Kurt noting that the total cost per person in the US is approximately $4,000 annually, highlighting the need for improved resuscitation techniques. Jamie emphasized the importance of community contributions from survivors, while Joe provided recommendations for enhancing CPR quality, including the use of the Lucas 3.1 device with its enhanced lift feature and avoiding overly tight cervical collars during CPR to maintain blood flow.
Improving Sudden Cardiac Arrest ResponseThe meeting focused on sudden cardiac arrest, emphasizing its global impact as a leading cause of death. Kurt and Joe discussed the need for first response agencies and emergency managers to explore research and improve care delivery to enhance patient survivability. Joe highlighted the importance of understanding the physiology of cardiac arrest and considering new approaches, as current CPR methods have not changed in 50 years.
Jamie suggested applying disaster management strategies to sudden cardiac arrest to improve outcomes. Joe mentioned upcoming procedural cadaver labs and ongoing work on superglottic studies and new airway management tools. Kurt provided contact information for further discussions and was invited to return for future updates on research.
Podcast Series Conclusion and Future PlansThe group discussed the conclusion of a podcast series on medical topics, with Kurt expressing gratitude for the opportunity to share his message and Jamie inviting him back for future episodes. They agreed to continue the conversation on social media and the Disaster Podcast website, with Kurt planning to draft questions for potential CEU credits.
The group the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions returns again this week to continue the series on Head-Up CPR and other promising sudden cardiac arrest treatments. There are three previous episodes in this series.
Elevated CPR Series Episode One
Elevated CPR Series Episode Two
Elevated CPR Series Episode Three
Elevated CPR Series Episode Five
After the severe weather update from disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin, the Disaster Podcast team focuses on the science and physiology of Head-Up CPR. They ask why this approach provides for better protection of neurological function during a cardiac arrest. Dr. Joe Holley does an excellent job of describing the specific concepts of pressure gradients in blood flow to and from the heart during CPR in various patient positions.
Kurt outlines what he calls the Four Rules of Head-Up CPR that are essential components for successful resuscitation during cardiac arrest treatment. These rules come from Dr. Joanna Moore’s Editorial The Do’s and Don’ts of Head Up CPR:
1) Use of Suction Cup CPR and an ITD
2) A Priming Period is Needed
3) Cannot Lift the Patient Too High
4) You Cannot Lift the Patient Too Quickly
CARES Registry for Cardiac Arrest Stats
Follow up on more of these segments as we continue to look at the current research trends in future episodes and what is on the horizon for the future.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Episode Opening segment and Weather updateThe meeting began with a discussion about travel weather for the country and record cold in many parts of the upper midwest and northeast with Dan DePodwin.
The group then transitioned to their main topic, the physiology of CPR, with Dr. Joe Holley focusing our attention on the specific anatomy and process inside the body during CPR.
Head-Up CPR Techniques DiscussedKurt and Joe discussed the importance of adhering to the “four rules” of head-up CPR, which were derived from a published editorial by Dr. Moore. They emphasized that studies showing no improved outcomes often violate these rules, highlighting the significance of proper technique. Jamie Davis, the host of the Disaster Podcast, introduced the episode, which would focus on the science and physiology of elevated CPR, while Sam and Dan briefly discussed the early winter weather conditions across the United States.
Head-Up CPR Research AdvancesThe discussion focused on head-up CPR, a novel research advancement in resuscitation aimed at improving neurologic survival. Kurt explained its origins, highlighting a case study involving a ski hill cardiac arrest patient who survived due to an elevated head position, which was later recognized as a critical factor.
The conversation also touched on a study conducted in South Korea, where researchers developed a modified EMS stretcher to accommodate patients in high-rise buildings with small elevators, leading to the question of the optimal CPR position. Initial findings from animal studies suggested that a head-up position could reduce intracranial pressure, potentially improving outcomes during CPR.
CPR Physiology and Blood FlowJoe explained the physiology of CPR, focusing on how differences in pressure inside the body create blood flow. He described how chest compressions increase intrathoracic pressure, pushing blood towards the brain and other areas of lower pressure. He emphasized that over-ventilation and incomplete chest recoil can be detrimental during CPR, as they prevent blood from flowing back into the heart. He also noted that patients who exhibit “guppy breathing” during resuscitation have a better chance of successful resuscitation.
CPR Vacuum Technology and PhysiologyJoe explained the physiology of blood flow during CPR, focusing on the importance of preload and the manipulation of pressure differences between the thoracic cavity and the brain. He described how the ITD16 device creates a vacuum in the chest to enhance blood flow to the brain and reduce intracranial pressure. Joe also discussed the concept of “head-up CPR,” which combines enhanced vacuum with gravity assistance to improve blood flow and neuroprotective outcomes.
Head-Up CPR Techniques and SafetySam and Kurt discussed the importance of using proper equipment and techniques for head-up CPR, as outlined by Dr. Joanna Moore’s “four rules.” Kurt emphasized that suction cup CPR in conjunction with an ITD or rescue pod is crucial for effective and safe head-up CPR.
He also stressed the need for a priming period, avoiding excessive head elevation, and slow head-up positioning to prevent blood from draining from the head faster than CPR can pump it back in. Kurt noted that studies claiming head-up CPR doesn’t work often violate these rules, highlighting the significance of adhering to the correct procedures.
Head-Up CPR: A Novel ApproachThe team discussed the importance of proper technique in head-up CPR, emphasizing that it requires a bundled care approach with specific parameters to be effective. Joe and Kurt shared a case study of a retired fire chief who successfully underwent head-up CPR, highlighting the potential benefits of this novel approach. The discussion also touched on the concept of using a combination of therapies in resuscitation, similar to the drug cocktail approach used in treating HIV.
Success Stories in Advanced CPRThe meeting focused on sharing and discussing remarkable cases of successful CPR, particularly highlighting the concept of “head-up” CPR, which has shown improved outcomes. Kurt and Joe shared several stories of patients who experienced significant neurologic recoveries after cardiac arrests, with survival rates and recovery rates significantly higher than national averages. The discussion emphasized the potential of advanced CPR techniques to improve survival and neurologic outcomes, with Joe noting that two of his services have seen similar success rates.
The group the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
We are joined by Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions again this week to continue the series on Heads Up CPR and other promising sudden cardiac arrest treatments. He and Dr. Joe Holley kicked off the discussion in two previous episodes.
Elevated CPR Series Episode One
Elevated CPR Series Episdoe Two
We open this week’s episode with a holiday severe weather update from our disaster meteorologist, Dan DePodwin. He reports on several storm systems that will impact Thanksgiving holiday travel across the eastern half of the country.
Following that update, we kick off episode 3 of our heads-up CPR series with a look at the long history of the evolutionary changes to cardiac arrest treatment. Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions leads off with a response to some comments to the first two episodes in this series. A few listeners worried that we might sound like we were criticizing the individual responders on cardiac arrest calls over the low survival rates for the condition.
The team made a joint statement that no criticism of providers in the field was intended. We all are providers ourselves and are merely commenting on the results that everyone has been getting in response to treating cardiac arrest. Some systems do better with resource management than others, but even those areas fail to save even a simple majority of their cardiac arrest patients.
CARES Registry for Cardiac Arrest Stats
Follow up on more of these segments as we continue to look at the current research trends in future episodes and what is on the horizon for the future.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
CPR Challenges and Future ImprovementsThe meeting began with a discussion about travel weather for the Thanksgiving weekend, with Dan DePodwin warning of widespread lake effect snow in the eastern United States and a potential ground blizzard in the Dakotas and Minnesota.
The group then transitioned to their main topic, CPR, where Joe clarified that their previous discussion about CPR’s limitations was not meant to criticize CPR providers, but rather to highlight the challenges and lack of progress in the field over the past 50 years. They planned to explore potential improvements to CPR in future episodes.
Advancements in CPR TechniquesKurt Bramer, with 40 years of experience in EMS and emergency management, discussed the history of CPR, highlighting its evolution from mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to modern techniques. He emphasized the need for better tools and more effective methods for emergency responders, as current practices are often based on outdated or insufficiently tested techniques.
The group acknowledged that while responders are doing their best with limited tools, recent research may lead to positive changes in CPR practices. They also touched on the introduction of high-performance CPR in the 2010s, which aimed to maximize the effectiveness of current technologies and minimize detrimental pauses during resuscitation efforts.
Mechanical CPR Guidelines ReviewThe discussion focused on the American Heart Association’s recent guidelines regarding mechanical CPR, which recommend against routine use but allow for exceptions like transport scenarios. Kurt and Joe highlighted that the guidelines lump together different types of mechanical compressors, ignoring their unique physiological effects and training limitations.
They emphasized that current research primarily focuses on patient survival as an endpoint, which may not fully capture the benefits of mechanical CPR, such as improved blood flow and reduced pauses during resuscitation. The conversation also touched on the importance of considering neurological outcomes beyond mere survival and the need for better training on integrating mechanical devices into overall cardiac arrest management.
Bundle Care Approach in ResuscitationThe group discussed the bundle of care approach in resuscitation, focusing on the use of multiple therapies simultaneously to improve patient outcomes. Kurt and Joe highlighted the success of the ITD (Impedance Threshold Device) when used with high-quality CPR, leading to a 50% increase in one-year survival. They also noted that only a small percentage of resuscitation guidelines are supported by randomized control trials, emphasizing the challenges in interpreting research data.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions comes back on the show this week to continue the series on Heads Up CPR and other promising sudden cardiac arrest treatments. He and Dr. Joe Holley kicked off the discussion in a previous episode.
Elevated CPR Series Episode One
Elevated CPR Series Episode Three
In this second episode installment of the sudden cardiac arrest and CPR series Kurt and Dr. Joe Holley discuss some key flaws in approaching cardiac arrest research like other medical diseases and treatments. The large number of unknown and uncontrollable variables surrounding sudden cardiac arrest make it hard for randomized control trials to effectively pinpoint positive treatment modalities.
CARES Registry for Cardiac Arrest Stats
Follow up on more of these segments as we continue to look at the current research trends in future episodes and what is on the horizon for the future.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Challenges in Resuscitation Research FundingKurt discussed the paradox between resuscitation research and orphan drugs, highlighting how both lack funding despite their importance. He explained that orphan drugs target rare conditions, making research and development challenging due to limited market potential, similar to the situation in cardiac arrest resuscitation, which is a leading cause of death worldwide but receives limited research funding.
Joe agreed, noting that complacency and insufficient focus contribute to the lack of high-quality research and implementation of new techniques in cardiac arrest resuscitation. Sam questioned the reliance on randomized control trials as the gold standard for evaluating resuscitation therapies, suggesting a need to explore alternative research paradigms.
Propensity Score Matching in ResearchKurt explained the concept of propensity score matching, a statistical analysis tool that allows for patient-to-patient comparisons using control groups not part of randomized trials, by matching variables such as age, downtime, and bystander CPR. Joe elaborated on the challenges of conducting cardiac arrest resuscitation research, highlighting the difficulty of patient participation in randomized trials and the need for large patient numbers to account for numerous impactful details. Jamie questioned the acceptance of different statistical analyses, to which Kurt responded that the issue is primarily one of unfamiliarity, as propensity score matching is widely used in other industries but not yet fully embraced in medicine.
Improving CPR Techniques and TrialsJoe and Kurt discussed the challenges of conducting randomized controlled trials for cardiac arrest, noting the difficulty in controlling variables and the high cost associated with large-scale studies. They highlighted the importance of using large numbers of patients to account for variables and the need for funding, which is often scarce.
Sam brought up the discovery of the ITD and the plunger concept, leading to the suggestion of placing a thumb over the end of the ET tube to enhance pressure differentials and improve blood flow during CPR. Joe explained the hydrodynamic principles behind this technique, emphasizing the role of pressure differentials in creating flow and enhancing cardiac output.
Counterintuitive CPR Physiology InsightsThe group discussed counterintuitive aspects of CPR physiology, including how preventing air from entering the lungs during chest compressions can actually improve blood flow. Kurt shared that many of these discoveries were made serendipitously while studying the body’s response to cardiac arrest.
The discussion touched on the challenges of rural emergency response and the importance of data collection in EMS agencies. The participants agreed to continue the series with future episodes focusing on heads-up CPR and various therapies, with Kurt promising to share survival stories in the next installment.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Kurt Bramer from Advanced CPR Solutions comes on the show this week with Dr. Joe Holley. Kurt has a background in EMS since 1979 and worked as an emergency manager in Minneapolis. He currently works for Advanced CPR Solutions as a clinical educator.
Sudden cardiac arrest is a global disaster that rivals the recent viral pandemic in scope. Cardiac arrest is by far the number one killer worldwide according to every public health agency of note. Over the years, treatment of this problem has a less than 4 or 5 percent survival rate with only minor incremental changes to treatment modalities.
CARES Registry for Cardiac Arrest Stats
Episode 2 of Elevated CPR Series
Episode 3 of Elevated CPR Series
The regular treatment updates that go out every five years feature only relatively minor adjustments to treatments that aren’t all that effective. Part of the problem is that it’s nearly impossible to accurately study the effects of various treatments on cardiac arrest victims due to the wide variety of variables present.
Follow up on more of these segments as we continue to look at the current research trends in future episodes and what is on the horizon for the future.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Advancing Cardiac Arrest Survival StrategiesJamie, Sam, and Kurt discussed the global disaster of sudden cardiac arrest, highlighting its prevalence and the low survival rate despite advancements in CPR. Kurt explained the distinction between evolutionary and revolutionary changes in resuscitation, emphasizing the need for significant innovations like public access defibrillation and rescue CPR.
The group planned to explore these topics further in upcoming episodes, aiming to engage both EMS professionals and emergency managers in addressing this critical issue.
CPR Practices and Research EvolutionThe group discussed the evolution of CPR practices and the impact of scientific research on patient outcomes. Kurt and Jamie shared their experiences with skepticism and complacency among emergency responders regarding cardiac arrest cases, noting that previous protocol changes often had limited effectiveness.
The conversation highlighted the importance of evidence-based practices and the potential for new techniques, like active compression and decompression, to improve survival rates.
Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates ChallengesThe group discussed the challenges and limited success rates in resuscitating cardiac arrest patients, with Joe noting that despite advancements, survival rates remain around 10-11%, equivalent to a 90% failure rate. Kurt explained that while the Cardiac Arrest Registry for Enhanced Survival (CARES) data shows a 10% overall survival rate, the rate for neurologically intact survival has remained below 9% since 2013.
The discussion highlighted the difficulties in conducting research on cardiac arrest due to variables like CPR quality, EMS response models, and patient characteristics, leading Kurt to suggest that randomized control trials may not be the most effective research paradigm for this field.
Challenges in Pre-Hospital RCTsThe group discussed challenges in conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for pre-hospital resuscitation, with Joe highlighting significant variability in CPR quality and ventilation techniques. Kurt mentioned Peter Safar’s work and his belief that high-quality animal studies are needed before deploying therapies in uncontrolled EMS environments.
The discussion also touched on the American Heart Association’s guidelines, with Joe noting that while these represent the state of science, local factors and resource constraints must be considered when implementing recommendations.
Advancing CPR Techniques for SurvivalThe meeting focused on a series discussing cardiac arrest as a global disaster, with a particular emphasis on improving CPR techniques. Kurt Bramer shared a case study from a ski slope where a patient’s recovery was attributed to the use of a rescue pump and the gravitational effect of being in an inclined position.
The group discussed the potential of “head-up CPR” as a promising technique, and Jamie Davis announced upcoming episodes in the series. The participants agreed to continue exploring these topics in future discussions.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Marcus Coleman Vice President of Community Resilience Strategy, for the United Way Worldwide joins the podcast episode. He talks with the team about the 138 year history of the United Way and its commitment to 4 areas of community resilience: Disaster, Resilient Ecosystems, Economic Resilience, and Personal Resilience (personal connectedness and social capital). They commit to being there for people before, during, and after disaster strikes.
Also joining us to participate in the discussion is our disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin. She brings her background to asking Marcus questions about the ways local communities are adapting to the rapidly changing Federal response system in the current environment.
Tip Sheet PDF for United We Prepare Initiative
United We Prepare Program Homepage
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Community Resilience and Climate ActionThe group welcomed Marcus Coleman, Vice President of Community Resilience Strategy for United Way Worldwide, and discussed his role in establishing public-private partnerships to promote community resilience and address the climate crisis. They briefly touched on recent weather patterns and the success of a recent podcast episode.
United Way’s Crisis Response InitiativesMarcus explained United Way’s 138-year history as an interfaith organization that mobilizes communities during crises, with a focus on disaster response, environmental resilience, economic resilience, and social connectedness. He detailed how United Ways activate locally during disasters through partnerships with organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, leveraging their 2-1-1 information service and existing community relationships.
Marcus highlighted their role in both immediate disaster response, as seen in recent events in Texas and Alaska, and long-term recovery efforts, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where they focused on mental health support and trauma recovery.
Mental Health in Disaster RecoveryThe discussion focused on the importance of mental health support in disaster recovery, with Becky highlighting how survivors cope with both physical and psychological impacts after disasters. Marcus shared an example from Valdosta, Georgia, where the local United Way, in partnership with Resilient Georgia and Legacy Behavioral Health Services, has expanded mental health training and support for both survivors and first responders following three hurricanes in 18 months. The conversation emphasized the role of United Ways in connecting communities to mental health resources, particularly in the long-term recovery phase when emergency responders have departed.
United Way Disaster Preparedness InitiativeMarcus explained United We Prepare, a national initiative by United Way to enhance disaster preparedness, focusing on risk understanding, family communication plans, and safeguarding valuables. He highlighted the role of local United Ways in coordinating volunteers, supporting caregivers, and integrating preparedness into existing community programs. Marcus also discussed how United Ways conduct community needs assessments to address housing insecurity and provide data for emergency operations planning.
United Way’s Disaster Preparedness EffortsMarcus discussed United Way’s efforts in addressing food and financial insecurity, highlighting their partnerships with food banks and financial education initiatives. He also talked about their focus on hurricane recovery and preparedness, emphasizing the importance of building strong relationships with meteorologists and other emergency management professionals.
Becky, a meteorologist, agreed on the importance of year-round preparedness and suggested that United Way continue to build relationships with local weather forecasting offices and private sector weather companies. She also expressed interest in how United Way might step in to fill gaps left by the federal government in disaster response.
Lessons from FEMA LeadershipMarcus reflected on lessons learned from past FEMA administrators, emphasizing the importance of whole community engagement, locally-led emergency management, and maintaining core values such as compassion and fairness. He highlighted the need for continued investment in emergency management systems and the role of United Way in supporting communities during crises.
Marcus also discussed the challenges posed by pandemics, extreme weather, and misinformation, and the importance of positioning United Way as a partner of choice in navigating these disruptions.
211 Service Expansion and ImpactMarcus explained the role of 211 as a free service connecting people to resources through referrals and partnerships with nonprofit organizations and government agencies. He highlighted that disaster-related assistance calls increased by 50% in 2024, with top needs including housing, utility, and food assistance. Marcus also noted that 211 complements local government services, providing support for non-emergency crises, and praised Heather Black for her leadership in mobilizing 211 systems across the United States and Canada.
United We Prepare Initiative OverviewMarcus explained the United We Prepare initiative, and discussed how it involves community-based organizations in 14 markets. He emphasized that the initiative provides resources for individual preparedness and encourages collaboration with local United Ways, which cover 95% of the country. Marcus also outlined various ways for individuals and nonprofits to get involved as volunteers, including connecting with local United Ways and utilizing the dedicated volunteer page on the United Way website.
Marcus Returns for Disaster PreparednessThe conversation ended with positive feedback about Marcus’s participation and an agreement to have him return for future episodes, particularly to discuss disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Jamie expressed interest in featuring United Way representatives again and encouraged them to reach out for future discussions.
Marcus offered to connect Jamie with local CEOs for more localized insights and emphasized the importance of community resilience. The group also discussed the upcoming release of the podcast episode and the potential for sharing it on the United Way’s website.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
credit — National Hurricane CenterTonight on the Disaster Podcast we dig into the expected impacts Hurricane Melissa will carry into Jamaica as it impacts the island country in the Caribbean. Disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin and disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin join us this evening to look at the storm’s origins and projected track.
Melissa threatens multiple countries with hurricane and tropical storm force winds. In addition to Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Bermuda are all in the projected cone of travel. Additionally, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are getting peripheral storm effects.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Hurricane Melissa Impact DiscussionJamie hosted a mid-week update episode of the Disaster Podcast to discuss Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to be the strongest storm recorded worldwide in 2023. Jamie, Sam, and Dan discussed the storm’s potential impact, with concerns raised about entire communities being wiped off the coastline due to storm surge and prolonged winds. The team planned to bring in meteorologists and disaster management experts for further updates, and Jamie noted that this episode would be shorter than usual due to another episode already scheduled for Friday.
Category 5 Hurricane Impact AssessmentDan explained that Jamaica and eastern Cuba are facing a dire situation due to an extremely strong Category 5 hurricane, Melissa, which rapidly intensified over the weekend. He noted that the storm is moving unusually slowly, which will prolong the impacts, including prolonged hurricane-force winds, significant infrastructure damage, and several feet of rain.
Sam mentioned that this year has seen three Category 5 hurricanes, the most in a single season since 2005, and asked Dan about the rarity of such events, to which Dan responded that it is concerning, especially given the potential impacts of climate change on hurricane intensity.
Rapid Hurricane Intensification TrendsDan explained that rapid hurricane intensification, such as Melissa’s recent rapid development, has become more noticeable due to improved monitoring and reporting, though the exact rate of such events is unclear. He noted several recent examples of rapid intensification, including Hurricane Michael and Otis, which caused significant damage.
Sam asked about factors influencing hurricane speed, and Dan clarified that steering winds in the atmosphere determine a hurricane’s movement, with weak steering winds allowing Melissa to meander slowly across the Caribbean. Jamie raised concerns about the impact of storm surge on coastal communities, particularly critical infrastructure, and questioned how to effectively communicate such risks to the public.
Hurricane Melissa Impact on JamaicaJamie and Becky discussed the challenges faced by Jamaicans as Hurricane Melissa approaches, noting the lack of evacuation options due to economic dependencies on fishing and limited resources. Becky highlighted the storm’s well-forecasted nature but expressed concern about the prolonged impact and Category 5 intensity, emphasizing the logistical hurdles in providing aid post-storm.
Dan provided an update on the storm’s projected path, predicting significant impacts in Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, with Jamaica expected to bear the brunt as the first landfall. He advised residents to remain in safe shelters and outlined the expected wind, flooding, and landslides in affected areas.
Caribbean Hurricane Preparedness ConcernsBecky expressed concerns about the impact of the upcoming hurricane in the Caribbean, particularly in Jamaica, noting that while the island has experienced hurricanes before, this one is expected to be significantly more severe. She highlighted the limited evacuation options and infrastructure challenges, suggesting that many residents may not be prepared for the magnitude of the disaster. Jamie mentioned that a Hurricane Hunter flight was aborted due to extreme wind conditions, an unusual occurrence that Dan might be able to provide more context on.
Hurricane Hunting and Turbulence ChallengesDan discussed the National Hurricane Center’s report about a NOAA aircraft that encountered severe turbulence while flying through a storm, highlighting the challenges of flying into rapidly intensifying hurricanes. He explained that while commercial flights experience turbulence, hurricane flights can be significantly rougher, with large altitude changes and intense shaking.
Dan also mentioned a notable incident during Hurricane Hugo in the late 1980s when an aircraft lost an engine, leading to changes in procedures. Becky and Sam discussed their interest in hurricane hunting, with Becky recalling a Hurricane Hunter Tour event they attended in Harrisburg, and Dan emphasized the importance of these flights for gathering critical data on hurricane structure and intensity.
Hurricane Impact and Aid PlanningThe group discussed the recent hurricane and its impact on the islands, with Dan providing detailed information about weather research planes and their sensor technology. Jamie suggested reaching out to Nick for potential contacts and mentioned that Commonwealth nations might provide aid. The team expressed concern for the islands and emphasized the importance of preparedness, thanking Paragon Medical Education Group for their sponsorship. They agreed to follow up after the storm passes on Thursday and encouraged listeners to check out Paragon’s disaster training programs.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Tim Conley, Emergency Management Supervisor Mercy Health Care System. He’s also the co-founder of the IDMC (Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative) with our co-host Sam Bradley. Sam invited Tim on the show to talk about his Illinois Regional Healthcare Coordination system. This allows local healthcare systems to collaborate to provide emergency and disaster preparedness systems to their regions.
Joining us on the show tonight are our two disaster weather experts, Kyle Nelson and Dan DePodwin. We also have disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin. We discuss how collaboration before disaster strikes is essential to maximizing the ability to respond in a timely fashion when major events occur.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Illinois Preparedness and Response DiscussionJamie, Sam, and Joe welcomed Tim Conley to the show to discuss his work with the Illinois Preparedness and Response Coalition. Tim explained that his hospital has the Regional Healthcare Coordination Center (RHCC) for the northwest part of the state, and he helps with it but does not run it himself. The group briefly discussed Tim’s background and his previous appearances on the show. Jamie then introduced Tim to the audience and announced they were ready to start recording the episode.
Northwest Illinois Preparedness Coalition DiscussionThe meeting began with a casual discussion about weather conditions on the East Coast, where Jamie described mild October weather with some rain from a nor’easter. Sam and Joe discussed the weather in Memphis, which had cooled off slightly due to the same storm. The group welcomed meteorologists and show regulars Becky, Dan, and Kyle to the meeting, and Dan provided an update on tropical weather, noting that while the Atlantic hurricane season is winding down, there is still potential for one or two more storms in the Caribbean over the next six weeks. The conversation then shifted to discussing a video Tim Conley had shared about the Northwest Illinois Preparedness and Response Coalition.
Emergency Management Coordination and PreparednessTim described his roles in emergency management, including his position as an emergency management supervisor for Mercy Healthcare System and his work with Medglobal’s chemical weapons training programs. He also discussed the Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative, which helps states coordinate for preparedness, particularly through Regional Health Coordination Centers (RHCCs). Sam noted the potential shift of FEMA responsibilities to the state level, emphasizing the importance of his involvement given the uncertainty in federal requirements for RHCCs.
Regional Health Coordination Centers OverviewTim explained the function of Regional Health Coordination Centers (RHCCs), using Illinois as an example, and described their role in disaster planning, training, and maintaining disaster warehouses. He highlighted the importance of establishing relationships and understanding capabilities before an event occurs, emphasizing that no single organization can meet all needs.
He also discussed the Northwest Illinois Preparedness and Response Coalition, mentioning its two dedicated employees, medical director, and ongoing efforts to prepare the region for potential disasters through training, budgeting, and equipment maintenance.
Emergency Management All-Hazards ApproachTim discussed the importance of an all-hazards approach in emergency management, emphasizing collaboration with various agencies and the establishment of MOUs with big-box stores to ensure 96-hour sustainability. They explained the setup and logistics of field alternate care sites, which are modeled after DMATs, and highlighted the complexity of logistics involved.
He also mentioned the presence of ALS and hospital-based equipment in these sites, though they are not equipped for full ER care. Joe shared that similar networks exist in Memphis, with ongoing challenges in logistics and coordination, and mentioned an upcoming drill at the airport to test these systems.
Rural Emergency Response CoordinationSam, Jamie, and Kyle discussed the importance of coordinated emergency response programs, particularly in rural areas. Kyle explained that Colorado has 11 RETACs to provide a coordinated approach for emergency medical and trauma care at the regional level, with each region having its own talk group on the state radio system.
He emphasized the need for collaboration between hospitals, EMS agencies, and other response agencies to effectively handle planned events and emerging incidents, highlighting the vital role of coordination in areas with limited resources.
Emergency Coordination Across Regional CentersThe group discussed emergency coordination in Pennsylvania, with Tim sharing an example from Illinois where a tornado at the Apollo Theater resulted in multiple casualties and required medical dispersion across the region. They highlighted an ongoing IDMC project led by a Tennessee RHCC, which aims to connect emergency coordination centers across 20 states, with Tim encouraging RHCCs to participate. Dan, who was in New York City at the time, shared his observations about the differences between urban and rural emergency response settings.
La Nina, X Games, PreparednessThe group discussed the current La Nina weather conditions in the Pacific Ocean and its potential impact on winter weather patterns across the United States. They also talked about the upcoming Winter X Games in Aspen, which will include snowmobile events and concerts. The conversation then shifted to disaster preparedness and the importance of creating links between different organizations before disasters occur, especially given the current uncertainty at the federal level. The participants emphasized the need for states to be prepared to respond to their own disasters and highlighted the work being done by various states in this area.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
This week’s Disaster Podcast episode is a stump the weatherman episode with our disaster meteorologist, Dan Depodwin. Co-host Sam Bradley and Dan’s wife and disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin take turns with the terms.
Dan rises to the occasion as he does every year and answers most of them correctly. Scroll down for more of the terms as he works through events like snow rollers, halos, seiche, and toad strangler.
Frost Flower Image Link
Hair Ice Image Link
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Tropical Storm Season Forecast UpdateDan discussed the current and forecasted tropical storm activity, noting that Humberto and Imelda impacted Bermuda before moving towards Europe, bringing significant wind and rain to the UK. He explained that the tropical storm season typically ends on November 30th, with October averaging 3-4 named storms and November about 1.
However, this year could see more activity due to favorable conditions like low wind shear and above-average water temperatures. Sam suggested they take turns monitoring the weather, finding the early part straightforward but anticipating more complexity as they progress.
Seiche and Hail Storm InsightsBecky shared her experience of seeing large hail during storm chasing in Oklahoma, noting that hail can grow up to 4 inches in diameter and record sizes have reached 7-8 inches. Dan and Becky discussed the definition of a Seiche, which Becky explained as a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water caused by long-period waves.
Natural Phenomena DiscussionThe team discussed several natural phenomena, including snow rollers, halos, and toad stranglers. Sam explained that snow rollers are rare formations that require specific weather conditions, while Dan and Becky discussed sun and moon halos caused by light refracting through ice crystals. Becky then challenged the group with the term “toad strangler,” which refers to heavy rain leading to flash flooding in the southern United States.
Types of Clouds and Their MeaningsThe group discussed various types of clouds, including Mattis Clouds, Gray Lady, and Mare’s Tails. Dan explained that Mattis Clouds are common with severe thunderstorms and indicate an unstable atmosphere. Becky mentioned the Gray Lady, referring to Nantucket’s nickname due to its frequent fog and gray architecture.
Jamie shared that the term “Gray Lady” is also used in a science fiction series about Nantucket being swapped with a Bronze Age version of itself. Dan described Mare’s Tails as another name for cirrus clouds, which are the highest clouds and often signal an approaching change in weather.
Weather Phenomena and WildfiresThe group discussed various weather phenomena, including a Williwaw, a sudden blast of wind from mountainous coasts, and a Monkey’s Wedding, which refers to a sun shower in South Africa. They also explored the concept of a fire tornado, or a wildfire so intense it creates its own weather, and discussed pyrocumulus clouds formed by fires. Jamie shared insights on how wildfires and weather are interconnected, particularly in Western states like California.
Understanding Weather Storm TermsThe group discussed various weather-related terms, with Dan explaining that a Nor’easter is a storm that gets its name from the prevailing northeast wind direction, occurring most commonly in fall, winter, and spring but also happening in summer, often causing beach erosion and travel issues. Dan also clarified that a Pineapple Express is a flow of moist air from Hawaii that can bring significant flooding to the West Coast, particularly California, and is sometimes referred to as an atmospheric river. The discussion included other terms like Alberta Clipper, Manitoba Mauler, and Saskatchewan Screamer, which refer to specific storm tracks, and the concept of a Snow Eater, which describes a warm wind that quickly melts snow, particularly in the Rockies.
Understanding Weather and Ice PhenomenaThe group discussed various weather phenomena and natural ice formations. Dan explained the concept of a “blue norther,” where temperatures drop rapidly from 50 to 0 degrees in about 4 hours. Sam shared information about “air ice,” a fungus that grows on tree bark and forms ice-like structures.
Becky and Dan discussed the differences between sleet, graupel, and freezing rain, with Dan explaining that freezing rain is rain that freezes on contact with a surface below freezing, while sleet is partially melted snow that refreezes, and graupel is similar to sleet but forms in cold core systems. Sam also introduced the concept of “nieve penitente,” tall, sharp ice formations that resemble monks’ robes and form in high, dry environments through a process called sublimation.
The group discussed several natural phenomena, including ball lightning, glory, and types of frost. Dan and Becky shared information about hoarfrost and rime ice, with Becky mentioning a notable hoarfrost event in State College. Jamie explained that ball lightning is thought to be caused by plasma bubbles formed from sunlight and lightning interaction. The group also discussed frost flowers, which Becky described as delicate strands of frost, though the exact formation process was unclear.
Weather Phenomena and Meteorological TermsThe group discussed various weather phenomena, including “weather whiplash” which refers to rapid changes between drought and flooding, and an “ACSL” or Alto Cumulus standing lenticular cloud, which Dan described as looking like a spaceship. Sam introduced the concept of a “space hurricane,” a newly coined term for a cyclone-like aurora where electrons rotate around a central eye.
Becky explained the phenomenon of “anvil crawlers” – lightning bolts that crawl across thunderstorm anvils and can result in “bolts from the blue” when the anvil extends beyond the precipitation. The discussion concluded with the “lemon technique,” a method used by meteorologists to study updrafts and thunderstorm cells, which Dan revealed was named after Leslie Lemon, co-creator of the supercell conceptual model.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
In this week’s episode of the Disaster Podcast, we start off with a discussion of the possibility of dual hurricanes in close proximity inside the Atlantic Basin. This gives rise to the term Fujiwara Effect, which discusses the impacts two nearby storm systems have on each other based upon their relative storm strengths. Disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin joins us to describe the tropical weather systems affecting the U.S. at this time and define this specialized weather event.
We shift gears to our clinical topic, effects of various penetrating trauma on body systems. Dr. Joe gives and overview of the topic in various situations. Becky DePodwin, our disaster emergency management expert, asked about penetrating trauma caused by high speed wind events like tornados and hurricanes.
Co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis ask Joe about different aspects of penetrating thoracic trauma including a look at simple and tension pneumothorax injuries. Joe gives a great overview of this particular injury and field assessment and treatment. He says that the sign of tracheal deviation and jugular vein distention are over-valued as useful assessment tools in pneumothorax. Catch the episode for his full discussion.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Atlantic Storms and FujiwHara EffectThe Disaster Podcast returned after a few weeks of absence, with Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley discussing current Atlantic storms and the Fujiwhara effect with meteorologist Dan. Dan explained that Tropical Storm Humberto and a potential Tropical Storm Imelda could interact in a rare phenomenon where storms circle each other, potentially steering Imelda away from the U.S. East Coast.
He noted that while this interaction is less common in the Atlantic than the Western Pacific, the second half of hurricane season is expected to be more active due to favorable conditions. The discussion concluded with Jamie and Sam considering a potential disaster movie plot, while Dan clarified that while the Fujiwara effect adds complexity to storm modeling, accurate intensity predictions are crucial for forecasting its impact.
Penetrating Trauma and Treatment MechanismsDr. Joe Holley explained the mechanics of penetrating trauma, focusing on how bullets transfer energy and cause damage through blast cavitation, which can be more severe with high-velocity, jacketed bullets designed to mushroom upon impact. He noted that while knowing the caliber or type of injury can influence treatment decisions, the primary focus is on controlling hemorrhage and addressing specific injuries like damaged organs or foreign objects.
Becky raised questions about penetrating injuries from high-speed wind events, such as tornadoes, which Dr. Holley described as similarly violent but often more complicated due to the nature of the projectiles and increased risk of infection.
Chest Trauma: Types and TreatmentSam and Joe discussed the complexities of chest trauma, focusing on the differences between open and tension pneumothorax. Joe explained how air escapes from the lung in a pneumothorax, leading to lung collapse, while in a tension pneumothorax, air is trapped in the chest cavity, causing increased pressure and potential damage to surrounding structures.
Jamie highlighted the importance of transporting patients with such injuries to specialized trauma centers, as local hospitals may not have the expertise to handle these cases. Joe also mentioned that EMS can provide initial interventions like using a one-way valve bandage or inserting a needle to relieve pressure in a tension pneumothorax, but these patients often require more advanced care, including chest tubes and possible surgery.
Head Injuries: Causes and TreatmentsDr. Joe provided an in-depth explanation of head injuries, ranging from concussions to severe brain damage, including the causes and treatments of subdural and epidural hematomas. He emphasized the importance of managing intracranial pressure and described the use of a pressure monitor and spinal fluid drainage in severe cases.
Dr. Joe also discussed the challenges of diagnosing tension pneumothorax in the field, noting that tracheal deviation and jugular venous distension are not reliable indicators and that healthcare providers should focus on listening for differences in breath sounds and chest movement, as well as assessing respiratory distress and hemodynamic compromise.
Emergency Medicine Clinical Signs ReliabilityThe group discussed the importance of understanding the reliability of clinical signs in emergency medicine, particularly focusing on the distinction between positive and negative indicators. Joe emphasized that while tracheal deviation and jugular venous distension are often taught as reliable signs, they are actually uninterpretable if not present, and students need better training in understanding the context of these findings. The team also discussed their social media presence and ways listeners can connect with them, including through the Disaster Podcast Facebook group and various social media platforms.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, the team brings in professionals from across several hospital systems to look at how they prepare for incoming mass casualty patients. We talk about the kinds of drills the systems run, and also look at the various departments and how they respond in each type of situation.
On the show are Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group as well as working as a EMS medical director in Memphis, Tennessee. Joining us as well is Dr. Brian Froelke, one of the founders of IDMC (Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative) and an ER doctor based in Missouri. We also are lucky to be joined by Rebecca Dougherty, LCSW, C-MHIMP, a mental health professional working specifically with medical professionals in the disaster response setting. She now works in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri.
Minneapolis School/Church Mass Shooting
Orlando Hospital Response to Pulse Night Club Shooting (Disaster Podcast Episode)
Disaster Podcast Episode on Joplin, Missouri Tornado Response
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis and our disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, joined in.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Minneapolis Shooting Emergency ResponseSam discussed a recent shooting incident in Minneapolis that resulted in 22 gunshot victims, including two children killed and 18 others injured, with 15 being children. The emergency response was efficient, with ambulances reaching the scene within minutes and all injured individuals requiring hospital attention being transported within 25 minutes.
Sam inquired about the hospital alerting system, which used the Zip it emergency messaging system to provide clear information about the injuries and estimated time of arrival. Brian, an EMS physician from St. Louis, was invited to share his expertise on emergency response systems and disaster medical response.
Trauma Management and Communication SystemsBrian discussed the frequency of shootings at their level one trauma center in St. Louis, noting that it’s due to selection bias from the greater area. He explained their early management of penetrating trauma and the use of whole blood products, which have been successful in saving patients.
Brian also described their communication system with EMS providers through Javari, which uses a half-bed resource system for emergencies. Sam and Joe discussed other communication tools like Pulsara and Tennessee’s in-house system, with Joe mentioning its effectiveness for state-wide emergency responses.
Memphis Trauma Response SystemJoe described Baptist Hospital in Memphis as a level 2 trauma center that coordinates with a downtown level 1 trauma center and pediatric facility. He explained that Memphis experiences significant gun violence but fewer active shooter incidents compared to other cities.
Joe detailed their multi-level response system, which initially relies on the trauma team and ED staff before expanding to other hospital departments and external resources as needed, while also coordinating with EMS to direct patients to appropriate care facilities based on injury severity. Brian confirmed that their area’s trauma response system operates similarly, with both adult and pediatric centers prepared to handle various age groups and emotional support needs through chaplains and social workers.
Hospital Disaster Preparedness StrategiesThe discussion focused on hospital preparedness and response to multiple casualty incidents. Brian and Joe explained that hospitals have internal response policies and conduct disaster preparedness exercises at least twice a year. They described how hospitals manage surges in patient volume by activating different teams and utilizing flexible spaces like hall beds. The conversation also touched on the importance of managing limited resources, such as emergency stabilization rooms and blood supplies, during overflow situations.
Hospital Preparedness for Mass CasualtiesThe group discussed mass casualty incidents and hospital preparedness, with Joe and Jamie sharing insights from their experiences. They noted that hospitals near the scene often become overwhelmed as people with minor injuries arrive first, followed by more critically injured patients.
Jamie mentioned a previous episode about the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida, where a nearby hospital was quickly overwhelmed by walk-in patients. The discussion highlighted the challenges hospitals face in preparing for such incidents and the importance of being ready for a second wave of more severely injured patients.
Pediatric Trauma’s Impact on EMSThe group discussed the impact of pediatric trauma events on emergency medical services, with Brian noting that while only about 10% of patients are pediatric, they have a disproportionate effect on providers due to factors like drug dose calculations. Rebecca shared her experience as a mental health specialist in disaster response, highlighting her work with first responders and the importance of delayed emotional responses to traumatic events.
Jamie raised questions about managing stress in non-medical hospital staff during major incidents, to which Rebecca responded about the challenges faced by registration staff and administrative personnel who deal with families’ emotional needs.
Disaster Response and Trauma SupportRebecca shared her experience with the Joplin tornado in 2011, emphasizing the need for early intervention to help people process traumatic events. Brian discussed his role as the chief medical officer for the disaster response system and his involvement with the Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative (IDMC) to coordinate resources.
Sam mentioned a creative approach used by a psychologist to identify and describe children in the aftermath of the tornado. The group highlighted the importance of supporting both trained and untrained personnel in disaster response, with a focus on the critical first 24 hours after an incident.
Supporting Volunteers in Crisis SituationsThe discussion focused on the impact of traumatic events on volunteers and community members, particularly in religious and school organizations. Brian highlighted how volunteers, despite their critical role, may not be adequately prepared for mass casualty events and can suffer emotional and health consequences.
Rebecca elaborated on the need for targeted support programs, emphasizing the importance of addressing different groups such as first responders, schools, and faith-based communities with tailored approaches. She also described how schools and archdioceses often have existing protocols for such events, though they may lack trained counselors and other resources.
Challenges in Disaster Response Mental HealthThe group discussed the challenges faced by emergency responders and storm chasers in the aftermath of disasters, highlighting the mental health impact on those involved. Joe emphasized the ripple effect of incidents on families, coworkers, and media personnel, while Becky noted the recent efforts to provide mental health support for weather scientists conducting damage surveys.
Sam and Becky shared insights on the overwhelming nature of initial responses and the need for preparation and support, with Jamie concluding that the discussion provided valuable insights into community readiness and long-term recovery efforts.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Julie Roberts from JK Roberts, LLC drops by the podcast this week to address business disaster continuity plans. Julie led communications efforts at both the Federal and State levels including NOAA.
Julie discusses the importance of building a disaster plan for businesses of all sizes. These plans include creating contingencies around suppliers and employees to ensure operations can resume at the time when it is safe to return to work.
PSEMA (Private Sector Emergency Management Agency)
Also on the show were Dr. Joe Holley who brought up a news item about the termination of National EMS Advisory Council members at the federal level which could have long lasting effects on training and education of providers nationwide.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
NOAA Weather Radio Distribution InitiativeThe meeting began with introductions, including Dr. Joe Holly, who works with FEMA’s search and rescue team in Tennessee. Julie discussed a new initiative to distribute NOAA weather radios to camps across the country, inspired by recent flooding events where early warnings could have made a difference.
The group agreed on the importance of NOAA weather radios as a reliable alert system, especially during power outages or when mobile phones are not functional. Jamie and Sam prepared to record a podcast episode, with Jamie handling the technical aspects and Sam introducing the guest.
Public-Private Collaboration in EmergenciesJulie K. Roberts, a disaster management expert with over 20 years of experience in both public and private sectors, discussed her background, including her work at FEMA, NOAA, and Florida Emergency Management.
She highlighted her role in building relationships between government and private sectors, particularly during the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, where she coordinated with companies like JetBlue and Uber to provide support. The conversation touched on disaster preparedness and the importance of collaboration between public and private sectors in managing emergencies.
Private Sector Disaster Response CollaborationJulie discussed her work with private sector partnerships during disasters, highlighting a successful collaboration with Airbnb and Jump Blue that provided 2,501 flight tickets and housing for victims’ families in Orlando and Las Vegas.
She explained that this experience led her to create the Private Sector Emergency Management Association four years ago to facilitate private sector involvement in disaster response and recovery. The organization focuses on helping businesses of all sizes develop continuity plans and access resources, with recent activations during hurricanes, wildfires, and other emergencies.
Private Sector’s Role in Disaster ResponseJulie and Joe discussed the increasing role of the private sector in hurricane response and recovery, particularly in light of upcoming changes from FEMA and potential funding cuts to essential services. Sam shared his experience with a nonprofit that helps coordinate disaster response between states, highlighting a recent shift back to state-level focus due to changing government policies.
Both Julie and Sam agreed that the first 72 hours of disaster response relies heavily on local and individual efforts, as government resources may not be as readily available as in the past.
Business Continuity Planning for Small BusinessesJulie discussed the importance of business continuity planning for both large and small businesses, emphasizing the need to prepare for various hazards and have strategies in place for unexpected closures. She explained that small businesses should focus on essential information like employee contact details, vendor relationships, and insurance procedures, while also considering backup resources and recovery plans.
Jamie highlighted the need for small business owners to think through potential disruptions and have contingency plans in place, suggesting that these plans should be tailored to the specific needs and resources of each business.
Small Business Resilience StrategiesJulie discussed the challenges small businesses face in accessing potable water after disasters, using Asheville, North Carolina, as an example. She suggested exploring solutions to ensure businesses can reopen quickly, such as splitting costs between government and businesses. Joe highlighted the issue of hospitals being reliant on a single water vendor, which can lead to service disruptions. Jamie shared Waffle House’s preparedness strategy as an example of effective planning for adversity. The group agreed on the importance of supporting small businesses and having contingency plans in place for emergencies.
Crisis Communication in the Digital AgeJulie discussed the importance of flexible planning and clear communication in shaping disaster outcomes, highlighting how social media and the 24-hour news cycle have changed crisis management. She emphasized the need for immediate response and the authority to post information quickly, warning against the delay caused by excessive approval processes. Jamie agreed with Julie’s proactive approach, encouraging companies to be prepared for rapid communication in crises.
Proactive Crisis Communication StrategiesJulie emphasized the importance of proactive communication, particularly for companies and governments facing crises, noting that delays in responding to negative stories can harm brands and credibility. She highlighted the value of leveraging the private sector to speak on behalf of governments and the need for timely, credible information dissemination.
Sam agreed, stressing the demand for reliable information sources. Joe introduced a news item about the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS), which has been working for over a decade to coordinate and provide direction on emergency medical services at the federal level.
Government Weather Radio InitiativeThe meeting discussed recent staff reductions at a government group, with Julie highlighting a new initiative by Pacima to provide NOAA weather radios to camps across the country in response to recent events in Texas. Julie shared her contact information and website details, while Joe clarified that the National EMS Advisory Council had been eliminated, not FICUMS, and provided Paragon’s contact information.
Jamie and Sam discussed the importance of these resources and mentioned their own social media presence. The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Dan Zehner from the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) drops in the podcast to report on the recent documentary output from the research group. The links below contain a lot of information on how the NHERI research grants have turned into actionable infrastructure and building code improvement suggestions.
Dan and co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis also talk about data collection about wild fire affects on infrastructure and buildings. By analyzing the survival of buildings built under different code requirements and from differing materials, NHERI can suggest improvements that would improve survival and lessen the impact of disastrous fires.
Links and Resources Dan Discussed
NHERI RESEARCH IMPACT SHOWCASED
FUNDING MESSAGE FROM THE NHERI COUNCIL, JULY 2025
CALIFORNIA FLOODING FROM THE ARKSTORM
Technology Transfer from NHERI
NHERI Impact 2020
Scroll down for Podcast Discussion Summary
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Coordinating Weather Impact EffortsJamie, Sam, and Dan discussed recent weather events, including thunderstorms and wildfires. Sam mentioned coordinating efforts with 18 states to address the impact of nonprofits assuming roles previously held by the federal government. Dan shared that the northwest has been experiencing hot weather but is now getting some rain, which is helping to control wildfires. The group briefly touched on Hurricane Erin, but no specific information was provided.
NHERI Operations Extended Through 2026The meeting discussed the status and future of the National Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), which received a no-cost extension from the National Science Foundation to continue operations through September 2026. Dan explained that while there are some uncertainties due to the current political environment, NHERI’s core facilities, tools, and data services will remain available for researchers.
The discussion also touched on recent and ongoing natural disasters, including wildfires and floods, which NHERI continues to support through testing and research efforts.
Overcoming Fear in Emergency CareThe group discussed fear and anxiety in medical and emergency situations, with Jessica emphasizing the importance of addressing personal fears and biases to provide better care. Jamie shared advice about trusting parents’ instincts regarding their children’s health, particularly for those with preexisting conditions. The conversation concluded with Jessica encouraging self-compassion and acceptance of imperfection in emergency response work.
Wildfire Research and Infrastructure PlanningThe group discussed wildfire research, focusing on the National Science Foundation’s work in the wildland-urban interface, particularly through the Rapid Assessment, Planning, and Response (RAPID) system. Dan explained how RAPID uses advanced tools like fixed-wing drones and lidar to collect high-fidelity data on fire damage before cleanup, which is crucial for understanding infrastructure performance and updating building codes.
Jamie emphasized the importance of science-based infrastructure adjustments, while Sam highlighted the critical role of research in preventing future wildfires, noting that many people are unaware of the work being done in this area.
Insurance Challenges in High-Risk AreasDan and Sam discussed the challenges of insurance availability and affordability in high-risk areas, particularly due to the high costs of insurance premiums. Dan explained that the insurance industry relies on actuarial models and historical data to assess risk, but noted that there is no universally accepted standard for wildfire-resistant construction.
They mentioned organizations like the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety (IBHS) and the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) that focus on property insurance and loss prevention, but emphasized the need for more scientifically backed methods to ensure communities can be insured based on evidence rather than intuition.
Wind and Flooding Research UpdatesThe discussion focused on two main topics: wind research facilities and flooding studies. Dan described the University of Florida’s boundary layer wind tunnel and Florida International University’s “Wall of Wind” facility, which can simulate Category 5-level winds with wind-driven rain and variable ground conditions.
The conversation then shifted to flooding research, highlighting a 2023 study that created a publicly available dataset of California’s atmospheric river flooding simulations, which has been useful for FEMA, water resources departments, and emergency services. The discussion concluded with an observation about how dry ground conditions can exacerbate flooding issues, particularly in areas with limited infrastructure to manage water runoff.
Design Safe Resource OverviewThe meeting focused on discussing resources and information available through Design Safe and the National Science Foundation. Dan provided an overview of their funding process and highlighted various platforms and resources, including their podcast, Slack channel, and community calendar.
Jamie and Sam discussed the importance of these resources and mentioned their own social media presence. The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Midwife and Paramedic Jessica Arno, the Combat Midwife, returns this week to talk focus on pediatric emergencies in the disaster environment. She and the Disaster Podcast team talk about unique challenges facing responders who encounter sick and injured kids.
Jessica stresses the importance of understanding age-appropriate behaviors and presentation. We discuss why it’s necessary to trust the parents’ instincts about their kids. They often realize a problem is present before others would notice a change in the child.
Also on the show this week are disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, disaster meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, and Dr. Joe Holley, as well as co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Combat Midwife Returns for PediatricsJamie introduced the main guest, Jessica Arno, the combat midwife, who was returning for a second episode to discuss more pediatric topics. The group discussed recent weather conditions, including flooding in the Northeast and Midwest, and Joe shared his busy schedule involving alerts for weather events.
The conversation then shifted to the upcoming podcast segment featuring Jessica, who was introduced to the audience as a midwife, paramedic, and expert in pediatric care.
Pediatric Emergency Care ChallengesThe meeting focused on the unique challenges of providing medical care to children in emergency and disaster situations, emphasizing that children are not simply “tiny adults.” Jessica, a paramedic and midwife, explained the importance of understanding children’s physiological differences, such as their limited blood volume and distinct airway anatomy, which can lead to rapid decompensation.
Jamie highlighted the need for quick decision-making in pediatric emergencies, especially in austere environments where resources may be limited. The discussion also touched on the broader issue of women’s health research, noting that it often falls short due to gaps in scientific focus.
Overcoming Fear in Emergency CareThe group discussed fear and anxiety in medical and emergency situations, with Jessica emphasizing the importance of addressing personal fears and biases to provide better care. Jamie shared advice about trusting parents’ instincts regarding their children’s health, particularly for those with preexisting conditions. The conversation concluded with Jessica encouraging self-compassion and acceptance of imperfection in emergency response work.
Trusting Parental Instincts in HealthcareThe group discussed the importance of trusting parents’ instincts and expertise, particularly in medical situations involving their children. Jessica emphasized the need to trust parents’ observations and to act on instincts, even if the reasons aren’t immediately clear. Becky shared her experience of trusting her intuition about her child’s health, highlighting the value of parental insight. The discussion underscored the importance of balancing emotional and professional judgment in medical care, with a consensus that erring on the side of safety is crucial.
Pediatric Disaster Medical CareThe group discussed pediatric medical care, particularly in disaster situations, emphasizing the need for age-appropriate assessment and treatment. Jessica highlighted the importance of vital signs, bleeding control, and understanding the unique challenges of treating children, including the use of appropriate tourniquets and recognizing internal bleeding.
Dan shared his perspective as a parent, emphasizing the value of trusted care in complex situations. The discussion also touched on the potential lack of parental presence in disaster scenarios and the need for practitioners to be prepared to triage and treat children without parental input.
Emotional Preparedness for Crisis SituationsThe group discussed emotional preparedness, particularly focusing on how to handle children in chaotic situations. Jessica emphasized the importance of honesty with children, sharing an example of a Coast Guard rescue during recent flooding in Texas where the responder maintained calm by being transparent about the situation’s uncertainties. The discussion highlighted the value of relying on training in crisis situations, even when facing unfamiliar challenges.
Children’s Emotional Resilience in DisastersThe discussion focused on the emotional and psychological challenges faced by children in disaster situations, particularly how their brains process trauma and the role of emotional regulation in parenting. Becky and Sam discussed how children’s reactions to stress are influenced by their parents’ emotional responses, noting that calm parental reactions can help children regulate their own emotions.
They also touched on the importance of emotional intelligence in caregivers and how children learn from their parents’ reactions to situations, particularly in medical contexts.
Pediatric Care in Austere EnvironmentsJessica shared her experience of being calm in chaotic situations, which was noted as a strength by her colleagues. She discussed the importance of having pediatric medications in austere kits, including basic items like Tylenol and ibuprofen, as well as herbal and homeopathic remedies. She also described a real-life situation where she provided neonatal care in a disaster zone, emphasizing the need for evaluating underlying issues in such complex medical situations.
Pediatric Healthcare and Learning InsightsThe meeting focused on a discussion about pediatric and clinical healthcare, featuring Combat as the main expert. Combat shared insights on differential diagnosis and women’s/children’s health, emphasizing the importance of hands-on practice and continuous learning. The participants agreed that while they may not be experts in pediatrics, they should strive to learn and build confidence in handling pediatric cases. Joe mentioned upcoming military training activities, and the group discussed how listeners can connect with various speakers through social media platforms and the disaster Podcast community.
The group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group.
Jessica, the Combat Midwife, shared her expertise and offered a discount code for her training materials. Use code DISASTER for a discount on her page. The participants agreed to have Jessica return for a follow-up episode the next Thursday.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
This week features a discussion of maternity and pediatric care in disaster situations with Jessica Arno, the Combat Midwife. Jessica is a midwite, paramedic, and battlefield-born educator who’s trained over 100,000 combat medics, Special Warfare medics, and EMS professionals in OB/GYN and pediatric emergencies. From Afghan refugee camps to rural fire stations, she equips medics and civilians with the skills to handle birth, bleeding, and babies-when help isn’t coming.
Also on the show this week are disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, as well as co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Enhancing OB-GYN Emergency TrainingJessica Arno, a paramedic and midwife, discussed her experience training combat medics and civilians in obstetrics and gynecology emergencies, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive training in areas often overlooked due to their perceived unsexiness. She highlighted the need for more in-depth training in these areas, citing her work in academia where she was able to expand the curriculum beyond the traditional few hours allocated to OB-GYN.
Jamie, a nurse, shared his experience with OB-GYN training, noting the contrast between his nursing education and his limited exposure to the subject as a medic. Both agreed on the importance of building confidence in handling rare or uncomfortable medical situations.
Disaster Impact on Maternal HealthJessica and the group discussed the impact of weather and disasters on childbirth and women’s health. The team explored how changes in barometric pressure and temperature can trigger labor, and highlighted the risks of infections and complications in post-disaster scenarios.
Jessica emphasized the need for medical professionals to receive specialized training in handling obstetric and pediatric emergencies in disaster situations, including understanding normal versus sick baby presentations and different age-related responses.
Newborn Assessment and Pain PerceptionJessica and Sam discussed the use of the APGAR score in assessing newborns and its relevance in emergency situations. Jessica explained that while APGAR is typically used post-delivery, it can be useful for assessing older infants as well, focusing on reflexes and normal responses.
The team also explored how understanding a patient’s menstrual cycle can provide insights into their pain perception and overall health, particularly for female patients. Jessica emphasized the importance of considering hormonal changes and their impact on various bodily functions, especially for post-menopausal women, and highlighted the need for healthcare providers to listen attentively to all patients’ concerns.
Emergency Birth Kit for SoldiersJessica shared her experience creating an emergency birth kit for soldiers on humanitarian missions, which includes essential items like chucks, organic pads, a blanket for the baby, herbal medications for postpartum hemorrhage, and a Delee suction for suctioning mucus from newborns. She emphasized the use of herbal compounds over Pitocin for managing post-delivery bleeding, highlighting their gentler effect and faster action.
Jessica also discussed the inclusion of an ink set and birth certificate to document the baby’s parentage in case of grid-down scenarios, and she noted that the kit’s contents are listed on her website at CombatMidwife.com.
Refugee Camp Health ChallengesJessica shared her unexpected experience working in a refugee camp, where she encountered a severe herpes outbreak among patients due to limited resources and poor living conditions. She emphasized the importance of being cautious about infections in disaster zones, including proper patient inspection and cleaning procedures to prevent the spread of diseases among both patients and caregivers.
Sam expressed interest in further discussions about pediatric care and childbirth, and Becky highlighted the need for more research and open discussions on women’s health, particularly regarding the lack of studies on pregnant women.
Disaster Preparedness Training DiscussionThe group discussed the importance of disaster preparedness and the role of specialized training, with Jamie highlighting the sponsorship of the Disaster Podcast by Paragon Medical Education Group. Jessica, the Combat Midwife, shared her expertise and offered a discount code for her training materials. Use code DISASTER for a discount on her page. The participants agreed to have Jessica return for a follow-up episode the next Thursday.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Disaster meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, joins the show this week to discuss the severe weather patterns that have led to dangerous flash flooding all across the country so far in July. The team discusses how this weather affects millions of Americans this summer.
Disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin shares her thoughts on messaging to protect public safety in the face of these disasters. The whole team discusses how mitigation starts before the disaster strikes. Preparedness is the best protection from sudden disasters that strike with little warning.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
U.S. Flooding and Natural DisastersThe team discussed recent flooding events across the United States, with a focus on Texas, where Dan provided insights from AccuWeather about the factors contributing to the flooding. They also touched on a 7.3 earthquake in Alaska that triggered tsunami warnings, though the rural location minimized potential damage.
The group briefly shared personal experiences with local flooding, with Jamie describing flooding issues near his home and Becky noting their new house’s relative safety from flooding.
Texas Floods: Warning and ResponseDan explained the recent flooding in Texas’s hill country, caused by extreme rainfall from a combination of tropical storm moisture and atmospheric conditions, leading to rapid river rises. Sam noted similar flooding patterns in Florida and asked about the meteorological factors, which Dan simplified as mesoscale convective systems.
Jamie shifted the discussion to warning systems, asking Becky about the feasibility of timely alerts for such rapid-onset floods, to which Becky responded that while there was significant advance warning, the rapid development of the event made it challenging to issue timely alerts.
Flash Flood Warning System ImprovementsBecky discussed the challenges of warning and evacuating people during flash floods, noting that the delay in acting on the flash flood emergency warning cost lives. Jamie highlighted that some disasters are so destructive that complete prevention of loss of life is not possible, and emphasized the need for better communication and preparedness.
Sam suggested improving the flash flood warning system and addressing the issue of people being unaware of flood risks while recreating in flood zones. Becky criticized the decision to build in flood-prone areas, emphasizing that better mitigation efforts could have prevented the tragedy.
Nighttime Weather Emergency PreparednessThe discussion focused on the importance of preparedness for nighttime weather emergencies, with Dan emphasizing that people should check forecasts before sleeping and have reliable warning systems in place. Sam shared an example of a camp that lacked a siren system, highlighting the need for weather radios as a more reliable warning method, especially in areas with poor cell signal.
Becky agreed that multiple weather radios distributed throughout camps could be effective, and Dan recommended that camp organizers work with local officials to develop and drill emergency plans. The conversation also touched on the challenges faced by economically underserved communities in accessing warnings and responding to emergencies, as noted by Sam and Jamie.
Disaster Impact on Underserved CommunitiesJamie and Becky discussed how underserved communities are disproportionately affected by natural disasters due to lack of resources and knowledge, citing examples from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ida. Dan provided an update on current weather conditions, noting concerns about flooding risks in the Midwest and Appalachians due to atmospheric disturbances and increased moisture from climate change.
Becky emphasized the importance of being weather-aware, especially in summer, and advised taking proactive measures like having evacuation plans and staying informed about potential threats.
Weather and Response Training InsightsThe group discussed the importance of weather-related aspects in their recent discussions and expressed gratitude to Paragon Medical Education Group for their sponsorship and educational services. Jamie encouraged listeners to reach out to Joe and the team at Paragon for innovative training exercises, and provided various platforms where group members could be found, including Blue Sky, the Disaster Podcast Facebook group, and disasterpodcast.com. Sam agreed that the weather perspective was crucial alongside the response perspective, and the conversation ended with a reminder to stay aware and stay alive.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Chuck Costanza joins the Disaster Podcast team tonight. He’s the Vice President of Client Engagement for Global Guardian. They provide global threat assessments for companies, helping them protect their employees from the effects of things like major disasters.
The team discusses global security issues surrounding things like climate change. It affects many areas of global security like mass migrations, sea level rise, and destabilizing food supplies. The impacts are wide ranging with many disaster-related situations, like major hurricanes and other weather events.
Global Guardian Hurricane Preparedness Guide
The episode was hosted by Sam Bradley and featured disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, and disaster meteorologist, Dan DePodwin.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
East Coast Power Outage Discussion
Jamie, who was supposed to co-host, was unable to participate due to a power outage caused by a storm on the east coast, outside Baltimore. Sam introduced Becky and Dan as meteorologists to discuss the weather situation, and Chuck joined to talk about disaster management for businesses.
The meeting officially started with Sam introducing the topic as the “Disaster Podcast,” focusing on the east coast power outages and upcoming discussions on disaster management.
Extreme Heat Wave Discussion
The group discussed recent extreme weather patterns, particularly record-breaking heat in the Northeast and Midwest, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees in New York City and Boston. Dan explained that while the intense heat would subside, warmer conditions would persist, especially in the western United States as July approaches.
Becky emphasized the importance of heat safety and checking on neighbors, while Sam and Chuck, both located in Colorado, noted the region’s relative relief from humidity.
Climate Change and Security Impacts
Chuck Costanza, a former senior advisor at the U.S. Department of State, discussed how climate change impacts global security, including migration, water scarcity, and sea level rise. Dan from AccuWeather confirmed that the upcoming hurricane season is expected to be above average, with up to 19 named storms, including 5 major hurricanes.
The discussion highlighted the importance of business preparedness for extreme weather events, with Chuck offering a hurricane preparedness guide for sharing.
Hurricane Preparedness and Business Continuity
Chuck and Sam discussed the importance of preparing for hurricanes, emphasizing business continuity and the need for proactive planning. Chuck highlighted the necessity of designating roles and responsibilities within an organization, as well as establishing relationships with external partners for resource support during emergencies.
They also addressed the challenges of remote work, accountability issues, and the need to update emergency plans annually to account for changing weather patterns and new hazards. Becky agreed, adding that plans should be reviewed regularly to assess and prepare for evolving risks, such as migration to new regions and increased exposure to unfamiliar weather events.
Business Emergency Planning Strategies
Becky emphasized the importance of comprehensive emergency planning for businesses, highlighting the need to consider both economic and human factors. Chuck discussed the challenges of relying on external partners during disasters, citing examples from Asheville and Hawaii, and stressed the importance of having contingency plans and updated contact information for employees. The group also explored the difficulties of accounting for remote workers during emergencies, particularly when traditional communication methods fail.
Enhancing Disaster Preparedness Strategies
Sam and Chuck discussed disaster preparedness and response, emphasizing the importance of both centralized and individual disaster plans. They highlighted the role of disaster recovery contractors, insurance companies, and the potential for remote work capabilities in the aftermath of a disaster.
Sam stressed the significance of after-action reviews to learn from past experiences and improve future responses. Becky agreed, suggesting that lessons could be learned from other regions’ experiences, even if a community was not directly impacted.
Disaster Planning for Businesses
Chuck advised businesses to start disaster planning by working with experienced personnel, reviewing existing resources, and conducting tabletop exercises to identify specific needs and strengths. He emphasized the importance of having clearly defined roles and responsibilities within an organization for effective disaster response.
Hurricane Safety and Preparedness
The discussion focused on hurricane intensification and safety measures. Dan explained that rapid intensification of hurricanes, particularly over warm waters with low wind shear, can lead to dangerous Category 5 storms, citing Hurricane Michael as an example. He emphasized that while wind damage is significant, storm surge and freshwater flooding from rainfall pose the greatest threat to life.
Sam highlighted the importance of preparedness for families and businesses, including having backup power, communications, and evacuation plans, while Chuck noted that businesses must prioritize employee safety through comprehensive duty of care programs.
Global Guardian Emergency Response
Sam and Chuck discussed Global Guardian’s emergency response capabilities, highlighting their experience in handling natural disasters like Hurricane Helene. They emphasized the importance of having pre-established relationships with emergency response teams and the value of Global Guardian’s global network, which enabled them to quickly mobilize resources from different countries.
Chuck encouraged potential clients to learn more about Global Guardian’s services through their website and membership program, and advised listeners to contact 911 in emergencies.
Global Guardian Disaster Preparedness Insights
The meeting focused on disaster preparedness and emergency response, with Chuck from Global Guardian providing insights into their services and resources available for individuals and businesses. Participants discussed the importance of planning ahead and utilizing tools like Global Guardian’s offerings to stay prepared. The conversation also touched on social media presence and future podcast appearances, with plans to invite Chuck back for further discussions.
Sam thanked Dr. Joe and the team at Paragon Medical Education Group for their continued sponsorship, highlighting the customizability of their training resources.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
Dan Zehner from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s NHERI returns to the podcast this week. He talks about some of the key reports generated by their institutions in the past year. One particular StEER report on Hurricane Milton showed a huge dataset collected about the storm and its impact on homes and other infrastructure along the storm’s path.
This data then goes to the individual testing centers for wind and storm surge around the country where they start testing building materials and techniques against specific natural forces. In the end, these tests become recommendations to states and local jurisdictions about building codes to create safer housing and infrastructure.
Check out the individual linked data sets and reports below.
Hurricane and Windstorm Experts List
Hurricane Simulations in High Gear
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
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Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Podcast Discussion Summary
Hurricane Season Preparation Discussion
The meeting began with Sam and Jamie discussing recent weather events and the start of the hurricane season, noting that Becky and Dan Z were present to provide insights. Becky mentioned that the season had started early and that NOAA predicted an above-average season, while Dan Z explained his role in coordinating research infrastructure for natural hazard engineering.
The group discussed the importance of preparation for the upcoming hurricane season and mentioned an upcoming workshop in July for learning to use equipment for data collection and analysis.
Weather Service Staffing and Safety
Jamie discussed concerns about staffing cutbacks at Federal agencies and their impact on National Weather Service warning systems during severe weather events. Kyle explained the challenges of alerting people during overnight hours and emphasized the importance of local weather service offices for accurate forecasting and trust in warnings.
Tom and Becky highlighted the value of local knowledge in forecasting and the human impact of staff cuts on forecasters, who are vital to communities’ safety.
2024 Storm Season Forecast Review
The group discussed the anticipated number of named storms this year, with Becky reporting 13 to 19 total storms, 6 to 10 hurricanes, and 3 to 5 major hurricanes, with 70% confidence in these ranges. Daniel shared insights from a report on the rapid intensification of storms, particularly highlighting Milton’s extreme transformation from a tropical depression to a category 5 hurricane in just 48 hours, which he attributed to warmer sea surface temperatures linked to climate change.
The discussion also covered the impact of such storms on critical infrastructure, including power outages affecting 3.4 million people, and the increased risk of heat-related illnesses during prolonged power cuts.
NHERI’s Infrastructure Performance Research
Daniel explained how NHERI’s network and testing facilities, like the Wall of Wind, analyze building performance during hurricanes by examining historical data, current construction practices, and building codes. He noted that while older homes can be well-built if properly maintained, newer homes may not always meet current standards.
Jamie highlighted the importance of NHERI’s long-term research in influencing building code updates, while Becky asked about the effectiveness of building codes, which Daniel addressed by describing how NHERI’s research evaluates adherence through data collection and analysis.
Hurricane Expert Network and Resources
Daniel shared a list of hurricane and windstorm experts, including Jennifer Bridge at the University of Florida, Arindam Chowdhury at FIU’s Wall of Wind, and Brian Phillips who will take over for Forest Masters as the new leader of mobile deployments.
He highlighted the importance of the Texas Advanced Computing Center’s supercomputing facility, which provides accurate storm surge forecasts and has helped protect lives and property during recent hurricanes. Daniel also mentioned that the facility runs models every time a new track comes from NOAA, offering up-to-date and granular data on storm surge predictions.
NSF Funding Advocacy Meeting
The meeting discussed the potential funding challenges facing the National Science Foundation, which could impact NHERI’s operations and access to testing equipment as of October 1st. Daniel encouraged attendees to contact their representatives to support NSF funding, emphasizing that this issue transcends political affiliations.
Jamie highlighted NHERI’s transparency in sharing data and information, while Daniel mentioned a collection of open-access articles in the Frontiers in the Built Environment journal showcasing NHERI’s research from 2015 to 2025. Becky stressed the importance of scientific research in various fields, urging attendees to advocate for continued support of such work.
Podcast Rankings and Sponsorship Update
The team discussed their recent ranking on a list of natural disaster podcasts, with Design Safe Radio podcast being ranked 5th and the Disaster Podcast being ranked 11th. Jamie thanked Dr. Joe and the team at Paragon Medical Education Group for their continued sponsorship, highlighting the customizability of their training resources.
The group also discussed how listeners can find and connect with them through various social media platforms and websites, and Jamie encouraged listeners to subscribe to future episodes.
Catch the full episode using the player above or on your favorite podcast platform, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Disaster Podcast for weekly insights from leaders in disaster response and research!
We asked Thomas Di Liberto, meteorologist, climatologist, and former NOAA employee on the show to discuss recent changes in National Weather Service staffing. Do the changes made in the name of government efficiency lead to risks in accurate weather prediction and disaster weather alerts? We discuss this on the show this week with the team.
David DiPietro was a former Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and eventually an instructor for community operations and personnel. He later founded DiPietro and Associates, a medical equipment business, including the distribution of AEDs. Kelsey Treat, David's daughter, now runs the company's sales and operations while Dave focuses on new business opportunities.
We are joined this week by former FDNY firefighter/paramedic Vincent Johnson. Vinnie comes to us from Disaster Medical Solutions and a former FEMA USAR team in New York. He and Dr. Joe Holley share information about USAR medical specialist operations training for USAR docs and paramedics.
In this episode we talk about a conference a few months back that was attended by both Becky DePodwin and Kyle Nelson. Becky is our Emergency Management disaster expert and Kyle has experience in meteorological issues and is also an educator for emergency managers on social media use and information management during disasters and major events.
This week we take a look at what it takes to train and deploy with USAR dogs during disasters. Dr. Joe Holley's better half, Kimberly comes by to talk about her work with the FEMA team from Memphis, Tennessee. She currently had two trained dogs (one live find dog and a human remains detection dog), Kimberly is currently training a third for live search and rescue.
Our resident meteorologist and disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, shares her take on the preparedness challenges when a broad weather front crosses the nation. Many states are dealing with severe rain, winds, and flooding that have caused more than a dozen deaths. In fact, the month of March was the windiest on record.
Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor, joins the rest of the podcast team tonight. He discusses the unique challenges people face in the aftermath of disaster. Whether it's knowing the best way to file with your insurance company, or how to navigate the FEMA bureaucracy, having an advocate in your corner can be a game-changer.
Edward Coulson from Ready Northwest returns to the Disaster Podcast to share ways businesses can build resiliency plans for disasters and major adverse events. Often overlooked in the community resilience discussion, local and regional businesses are anchors for the financial well being of a community. Including them while planning drills and events can improve the overall community response to a disaster.
Author Beth Livingston joins the team in this episode to share her accounts of two past disasters here in the United States. First she recounts the personal stories of resilience in The Dayton Flood of 1913. Then she tells the stories of the survivors of The Charleston Earthquake of 1886.
In this episode we look at the variable patient presentations USAR docs and paramedics encounter when rescuing individuals from a collapsed structure. Joe points out that these patients vary based on the amount of time that has passed since the initial disaster situation. If you're responding to the early hours after a collapse, your approach is more immediate life threats such as hemorrhage management or opening and maintaining an airway.
Dr. Joe Holley comes back after being off the show for a few months due to extensive travel for training and conference attendance. We discuss the inflow of respiratory illness to our nation's hospitals and the difficulties finding rooms and beds for patients who need them.
Kyle Nelson, our disaster meteorologist and ski patroller, joins us this week in his role as Planning Section Chief with the Winter XGames Aspen Incident Management Team. He shares his experiences planning and helping with operations for medical and response management during the games this year.
This week on the Disaster Podcast we look at some of the root causes of airline crash disasters and what kinds of things pilots do to avoid midair collisions. Becky DePodwin helped us bring in an Emergency Management colleague, Edward Colson. He's a former commercial helicopter pilot, currently and emergency manager and owner of a consulting firm, Ready Northwest.
Welcome back to the Disaster Podcast, your go-to resource for medical professionals, first responders, and disaster rescue experts. This week’s episode features a returning guest, Dan Zehner, from the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), alongside our cohosts Sam Bradley (retired firefighter and paramedic) and Jamie Davis (nurse and retired paramedic).
On this week's episode, Dan DePodwin joins us to discuss the unique weather implications surrounding the widespread wildfires hitting the Los Angeles area this week. We discuss Santa Ana winds and the source in the mountain deserts around the Four Corners region of the Southwest.
Our amazing Disaster Podcast team got together this week to share their favorite episodes from 2024. We covered a lot of topics and disaster responses over the previous year but there were a few standouts for each of us.
With the approaching holidays here at the end of December, along with the accompanying winter storms tracking across the midwest and into the northeast, it's important to review preparedness and travel warnings for your region. Becky DePodwin, our disaster emergency management expert, joins us to cover some of the weather and preparedness concerns.
Our ski patrol and disaster meteorology expert, Kyle Nelson, comes by the episode tonight with fellow snow and mountain rescue expert Carl Kishbaugh. Karl is a ski-patroller with years of experience in mountain and ski-lift rescue as well as avalanche dog handling. Ruby, his avalanche search and rescue dog, recently trained with he and Kyle on helicopter acclimation and landing zone handling.
Henry Mitchell joined the show and we switched gears to discuss emergency planning and management of diverse community resources to prepare to respond to emergencies and disaster situations. Henry is Deputy Director Office of Emergency Preparedness Response in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. He holds an MS Emergency Response and Biosecurity and specialized for a time in Disaster Behavioral Health.
Tom Cotter, MPH, serves as executive director of Healthcare Ready, bringing more than a decade of global health readiness and response expertise to expand nonprofit’s mission-driven work addressing health equity. Healthcare Ready is a nonprofit organization established in 2007 to help strengthen the US healthcare system and assist all communities in planning for, responding to, and recovering from disasters and disease pandemics.
The National Science Foundation NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) organization had teams out in advance of the recent hurricanes to strike Florida. They set up for the Sentinel Program from the University of Florida to use sensor platforms to detect all the various forces from incoming storms. This was the first full deployment of the Sentinel system.
ZeroEyes technology delivers a proactive, human-verified visual gun detection and situational awareness solution. It integrates into existing digital security cameras on a site to stop mass shootings and gun-related violence. Jonathan Norton, VP of Commercial Sales for ZeroEyes comes on the show to talk about their ground-breaking software and human verification service that completes the process to eliminate false positives causing needless lockdowns.
Former San Ramon Valley Fire Chief Richard Price was having lunch one day when he saw one of his engines stopping in front of the restaurant. Someone in an adjacent business had suffered a cardiac arrest.What really bothered him was that he, a trained responder was only yards away and he had an AED in his vehicle. Had he been alerted, he could have provided care much sooner than waiting for the responding professionals.
Tim Conley and Dr. Kateryna Riabko from Med Global to talk about the training mission they worked on together in Ukraine. Med Global provides surgical and nursing training along with equipment training with things like ultrasound devices. They also work to train medical staff on chemical weapons that might be released during the war there.
Disaster Podcast host Sam Bradley reached out and connected with Dr. Joe Holley while deployed in the field. Joe has been hard at work with the FEMA IST (Federal Emergency Management Agency Incident Support Team) while they supported teams in the field for Hurricane Helene. He and his wife Kimberly are currently in North Carolina finishing up the immediate search and rescue support for that region.
On this episode of the Disaster Podcast, host Sam Bradley takes the helm to lead a discussion with our team about the impending impacts of Hurricane Milton on the central Florida Gulf Coast. Disaster Meteorologists Dan DePodwin and Kyle Nelson jump in with their expertise on the current track predictions. Disaster emergency management expert Becky DePowin shares her takes on preparedness messaging leading up to the storm as well.
This week we look at the needs of first responders who have fallen on hard times. The Primum Non Nocere Foundation (pnnf.net) provides short term resources to help out our brothers and sisters who need a bit of help in a time of need. Founder Louis Cazzetta comes on the show with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis to discuss the important work he's doing.
The Disaster Podcast team assembled to look at the impacts of Hurricane Helene on the Florida gulf coast at the big bend region. It will also have significant impacts on inland areas in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and even southern Indiana and Illinois.
Disaster Meteorologist Dan DePodwin joins our podcast this week to review the impacts of Hurricane Francine. This storm struck the Louisiana coast and moved inland over Mississippi, Tennessee and surrounding areas. Dan and the co-hosts also discuss the impacts of wildfires in the west. California, Oregon, and Washington states bear the brunt of the recent spate of serious wildfires. Dan shares how these large areas of fire create their own weather patterns.
Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Dan Harris, Battalion Chief with Memphis, Tennessee Fire Department joins us in his other role as one of the Paragon Medical Group disaster educators. He shares key memories of training evolutions and how he learns from the jurisdictional differences he encounters with his students. Dr. Joe Holley joins the discussion as well and shares several anecdotes about Dan’s contribution to the training team.
Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
In this episode, we chat with Jameson Morgan, Director of Partnerships for goTenna. GoTenna is a company that provides critical network communications solutions for military, government, and emergency services personnel. It enables them to maintain contact in rough environments where standard communications methods experience difficulties.
Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Our disaster meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, joins us this week to talk about Hurricanes Debby and Ernesto. Debby caused widespread flooding from Florida to upstate New York. Dan and Becky DePodwin share an experience driving during the passage of Debby’s remnants in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Ernesto sideswiped Puerto Rico and parts of other Caribbean islands. As many as 70% of the Puerto Rican power grid was knocked out for several days following the storm’s passage. Ernesto continues on into the central Atlantic and bears down on Bermuda next.
Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast we talk with nurse Alicia Bean who is preparing for a return trip with IDMC to Ukraine where she works educating medical personnel on trauma and other best practices. Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative (IDMC) provides a forum for collaboration, cooperation and coordination of disaster medical experts, assets and systems. The teams are comprised of state and regional providers of mass gathering and disaster medical care.
Alicia is an emergency room nurse and has worked with trauma team coordination for emergency care. She made her first trip in the fall of 2022 to Ukraine as part of a nursing team. Their goal was to assess techniques and training levels for different types of basic care. This included BLS techniques like CPR education and stop the bleed programs and tourniquet use.
Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Dan Zehner from NHERI rejoins us for today’s episode. The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, NHERI, is a shared-use network funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation. They conduct studies of natural hazards and their effects on manmade infrastructure elements to determine safer and more resilient construction methods and materials.
NHERI 3rd Five Year Science Plan
NFPA Preparing Homes and Property for Wildfire Risks
Dan chats with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis about the current projects the NHERI centers are using to learn how to build safer and stronger homes and businesses. we talk about research into wildfire resilience especially in the wildfire urban interface. We also have our disaster meteorologist Dan DePodwin to share some of the unique climatically relevant facts on how natural disasters are becoming more prevalent.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Our Meteorologist Dan Depodwin joins Dr. Joe Holley and our cohosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis on this episode. The team looks at the early major hurricane named Beryl that caused a revision of the current seasonal hurricane forecast to reflect an even more active season this year.
We talk about preparedness in the face of increased severe weather. We also look at the causes of rapid tropical cyclone intensification and the overall outlook in the future as ocean water temperatures continue to rise. Expect a longer and stronger hurricane season with more intense and stronger storms moving forward.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
This episode Dr. Genie Burnett joins us to discuss mental health for first responders dealing with trauma. Genie has had the dream that one day, everyone would have access to resources that would help improve your mental health. This program has been in development since 2018. Because of her RIM technology partners, it has become a reality.
Whether it’s simple or complex trauma, PTSD is insidious. Caretakers just keep pressing forward because they believe they can’t afford to be broken because they have to take care of others. This belief often compounds many small traumatic events until a breaking point is reached.
She founded the ResilienceInMind.org website for first responders. Genie talks about the why of our brain’s response to our stress acts a certain way. This includes dissociation disorders where our minds check out to protect us from trauma. The website is linked below and contains numerous resources for everyone to access whenever they need.
On the show this week are also co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
In this episode Dr. Joe returns from several weeks of travel for education and conferences around disaster and emergency medical care. We also discussed the increased activity in the tropics with the first tropical storm of the year on the Atlantic side and two more systems under scrutiny for possible development. There’s also a look at the extreme heat affecting much of the nation and the severe fire hazards in the New Mexico region.
Joe also talks about his experience teaching the USAR Medical Specialist Course to physicians and paramedics learning to handle austere care in the USAR environment. Then Joe transitions to talking about his trip to the EAGLES EMS conference to meet with other EMS and ER docs and discuss what’s on the horizon for patient care.
On the show this week are also co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Disaster Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin goes through the necessary steps for a family prepping for hurricane season. The U.S. National Weather Service has a collection of preparedness pages for hurricanes including before, during, and after the weather event hits. Below are a few great resources to use when creating your family plan.
Ready.gov Hurricane Preparedness Site
On the show this week joining co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis were meteorologist Dan DePodwin and disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
In this week’s episode, we touch on several tornado outbreaks in sections of the U.S. The alerts included a Tornado Warning in co-host Jamie Davis’ home location. Emergency Disaster Management expert Becky DePodwin shares with us how the FEMA wireless emergency alert system is activated and who is in charge of it.
The text of the severe weather alert co-host Jamie Davis received (edited for privacy):
- At 1024 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a
tornado was located over Rock Springs, or 10 miles north of Havre
De Grace, moving east at 15 mph.HAZARD…Tornado.
SOURCE…Radar indicated rotation.
IMPACT…For those in the direct path of a tornado touchdown,
flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without
shelter. Damage to roofs, siding, and windows may occur.
Mobile homes may be damaged or destroyed. Tree damage is
likely.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest
floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a
mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter
and protect yourself from flying debris.
On the show this week joining co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis were meteorologist Dan DePodwin and disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
When weather attacks or seems to do so, it can be difficult to gather response in a timely fashion. In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we chat with meteorologist Dan DePodwin and disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin about recent severe weather impacts that caused more than two dozen deaths in the U.S.
May was a very active tornado month across the U.S. with many communities struck by severe storms. We talk about responder preparedness and the readiness of responder families as well as general community resilience.
Dan also discusses the recent severe turbulence event that struck a Singapore Airlines flight causing numerous injuries and one death in flight.
Dozens of actors played the roles of the patients strewn around. Two of the mock-patients included our show regulars Becky and Dan DePodwin. Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Photo Credit Becky DePodwinIn April, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority conducted a mandatory mass casualty disaster drill. The location was Dulles International Airport in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. These exercises are supposed to be held every three years.
Dozens of actors played the roles of the patients strewn around. Two of the mock-patients included our show regulars Becky and Dan DePodwin. Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
On the call this week were Dr. Joe Holley, Dan and Becky DePodwin, Kyle Nelson, and Sam Bradley with co-host Jamie Davis. The team started off talking about recent active extreme weather patterns in the United States Midwest. This included tornadoes associated with several lines of extreme thunderstorms.
Then we bring in Kyle Nelson to talk about responder education and our needs to continue to increase and bolster our skill sets through training opportunities. Local and state responders are increasingly called on to be proficient in communications and collaboration with other teams including Federal or even international teams who respond to local needs.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Dr. Matthew Smith joins the show tonight to talk about WMD response and the management of pediatric patients exposed to chemical, biological, or radiological agents. Matt is a former US Navy Medical Corps Lieutenant Commander, and served with the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, where he qualified as a weapons of mass destruction medical specialist. He got the opportunity to go to USAMRIID, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Oak Ridge, and many other places to train for that responsibility. Time after time, he saw that the most overlooked patients in preparing and training for those scenarios are children.
Cladis Medical provides time and research proven approach to providing care for pediatric patients in these unique and challenging situations. By using a color coded tape-based approach similar to the familiar Broslow method, he allows any provider to quickly and easily discern the appropriate treatments and dosing for our younger patients.
Dr. Joe Holley joined us on the episode and was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
We start off the discussion of recent active weather patterns across the U.S. with cold rain and snow in California, windy red flag fire warnings across the plains, tornados from Oklahoma up through the Ohio Valley, and an extremely wet start of the month of April on the east coast and mid-Atlantic region.
We also touch on the recent earthquake in Taiwan which was the worst they had in the past 25 years. We remarked on the amazing pictures of leaning buildings that did not completely collapse. Becky DePodwin, our emergency management expert, made note that after the last bad quake, local building codes were upgraded which may have had an impact on survivability of the quake.
Finally, we jump into an in depth look at what goes into a long range hurricane forecast. With such a distant outlook, how do forecasters make their decisions about the whole season this far ahead of time. Our meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, joins us to share his expertise about distant forecasting.
Both AccuWeather and the Colorado State University forecasts agree we should expect a very active season for 2024. Both predict 23-25 named storms, 8-12 hurricanes, and 4-8 major hurricanes with 4-6 direct landfall in the U.S.
The episode was co-hosted by Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
On the Disaster Podcast this week, co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis are joined by disaster emergency management expert Becky DePodwin to look at the upcoming Hurricane Season Forecast. Accuweather released their predictions for the 2024 hurricane season, set to officially begin on June first.
Accuweather experts described what they termed as an “explosive” season of up to thirty named storms and four to six major hurricanes landfalls in the United States. This is far above the average number of storms in a normal tropical cyclone season in the Atlantic Ocean basin.
The team then shifted gears to discuss the recent boat collision with a major highway bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. We talk about the response from local rescue teams and the coordination seen between local, state, and federal resources.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
We welcome meteorologist and disaster incident command system expert Kyle Nelson on the show. He checks in from Florida where he’s traveling to a training event to help him in his roles with his county incident command system, especially when they deploy to other states during distant events.
Then we check in with Dr. Joe Holley about his upcoming training events with Paragon Medical Education Group. He reviews training he’s conducting around the country for various jurisdictions, including the U.S. military.
In addition to our guest this week, we had co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Dr. Joe Holley examines some of the key take aways from the verdict against two EMS providers in the Elijah McClain homicide trial. The team goes over lessons that can be learned from this case.
This tragic situation, which resulted in the death of the patient, offers opportunities for all EMS and other medical professional to learn from what occurred. Key challenges start with how protocols are written and how providers are expected to handle situations where patient care is being assumed from police officers.
Check out the additional resources below including an earlier episode of this podcast where we briefly touched on this case.
EMS1.com article on Provider Liability
Attorney/Paramedic Doug Wolfberg webinar on verdict outcome (requires sign up for free Prodigy account)
In addition to our guest this week, we had meteorologist and disaster social media educator Kyle Nelson, along with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
This week features a rare follow-up episode where we looked back at last week’s episode on Geohazard Mitigation with Colby Barrett from GeoStabilization International. This week we brought back Dan Zehner from The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI).
Dan talks about some of the ways NHERI centers research aspects of geohazards and natural disasters that cause them. We talk about public-private partnerships that impact response to disasters and change zoning and building codes in areas likely to be impacted by geohazards.
NHERI has some great media partnerships and events coming up:
NHERI on PBS with Home Diagnosis TV season 3
The NHERI Summit coming up at the University of Maryland in May 2024
In addition to our guest this week, we had co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
Colby Barrett is our guest this week on the Disaster Podcast. He is the son of the one of the founders of GeoStabilization International and currently is the vice chair of the Board of Directors for the company. He’s a Marine Corps veteran, lawyer, engineer, and describes himself as a philanthro-capitalist.
The company focuses on bringing new technologies to the critical infrastructure and geohazard repair industries. They work to remediate landslides with technology they’ve developed to mitigate future land and rockslides. They are the leading geohazard mitigation company in North America.
One technology they developed is called the Soil Nail Launcher. It fires a twenty-foot-long “nail” into hillsides to stabilize areas of potential rock and landslides.
In addition to our guest this week, we all were joined by regular team members Becky DePodwin and Dan DePodwin, as well as co-hosts, Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
This week on the Disaster Podcast it’s time to discuss recent wintery weather trends. That also means it’s time to stump our meteorologist, Dan DePodwin. The wintery weather terms we try out on him include freezing fog, polar vortex, graupel, hoar frost, frost flower (ice ribbons or frost beards), and rime ice.
We shift gears and continue talking with Kevin Reiter about ways to stay prepared for wintery weather as a traveler. We discuss what to carry in the car or van when making long trips in the winter time.
Also on the show are preparedness expert Kevin Reiter, emergency management expert Becky DePodwin, Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group, along with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
This week Dr. Joe Holley drops in after attending the NAEMSP (National Association of EMS Physicians) annual meeting in Austin, Texas. The leadership of our EMS docs discussed a multitude of important topics for the prehospital care environment. Here is one of the topics Dr. Joe shared on this week’s Disaster Podcast.
One of the hot topics revolved around the verdict in the Elijah McClain homicide trial. In that trial, two paramedics were found guilty in the death of the individual while he was in police custody. Dr. Joe talks about how EMS providers must make their own independent assessments regarding patient care, treatment, and disposition or transport regardless of what police want EMS providers to do.
EMS1.com article on Provider Liability
Attorney/Paramedic Doug Wolfberg webinar on verdict outcome (requires sign up for free Prodigy account)
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
We invite Robert LeHeup on the Disaster Podcast this week to talk about his nonprofit initiative for veterans called Bullets and Bandaids. Bullets and Bandaids uses art therapy to assist veterans deal with trauma from their experiences in the military.
The group connects authors with writers and artists who take the veteran’s story and transform it into written and physical forms of art. This helps a person express themselves in ways that may not come naturally to them as an individual.
The group accepts contact from all artists including:
- Writers
- Interpretive Dancers
- Sculptors
- Painters
- Digital Artists
Bullets and Bandaids submission guidelines can be found here.
Thank you as always to Paragon Medical Education Group for their long-term support of the Disaster Podcast. Dr. Joe Holley and the team at Paragon continue to provide excellent and customized disaster response training to jurisdictions around the U.S. and internationally as well.
We kick off the 11th year of the Disaster Podcast with a look at the winter weather patterns for the coming year of 2024. Meteorologist, Dan DePodwin, joins us to share his expertise. We then shift gears a little to talk about winter weather preparedness needs.
The whole team of regulars at the Disaster Podcast wrapped up year number ten with the podcast. We take a look back at a decade of episodes with our Meteorologists Kyle Nelson and Dan DePodwin, Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin, and co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis. They all share their favorite episodes over their time with the show to cap many years with the crew.
The podcast team got together with our picks from the last year's episodes as we wrap up the podcast's year. There was a general consensus on the best episode. The whole group chose the Mark Dickey Cave Rescue Episode as one of their favorites.
Dr. Joe Holley joins us for a clinical episode on Crush Syndrome and injury. The issue represents a broad spectrum of situations affecting the body. The disease process can be from becoming trapped in a collapsed structure or something as simple as passing out or becoming immobilized to lay on a hard surface for a significant period of time.
Jason Friesen from TrekMedics International joins us again on the Disaster Podcast. He is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization. He recently sent out an update to those who support the organization about their Beacon software for first responders.
Mark Dickey, an experienced caver and cave rescue expert and trainer, became a patient during a recent cave expedition in Turkey. The Morca Cave is one of the deepest in Europe, going over a thousand meters below the surface. While near the camp deep inside the cave system at approximately one thousand meters of depth, He began experiencing gastrointestinal distress symptoms that were ultimately determined to be an internal GI bleed.
In the aftermath of the Maui wildfire disaster that struck the state of Hawaii, Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) comes on the show. Dan shares with us the post-disaster lessons learned by looking at the effect of the fires on community and residential infrastructure.
Meteorologist and disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin joined us for a special early episode this week. We wanted to get out with a discussion on preparations for the inbound Hurricane Idalia to hit the west coast of Florida. Becky covers the expected storm track and weather-related impacts predicted for the coming 24-48 hours in Florida as well as up into Georgia and the Carolinas.
Douglas Stockham from the Emergency Assistance Foundation (EAF) joined us this week on the Disaster Podcast. EAF is a U.S.-based, public non-profit administering employer-sponsored disaster and hardship relief funds worldwide.
A line of storms with high-winds and severe weather warnings struck sections of the mid-Atlantic states earlier this week. One of the places struck with some remarkable damage was the home town of host Jamie Davis. Straight line winds of hurricane strength toppled more than a quarter mile of wooden power line poles along a major roadway in Westminster, Maryland.
Dr. Joe Holley joins us on the show this week to share some clinical information with the podcast. He starts off with an update on recent Paragon Medical Group training programs around the country. Then we shift gears into some information on epidemiology issues around the country.
Kelly Grayson is a paramedic's paramedic. He's passionate, educated, caring, and so much more. He's also a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction. Many remember the release of his first memoir of his paramedic career, En Route: A Paramedic's Stories of Life, Death and Everything In Between.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we talk about advances in heads-up CPR. Dr. Joe Holley joins us for a clinical episode this week and we engage in a discussion about the latest in research around cardiac arrest management.
Kyle Nelson joined the team again this week to talk about weather hazards and health risks associated with them. The U.S. has been struck by a wave of severe weather over the last few weeks including severe storms, tornadoes, and extreme heat waves. Kyle breaks down the weather patterns at play.
In this episode, we invited Dan Zehner from NHERI back on the show to talk about the recent Dam breach in Ukraine. The resulting flooding has necessitated widespread rescue attempts, many of which took place in an active war zone. We talk about the integrity of Dams, the long term impacts of such an infrastructure failure, and environmental hazards that might be encountered.
Dr. Joe Holley has been deploying with FEMA as a member of a Federal USAR team from Tennessee for a long time. He recently counted up forty-three (43) USAR and other deployments to disasters in the United States and abroad. For the last ten years of that time, he's been part of the Disaster Podcast team reporting to the listeners from the field about his experiences.
Weather Radar On the RoadKevin Reiter, also known as the Broken Nomad (thebrokennomad.com), rejoins us this week to talk about his journey as a digital nomad on the road. We discuss his new van set up for traveling and working. We also chat about his preparedness planning, weather awareness, and general safety during his travels.
Check out Kevin’s YouTube Channel here.
Kevin on Instagram @thebrokennomadtx
Kevin’s Short Van Tour Video
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
We invited our favorite meteorologist couple back to the show to talk about severe weather and the emergency management of disasters associated with it. Becky and Dan DePodwin join us and talk about the recent spate of tornadoes and severe storms that tracked across the mid and deep south, extending into the mid-Atlantic region, too.
What is the best way to notify the public of oncoming risks associated with severe weather? The team discusses best practices for notification and how storms at night are of particular danger to people.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
This episode starts off with a Covid clinical update and a look at the fading of emergency measures across the country. As resources and free services are rolled back, some of the most at-risk individuals for ongoing COVID exposure no longer have access to many of the resources that helped them avoid and manage the disease before.
The discussion then turns to a look at USAR rescue from earthquakes including a description some specific rescues from the Northridge, California earthquake in 1994.
Tsunamis can follow earthquakes in a region or even from events in regions far away across the ocean. Water is very heavy and dense and can be the cause of specific and usually fatal water-related injuries. The aftermath of earthquakes and tsunamis leaves lots of hazards in a community. These can expose individuals to toxins and irritants on top of injuries from the original event.
FEMA Tsunami Preparedness Resource Page
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley along with Dr. Joe Holley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Yasmine S. Ali, an award-winning medical writer and native of Waverly, Tennessee. That town is the setting of her nonfiction book, WALK THROUGH FIRE: The Train Disaster That Changed America.
From Dr. Ali’s bio, we look at the way the book “examines how a single disaster in a rural town prompted the creation of FEMA and sweeping new regulations impacting transportation, training, and disaster management, still in use nationally and globally. This devastating disaster had widespread reactions and consequences.
It served as a catalyst for then-President Jimmy Carter to pass an executive order creating The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. It is impossible to imagine America without an organized disaster response agency, as today FEMA is a household name, managing large-scale manmade and natural crises ranging from hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, to preparedness training, public early warning systems, and even America’s Covid-19 response.”
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley along with Dr. Joe Holley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
Emergency Manager, Patrick Hardy, comes on the show tonight to talk about his new book about preparedness. Patrick is recognized as the nation’s top expert in disaster preparedness across multiple industries, is an active philanthropist for disaster preparedness programs, and is the author of Design Any Disaster: The Revolutionary Blueprint to Master Your Next Crisis or Emergency (BenBella Books; March 7).
Design Any Disaster is not a survival manual but a critically important guide for all readers, a revolutionary approach to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery for families and small businesses that can be used whether you live in the middle of a big city, in a quiet suburban neighborhood, or in a rural county with more cows than people.
As meteorologist Cheryl Nelson says of the book, “Design Any Disaster is a must-read for people of all walks of life, a book that will open your mind and allow you to take control of your own fate.”
Using Hardy’s proven “3Cs” method (Command, Communicate, and Carry-out), readers will learn how to:
- Create an easy-to-use disaster plan for a family or business
- Transform yourself from a bystander to a leader in seconds
- Evacuate, shelter-in-place, and lockdown safely and effectively
- Recover quickly, getting your life back to normal in just a few weeks
- Reverse disaster, using the disaster as an opportunity to positively change your life
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley along with Dr. Joe Holley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
What the disaster response community needs is a place to gather and share best practices, look at new technologies and techniques, and network with other responders and emergency managers. Enter the Natural Disasters Expo (naturaldisastersshow.com). Today Luke Tripconey, Event Director for The Natural Disasters Expo, stops by the podcast. Luke says he is passionate about helping bring suppliers, buyers, educational people, resources, and essential networking all together in one place. We talk with him about the upcoming expo in Miami as well as the others around the world (Anaheim, California; Frankfurt, Germany; and Singapore).
Natural Disasters Expo Miami is returning to the Miami Beach Convention Center on March 1st & 2nd, welcoming experts from around the world to present the latest revolutionary solutions for the management and mitigation of disasters. This event will be the ultimate destination for disaster preparation specialists and emergency response professionals to source all of the newest disaster-related products and services, maximize recovery methods and discover new ways to achieve community outreach and preparedness.
The event is divided into 4 zones – Heat & Fire, Earthquake, Flood and Storm. It is set to bring together over 300 leading companies showcasing the latest products and developments in the management and mitigation of disasters, environment and technology advancement. With thousands delegates across the Government Bodies/Agencies, Public Services, NGOs, first- responders, emergency service agencies, disaster management organisations and foundations. The show also hosts an expansive keynote speaking programme, with industry leaders and professionals sharing their insights and experience on emergency preparedness and mitigation of disasters.
There are still limited tickets available so visit their website www.ndemiami.com to register today and make sure you attend the must-attend event of the year! As a Disaster Podcast listener, you get in free. Use the code FREE100 to get a free VIP expo ticket to take in the event.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley along with Dr. Joe Holley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) joins us to talk about the initial structural engineering look at the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. As soon as the earthquake struck and the extent of the structural failures became evident, members of NHERI and their international colleagues started examining all available data to understand why the buildings failed.
Two early documents came out of China, examining the construction of collapsed buildings and comparing the quakes’ effects on existing resistant infrastructure standards.
Beijing Turkey Earthquake Report 1
Beijing Turkey Earthquake Report 2
Early GEER Report from NHERI
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
When disasters strike, technology can help disaster teams leverage expertise at a distance to manage survivors and patients. On today’s podcast we have Dr. Erika Havelka, with IDMC and Dr. Jarone Lee with Health Tech Without Borders.
Dr. Havelka is and emergency medicine physician as well as a disaster response volunteer with IDMC, where she serves as Chief of International Operations. Her most recent efforts involve organizing mobile telemedicine clinics in Ukraine.
Dr. Lee is with Health Tech without borders. He’s an emergency medicine and ICU doctor in Boston, Massachusetts. He is active with MA-1 DMAT team. He is also one of the cofounders of Health Tech Without Borders.
National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Project is a federal program that provided ICU expert advice via telehealth to community hospitals without critical care and ICU beds during the pandemic.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley, along with Dr. Joe Holley and our emergency management meteorologists Dan and Becky DePodwin.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
Our guest this week is Greg Scott. He’s a paramedic and registered nurse with a background in emergency management and preparedness. Greg’s expertise is in building teams of volunteers for disaster response. First teams must decide what type of teams, roles, and disasters for which to prepare.
The basic requirements for a disaster team member include determining if a person will fit in a front line response role, operational support role, or even financial and logistics role. Volunteers bring all sorts of life and work skills to the IDMC organization.
On the Federal side of disaster response, the process of picking up team members involves a lot more bureaucratic hurdles to overcome. First positional needs are identified and then the search goes into finding the people who already have at least some of the skills needed for the job. Federal team members also need support and logistical crews, people Dr. Joe Holley calls “non-clinical” team members.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
With steady streams of snowfall coming into the rocky mountains, that also means more risk for avalanche in the back country recreation areas for skiers and other participants of winter sports activities. We have meteorologist and ski patrol member Kyle Nelson on the show today to talk about the weather patterns across the country. He also shares his expertise with avalanche management and rescue with the podcast listeners.
Avalanche safety page from National Weather Service
Thousands of avalanches occur each winter in the mountains of Colorado. With the enormous popularity of winter sports in Colorado, this poses a risk to skiers, snowboarders, hikers and snowmobilers. On average, 6 people die in avalanches in the state of Colorado every year. Anyone who travels into the high country in the winter should be prepared for avalanches and know how to avoid them.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
When Codi Foxworthy became an EMT and Firefighter, she never thought she would someday rely on rescuers to save her life. This week on the Disaster Podcast we talk with Codi about her accident and the spine injury that took her from first responder to patient in an instant.
Codi shares her experiences as a patient and her struggles to be seen and heard by her medical providers since the accident. As a person with a permanent injury, she has to rely on medical professionals and first responders regularly. We talk about the importance of listening to our patients and really hearing what they’re trying to tell us about their conditions and feelings. We can all do better.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley with Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
We were able to gather our team meteorologists back for this special pre-holiday epsiode of the Disaster Podcast. Meteorologists Kyle Nelson, Dan DePodwin, and Becky DePodwin rejoin the show to talk about the epic storm hitting parts of the country this week. It’ll bring deep, biting cold to many parts of the country, including the southern states along the gulf coast.
Dr. Joe Holley is on to talk about the clinical aspects of disastrous cold weather striking areas that aren’t used to dealing with it. He talks about frost bite as well as peripheral injuries and illness associated with people trying alternative means to keep warm.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley with Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
We chatted with Dr. Riley Jones from Med Global (MedGlobal.org) who has been assisting with getting needed medical supplies and assistance to Doctors and Nurses in Ukrainian hospitals. He recently identified a great need for warm undergarments for health professionals as hospitals there are losing power and the ability to generate heat during patient care.
If you want to donate funds towards purchasing new thermal underwear for providers and healthcare workers in Ukraine, contact cohost Sam Bradley at sbradley@idmc.us.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley with Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
In this episode we talk with Dan Francis from D911.org. This is an organization that created a mobile app to connect individuals on the ground after a disaster with the services and resources they need the most. From the D911 site:
The core operation of D911 is a mobile app that brings together the immediate citizen response, private business resources, and responding organizations in one place so that they can be quickly accessed and deployed when needed. With D911, survivors will have access to the help they need right when they need it most.
Dan details the beginnings of the organization during one devastating hurricane disaster. He also talks about how the app came to be and how it was used most recently during the hurricane response in Florida earlier this year.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley with Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
Dr. Joe Holley joins us for a clinical episode this week. We will look at the triage, management, and protection needed for patients in nuclear emergencies. Dr. Joe references training resources from FEMA and the CDC for clinicians.
Radiological Emergency Preparedness
Radiation Emergencies from the CDC
This topic came up as a result of a talk recently with Dr. Kasia Hampton on the show. Doctors, nurses, and others in Ukraine are increasingly worried about nuclear weapons use in the war with Russia. They asked Kasia for specific training resources on nuclear weapons and the patients they might see from such a disaster.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
In this episode we take a look at the DMAT deployment following Hurricane Ian in Florida. Gary Christmann from IDMC comes on the show to talk about Disaster Medical Aid Team (DMAT) and how it deploys. Then he shifts gears to join the show with nurse Alicia Bean. Alicia has worked as a registered nurse in several departments throughout the Chicagoland area ranging from ICU, PACU, Cardiac Cath lab to pediatric units.
The majority of her career has been in the Emergency department. Working along side Emergency medicine physicians, nurses, paramedics, and administration has given her a passion for all aspects of the emergency medical field.
Recently she has been privileged enough to join the International Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) team and the MedGlobal team in Ukraine. Alicia was privileged to work alongside the amazing STMI team in Ukraine and assess and train some of the extraordinary medical staff from Ukraine helping to broaden their knowledge in emergent and trauma care.
This episode is hosted by Jamie Davis and Sam Bradley.
Paragon Brings “The Experience”Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.
Dr. Joe Holley joins us on the show tonight following his recent travels helping with the Hurricane Ian response and also a quick visit to EMS World Expo. He shares his experiences with the search and rescue efforts following the storm, including all the rescue dogs who helped with the search teams.
Today on the show we have EMS physician Dr. Kasia Hampton back after her medical tour in Ukraine to assist doctors and facilities there. Dr. Hampton studied medical school in Belgium before moving to the U.S. for her medical training in emergency medicine and pediatric medicine. She worked in the U.S. Army for five years as a civil service physician before moving to St. Louis in June 2021, where she worked an EMS fellow with Washington University.
Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) comes back on the show to bring us the preliminary StEER data collected during and after Hurricane Ian. StEER (Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance) is a crowd-sourced network of public and private individuals who go into areas following disasters and track damage caused by the event to structures and infrastructure.
With Hurricane Ian setting up to have a major impact on the central Gulf Coast of Florida, the Disaster Podcast team got together to talk about potential impacts and preparedness efforts. We were lucky to get disaster and emergency management meteorologist, Melissa Sizemore to come on this episode to share her broad expertise in weather, disaster messaging, and public information.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast we look at managing mental health patients in the disaster situation. Emergency situations by their very nature bring on additional stress that can overwhelm a person without mental health issues. When a person with an existing behavioral condition confronts a disaster situation, they can quickly become unable to manage their illness.
In this episode, we look at the potential risks of solar flares or coronal ejections on electrical infrastructure. Our disaster meteorologists Dan and Becky DePodwin join us to talk about space weather prediction and some of the unique challenges posed by this little-known aspect of the national weather infrastructure.
Dr. Joe Holley was deployed with Tennessee Task Force One USAR team as part of the Federal FEMA response teams helping state and local resources in search and rescue efforts in Kentucky. Now Dr. Joe comes on the show to discuss his experiences with this particular response and the aftermath for responders as they return home from the deployment.
Dr. Joe Holley has been deployed with Tennessee Task Force One USAR team as part of the Federal FEMA response teams helping state and local resources in search and rescue efforts in Kentucky for over a week and a half. He checks in with us from the field to give us an update on what his teams are seeing and how the deployment is progressing.
Static weather fronts are dumping double-digit inches of rain on parts of the South-Western and Mid-Western United States. Kentucky in particular has been severely affected with a major state disaster declaration in place and Federal FEMA response teams on the way to bolster state and local resources in search and rescue efforts as the rain continues to fall.
Dan Chapman joins us from the U.K. on this episode. He's an emergency management planner over there and comes on the show to discuss how they're handling the messaging around the recent heat emergency they dealt with.
This week on the show, we talk about recent weather impacts across the U.S. and the unique preparedness challenges they present. From record heat waves impacting already historic drought conditions in the Western U.S. to record floods and rainfall in parts of the Eastern U.S., all people are facing some sort of weather related challenge. Even parts of Europe are facing record setting heat waves.
We tackle a difficult topic on the Disaster Podcast this week. We look at the challenges associated with gun violence and mass shooter event prevention. Guest Gary Christmann comes on to talk about the issues around stress for first responders after such events.
In today's episode we bring the Disaster Podcast regulars together to talk about preparing for summer disasters and heat related injury and illnesses associated with this time of year.
Gary Christmann has over 28 years of paid and volunteer experience in several areas within emergency services. He worked for the St Louis Emergency Management Agency for 18 years within the Department of Public Safety. Mr Christmann was the Deputy Commander of the Missouri Disaster Response System (MoDRS). Currently he is the Lead Deputy Commander of the State MO-1 DMAT/DMORT and a board member for the Interstate Disaster Medical Cooperative (IDMC). So, what does a guy like this do for fun? He’s s storm chaser!
This week on the show we bring you Jason Friesen from TrekMedics.org. Trek Medics International is a 501c3-registered nonprofit organization dedicated to improving emergency medical systems in communities without reliable access to emergency care. They make their services available to all communities, regardless of race, religion or creed.
Adam Midden is a financial crimes expert working to stop human trafficking. He comes on the show to talk about trafficking around disaster situations and what human trafficking victims might look like when encountered by first responders.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we invited author John Enright to join us. John has been involved in humanitarian relief missions since soon after the fall of the Soviet Union. He's been engaged in all levels of the process from procurement, to implementation, to on-site delivery. He's even driven some of the trucks himself.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, we asked Dr. Joe Holley to come on the show and give us a review of managing and treating blast injuries. Whether it's from a wartime situation, terrorist act, or residential gas explosion, there are some things every medical professional should keep in mind about the nature of injuries from explosions.
Kimberly Holley, wife of show regular and sponsor, Dr. Joe Holley, comes on the show to talk about her recent trip to Alaska to train her USAR dog on cold weather USAR. She talks about some of the lessons learned and how a team from temperate Tennessee fared in the cold of Alaska.
Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) joins us to talk about new programs and research around wind damage to structures. We talk about the recent shift in deadly tornadoes to the U.S. South from the midwest.
Dr. Joe Holley recounts his recent trip to a USAR FEMA training center in California. The evolutions and scenarios presented the attendees, both educators and students, with a variety of very difficult and unique situations. Joe talks candidly about how strange disaster response is when compared to so-called "typical" EMS and Fire responses in a community.
This week we interview two people involved in organizing a medical mission to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland and across the border in Ukraine itself. Our guests include Dr. Kasia Hampton and Paramedic Tim Conley. Hampton studied medical school in Belgium before moving to the U.S. for her medical training in emergency medicine and pediatric medicine.
We return this week to cover a topic we hit every year at this time. Ski Patroler and meteorologist Kyle Nelson joins us to talk about the behind-the-scenes event planning for the Winter XGames in Aspen, Colorado. Kyle is part of the medical response and planning team on the hill where both the athletes and spectators are watched for injuries or illness.
We add another clinical topic to our podcast episode this week. Dr. Joe Holley joins us to talk about smoke inhalation injuries. He points out that these sorts of injuries increase during the winter months as more people use combustion sources to heat their homes and apartments.
As responders are deployed for disasters near and far, how do their families react and manage the departure of their loved ones? We dig into the effects of disasters on the families of first responders. What does family preparedness for deployment look like and what is the family's role in helping manage the aftermath of stress on responders.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast we look at the clinical issue of altitude illness. To cover this we have Dr. Joe Holley and mountain rescue and ski patrol specialist, Kyle Nelson. We look at the various signs and symptoms, potential for long term effects, treatments and more.
Dr. Joe Holley from Paragon Medical Education Group is featured in today's episode. He talks about his recent trip to the NAEMSP (National Association of EMS Physicians) conference in southern California. During the conference they focused on building more understanding between prehospital and hospital medical professionals. What do people in the hospital need to know about how first responders do their jobs and manage disaster situations.
Dan and Becky DePodwin drop by to share their meteorological expertise with the Disaster Podcast team. Becky talks about the recent wildfire in Colorado that devastated multiple communities and destroyed over 1,000 homes. Dan looks at the multiple winter storms that swept across the country and ended up stranding thousands of motorists on a major highway for over 24 hours.
Dr. Joe Holley and meteorologist Kyle Nelson join our regular co-hosts, Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis on today end-of-the-year episode. We take some time to look back at our favorite episodes and guests from the previous year. We also look forward to 2022 and what we want to cover more in the new year.
Recent storms and tornadoes struck five states with loss of life and severe structural and infrastructure damage. Our Disaster Podcast team discussed it in our weather predictions for the coming week in the episode previous to this one.
Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) comes on the show with a fascinating update of what these eleven institutions are up to with disaster infrastructure studies. We also had Dan DePodwin and Becky DePodwin join us to chat about weather impacts in the coming week here in the U.S. including winter storms and severe weather warnings.
Wilderness Search and Rescue educator, Moose Mutlow, joins the Disaster Podcast team for this week's episode. Just the beginning of his bio at MooseMutlow.com says: Moose has over 30 years of traditional and alternative education experience around the globe.
Jason Friesen, MPH, EMT-P from TrekMedics.org joins disaster podcast co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis on today's episode. Jason stops by to share an update of his organization's innovative mobile phone software and how it continues to help people around the world provide emergency services to their communities without 1st world infrastructure.
Today on the Disaster Podcast, we invited Dan McGuire from CISM Perspectives to come by the show and talk about Stress and the Holiday Season for First Responders. He talks about the importance of understanding the increased expectations most people have surrounding the holidays and how living up to those expectations and traditions can be difficult.
The topic for today's show is winter weather preparedness. We talk with our meteorologists about how the weather is turning colder and still shows active severe weather patterns across the U.S. We discuss how weather even affects health and wellness in unusual ways with Dr. Joe Holley.
In this episode, the Disaster Podcast team gets together to discuss the triaging and management of patients in an active shooter situation. Part of the discussion turns to the recent attack with a bow and arrow in Norway that killed five people.
Today on the show, we have Chris Hector, Administrative Director for Louisiana Response Network, and Tim Conley, Mission Leader for Response Systems, Inc. They come on the show to discuss how local, state, and federal response teams managed keeping emergency services like ambulances and hospital ERs open.
Retired L.A. County Sheriff's Office Detective Danny R Smith joins Disaster Podcast co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis on this episode. The three of them talk about police response to disaster situations and how they work alongside other first responders to ensure community safety and recovery.
In this episode of the Disaster Podcast, Dr. Joe Holley comes on the show to drop in with a clinical review of Crush Syndrome. Disaster Meteorologist Kyle Nelson stops by, too, and discusses recent severe weather events and the activity in the tropics.
After Hurricane Ida pummeled the gulf coast of Louisiana, it tracked north east across the United States until it passed over the mid-atlantic and northeastern states. It caused record rainfall in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York bringing life threatening flash-flooding to areas ill-prepared for the sudden inundation.
The eye of Hurricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana earlier this afternoon CST (Sunday August 29, 2021). The Disaster Podcast Team pulls together our weather and emergency preparedness experts (Dan and Becky DePodwin respectively) to give their impressions of impacts on the ground as Ida continues moving northward towards the Mississippi/Louisiana border.
Meteorologist Kyle Nelson joins the Disaster Podcast team this week to give a preview of suspected impacts from Hurricane Ida on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. He also talked about the recent Tennessee flooding events that caused numerous deaths and millions in damage to property. All of these events point to an increase in severe weather events predicted as the volatility of climate change continues to have widespread impacts.
This week we look at the response in Haiti to the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake there. They've endured a triple threat in their disaster response as they are not only dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. They also have endured the passing Tropical Storms Fred and Grace, along with increasing COVID infections among the population.
Dr. Joe Holley kicks off the episode with a COVID update focusing on the Delta Variant and its impacts on patients across the country and around the world. He also expresses worry about healthcare professionals and hospital staff in the face increasing patient loads and lack of resources to treat them. He urges the need to get people vaccinated to lessen the load on the healthcare system.
Dr. Joe Holley returns to the podcast with another Surfside, Florida condo collapse update. He was working there as part of the Federal Incident Support Team (IST). He talks about the extremely dangerous nature of this particular rescue effort and the overall wellness of the USAR teams working there and reiterates the extremely difficult technical nature of this rescue and recovery effort.
Dr. Joe Holley joins the podcast live from Surfside, Florida where he is working on the rescue efforts as part of the Federal Incident Support Team (IST). He talks about the extremely dangerous nature of this particular rescue effort and the overall wellness of the USAR teams working there.
Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Scott Decker joins the Disaster Podcast today to talk about his role leading the investigation into Anthrax attacks following 9/11 back in 2001. Scott led the FBI's bioterrorism investigation unit and has a lot to say about his team's investigation and the subsequent identification of a suspect.
Ellen Kirschman, a psychologist specializing in helping responders and their families deal with job stress, joins us today on the Disaster Podcast. Ellen is a member of the First Responder Support Network (FRSN.org).
Today on the show we have retired Washington D.C. Metro police officer, Joseph B. Haggerty, Sr. Joe is the author of the novels: Shame: The Story of a Pimp and An Ocean in the Desert Contributor to the PSWA anthology: Felons, Flames and Ambulance Rides Award winning poet, writer and lecturer on the sexual exploitation of women and children in prostitution and pornography.
Retired police officers and authors Chris Berg and Paul James Smith join the Disaster Podcast Team on this week's show. They share their experiences as police officers and how they responded to incidents and interacted with other first responders. Their books, The Night Police and The Bleeding are available at NightPolice.com.
Dr. James Brasiel from Accredited EMS Fire Training comes back to the show to help discuss the recent active shooter incident in San Jose, California. He teaches Tactical Combat Casualty Care ("T Triple-C") classes to combined Police/EMS/Fire teams, the military, and other groups involved in active response to these incidents.
In the main segment of this episode, we talk about COVID CDC mask guidance updates for vaccinated people. We discuss the ways this might change behaviors and what affects it […]
Frequent guest and friend of the Disaster Podcast, Kevin Writer, comes on the show to talk about his next adventure. He will be going on the road as a digital nomad. He'll be journaling his travels at the website - TheBrokenNomad.com.
We take a look at the upcoming predictions for the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season this week on the Disaster Podcast. Our meteorologists come on the show to discuss recent severe weather events and then touch on predictions and the methods used to make these long-range forecasts.
This week on the show we look at how new medical technologies might reach into the field including during disaster deployments. Critical care paramedics L.J. Relle and Cecil Fairchild come on the show to talk about how medical devices usually only seen in the hospital setting are moving into the street on EMS units to improve patient diagnostics and care.
On this episode we discuss the recent extreme weather and tornado activity occurring across the US South and Southeast. Meteorologists Becky and Dan DePodwin join us to talk about the weather causes leading to these powerful tornadoes and what we can expect in the coming months as the extreme weather continues.
In this episode, we bring on three former paramedics who all went on to be come not just physicians, but ER docs and military flight surgeons. Joining the podcast were Drs. Michael E. Wolf, M.D., M.S., Scott Kunkel, DO, NRP, FAAEM, and Dr. and active duty Captain Alan T. Flanigan.
Dan Maguire from CISM Perspectives comes on this weeks Disaster Podcast to talk about the issues faced by responders and healthcare workers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They face stress from line of duty deaths from the disease as well as the stress injury associated from the extreme measures taken to protect themselves while treating COVID patients.
Dan Zehner from NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) comes on the show to talk about some of the great things accomplished over NHERI's first five years. We discuss the various NHERI institutions around the country which specialize in specific disaster mitigation and research efforts.
We invited Dr. Samantha Montano, a climate and emergency management expert and author of the book, Disasterology, on the show. Her educational background includes a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Emergency Management from North Dakota State University. She is currently an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Meteorologist, Emergency Dispatcher, and Ski Patrol Member, Kyle Nelson, joins us to discuss Avalanches and risk management associated with them. He also touches on his work with the Winter X-Games in Aspen, Colorado this year and how they managed to stage the events amidst the COVID pandemic.
Dr. Norman Itkowitz, PhD joins us to discuss mental health resilience among first responders. Norman himself was a disaster survivor as a resident of New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina struck the city. He talks about how dealing with that event helped him in his practice talking to police and fire departments about stress injury disorders and how to deal with them.
Disaster Meteorologist and Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin is joined by her husband and fellow meteorologist, Dan DePodwin to talk about the continuing active winter weather pattern over the United States and Canada. They discuss the dipping arctic air causing record cold temperatures.
Disaster Meteorologist and Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin is joined by her husband and fellow meteorologist, Dan DePodwin to talk about the week of extreme disaster weather from across the […]
Disaster Meteorologist and Emergency Management expert Becky DePodwin came on the show to talk about a recent training class she took on community resilience in disaster planning. The LabX Extreme […]
Dr. Joe Holley returned recently from a training exercise for USAR teams to work out new training routines for disaster responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. They looked at ways to […]
Meteorologist Becky DePodwin, and co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis, got together for this episode to look back the many episodes covered over the previous year that was 2020 on […]
The Disaster Podcast team is joined by Yedidya Benavie, NREMT. He comes on the show to discuss different ways to approach preparedness drills. He specifically compares the school active shooter […]
Dr. Joe Holley comes on the show this week to talk about the hospital surge happening due to COVID-19 cases. He relates his experience in the ER in Memphis and […]
Meteorologist Dan DePodwin steps in to help us look at winter weather after his weekly look back at the last week. Sam Bradley tests his knowledge of weird winter weather […]
Dr. Joe Holley shares his expertise with the Disaster Podcast crew as we look at the realities of patient care in the midst of the current increase of COVID-19 cases […]
We invited psychologist Randy DuPont PhD. on the show this episode to talk about mental health wellness and awareness in the first responder and disaster response community. Randy is a […]
This episode looks at spikes in COVID-19 across the U.S. and its effects on EMS providers, hospital staff, and other medical responders. Dr. Joe Holley shares his expertise and experience […]
Meteorologist Tom Bedard joins our regular disaster weather expert Becky DePodwin to talk about their important work with AccuWeather providing weather event planning for large corporations. The discussion looks at […]