Disaster Zone

Melanie Spring has over 18 years of experience in engineering, operations, continuous improvement, organizational change management, and business transformation, primarily in power and utilities. Having just moved to consulting, her focus is now on helping organizations grow and transform by adopting improved business processes and finding new ways of working, enabled by technology investments. In her time at a large public utility, Melanie held a number of storm positions in addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, including leading damage assessment, crew management, restoration strategy, and resource logistics. Melanie served as the Louisiana Incident Response Logistics Chief for her utility for several years, including the historic 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season in which five storms made landfall in Louisiana.
This episode is sponsored by Unearth. Unearth’s emergency response software connects field responders and the command center, equipping teams with mobile tools for rapid damage assessments, real-time incident tracking, and seamless information sharing. Empower field teams where their work actually happens - reducing response times, optimizing resource management, and simplifying reporting with a dynamic, map-based field operations platform.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

In this podcast we learn about the mission and functions of our nation’s most recently established Federal office. We also achieve a better understanding of the challenges that came with starting from scratch, hiring staff and supporting states and local jurisdictions on the subject areas of cybersecurity and critical infrastructure security. Pat Massey is the guest.
Mr. Massey has served as the Regional Director of the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Region 10 office in Seattle since 2016. Region 10 encompasses the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Prior to joining CISA, Mr. Massey served for twenty years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 10 office, including eight years as the Director, National Preparedness Division. He also served as the Regional Integration Branch Chief, Technological Hazards Branch Chief, and as a Hazard Mitigation Specialist. Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Massey served as the Assistant State Hazard Mitigation Officer with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and served as a Planner for a Regional Planning Commission in Illinois.
Merit is a first-of-its-kind, all-hazards, digital credentialing platform that equips emergency responders with innovative tools to securely manage their personnel on-site, no matter the situation. Merit's platform is relied on in mission-critical situations such as the Surfside building collapse and at secure Health and Human Service facilities and is trusted by a growing network of thousands of partners.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

In today’s podcast I have a conversation with Gordon Graham a nationally and internationally known speaker on the topic of risk and risk management. I have heard Gordon speak several times and he is very knowledgeable and engaging. Our discussion covers a multitude of topics from Black Swan events, disaster planning and how to write procedures among many others. You can review Gordon’s Reading List at the link provided. During the podcast he mentions two books in particular, Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why and then also Michele Wucker’s book, The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore If you want to listen to another Disaster Zone Podcast on risk, here’s a link to the one I did earlier this year with Michele Wucker, Personal and Organizational Risk Management.
This episode is sponsored by The Blue Cell, a by design crisis and consequence management consulting firm with a primary focus on education and training for government at all levels, non governmental agencies and private sector entities engaged in incident and emergency management activities.Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

The wildfire destruction in Maui has been difficult to watch. So many homes and businesses were destroyed, and lives lost. In order to respond to this event, here on this podcast I invited Sean Scott to come and share his expertise with disaster recovery. Sean is a second-generation restoration contractor and disaster recovery consultant who has spent over 44 years in the construction and fire restoration industry. Most of his experience has been involved in the rebuilding of well over 10,000 homes and businesses damaged by fires, floods, storms, and other natural or man-made disaster events. Sean has witnessed first-hand the struggles people go through to rebuild their lives and how daunting this process can be, especially for those who have lost their home or become displaced.
This became more evident in 2003 and again in 2007, when wildfires swept through Southern California destroying over 5,000 homes and damaging countless others. It was in the weeks and months following these events that he watched many survivors evolve into disaster victims as they didn't know what to do or where to turn for help. As a result, Sean embarked on a mission to write a simple easy-to-read disaster recovery road-map to walk survivors step-by-step through the recovery process and raise awareness of the many pitfalls that accompany post-disaster scenarios. In this podcast we do a quick dive into many aspects of disaster recovery that can trip people up as they try to reestablish their lives and livelihoods.
Since its release in 2009, Sean's book The Red Guide to Recovery - Resource Handbook for Disaster Survivors has been adopted by emergency management agencies, fire departments, Native tribes, relief organizations, and fortune 500 companies across the U.S.
This episode is sponsored by AshBritt, a national rapid-response emergency management and logistics company. Celebrating its 30th year, AshBritt has led response efforts following 60 federally declared disasters across 30 states and has conducted more than 400 missions, successfully serving over 600 clients. AshBritt is the trusted emergency management contractor for cities, counties, states and for federal agencies, including the Department of Defense where AshBritt holds a pre-position debris management contract which covers 25 U.S. states.
Eric Holdeman is a professional emergency manager who is passionate about providing information that can help families, businesses & governments become better prepared for disasters of all types. Hear first hand expert insights from Eric on his Podcast, Blog & EricHoldeman.com.

Technology is a driving force in public safety today. There are multiple challenges that come with considering which technologies should be adopted and fielded within an organization. Before that can happen, we need to collectively overcome self-imposed barriers to technology adoption, which is the subject of this Disaster Zone Podcast.
The podcast guest is Garry Briese who has had a distinguished career in the fire service. Only recently retiring in January 2025 as the Executive Director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs. Previously Garry served for 23 years as the Executive Director/CEO of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) in Washington DC and prior was the Executive Director/CEO of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians for 14 years.
Additionally, he was appointed as the Regional Administrator for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 8 of the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush. Prior to DHS/FEMA, he was Vice President, Emergency Management & Homeland Security for ICF International, a $1.5 billion NASDAQ-listed professional services corporation.
Today he serves as one of four independent directors on the corporate Board of Directors of WS Darley Company, a 116-year-old family-owned business founded in 1908. In 2024, Darley had more than $1 Billion in sales as an international pump & fire apparatus manufacturer & distributor for the military, fire and emergency services.
Garry has presented at conferences in Japan, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom and across the United States. He is a well-known speaker on leadership and followership and on future challenges for both the private and government sectors. He has broad experience in non-profit organizations and for-profit companies in local, state, national, federal, and international domains His visionary and forward-thinking leadership and accomplishments have been recognized by multiple international and national organizations.Please visit our sponsors!
L3Harris Technologies' BeOn PPT App. Learn more about this amazing product here: www.l3harris.com
Impulse: Bleeding Control Kits by professionals for professionals: www.dobermanemg.com/impulse
Doberman Emergency Management Group provides subject matter experts in planning and training: www.dobermanemg.com