Emergency Management Australia Podcast

Our last episode of EMA Podcast for 2016 celebrates the winners of this year’s Resilient Australia Awards which we delivered with our friends at the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. We chat with this year’s national winner, the Sunshine Coast Council for their Disaster Hub project. We also sit down with the National Photography Award winner Karin Calvert for her portrait of Bob Jaecocke, a long time Queensland Fire and Rescue Service volunteer. Finally, we take an in-depth look at Anglesea Primary School in Victoria who together with the Victorian CFA, won the Resilient Australia National School Award.

#EMApodcast celebrates the first birthday of the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), launched last year to deliver a fresh approach to emergency management education, professional development and knowledge sharing for a disaster-resilient Australia. We talk to AIDR Director John Bates and the founding partners – AFAC, the Red Cross, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and the Attorney-General’s Department – about what they’ve achieved and what’s ahead. The Red Cross talks about their RediPlan, a useful preparedness guide for disasters. And how can a smoke alarm alert a deaf person? #EMApodcast talks to the ACT Fire and Rescue Service about some innovative solutions.

Human nature is to prepare for what you know. But from an emergency management point of view, what happens if we find ourselves dealing with a situation that's so much bigger than anything we've ever experienced or could have imagined? This is one of those questions the sector will continue to wrestle with as it pushes to stay on top of emerging risks and threats. But rather than reinventing the wheel, experts from across the globe are reaching out and learning from one another, to help their communities be more disaster resilient. Australia and the United States have just completed their first ever emergency management staff exchange – a critical part of both countries’ commitment to expand emergency management knowledge across the globe. In this episode we talk to Emergency Management Australia’s Rebecca Hosking about her time in the United States and learn what it’s like in one of the world’s biggest emergency management organisations. We also chat to emergency management veteran Bob Jensen about preparing for the unimaginable and how important it is to act on what you learn from these experiences.

Comprehensive evacuation planning can mean the difference between life and death when disasters hit. In this episode we explore the complexities and considerations of large-scale evacuation in the face of natural disasters. To get a better understanding of the operational evacuation elements, we speak to Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner, Craig Lapsley, about the December 2015 Wye River bushfires. Dr Sarah McCaffrey, a researcher with the United States Forest Service, then unpacks the social aspects of fire management, particularly risk perception and effective communication with communities. CEO of Emergency Media and Public Affairs, Peter Rekers, then discusses the importance of communication in emergency management planning and gives us a taste of what’s happening at this year’s Emergency Management Public Affairs conference. With the 2016 Resilient Australia Awards now open, we also speak to Ramana James from IAG to learn what’s happened with his company’s innovative project, since being recognised in last year’s awards.

Marine Rescue New South Wales has over 3,000 volunteers in 44 strategically-located units watching over the New South Wales’ most popular boating, fishing and cruising regions. In this episode, Kieran talks to Commissioner Stacey Tannos, about the great work the service provides to the community. The Resilient Australia Awards is a nation-wide program to recognise and promote initiatives that strengthen community disaster resilience. This year, St Ives North Public School won the 2017 Resilient Australia National School Award. In this episode, Simon talks to Barbara Ryan, the Assistant Principal of St. Ives North Public School, about the award-winning project.