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Upcoming Workshops
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O'Brien's Response Management has released its new 2010 Public Training
Schedule!
Click Here to see
our exciting new offerings!
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM O'BRIEN'SRM
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Doubtless no one
will feel badly about bidding 2009 farewell. The global financial
turndown has impacted us all. Let's hope that the signs of a
rebound are real and not just our wishful thinking. Regardless of the
financial situation, 2010 will be a year of challenges and
opportunities as we all work to move our businesses forward. As
the economy continues to improve we can all look forward to an increase
in activities. Let's all dedicate ourselves now for a safe
recovery in 2010.
But before we dive into 2010, let's take a few moments during this
holiday season to reflect on the peace, goodwill, health and prosperity
that we enjoyed in 2009 and the promise of the year ahead.
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All of us at O'Brien's Response Management wish you and
yours a joyful holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2010! We
look forward to serving you in the coming year.
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O'Brien's
Response Management Completes Acquisition of PIER Systems Inc.
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O'Brien's Response Management Inc.
(O'Brien'sRM) announced the acquisition of PIER Systems Inc. PIER
Systems is a crisis communications company that has developed the
PIER software application, an all-in-one web-based solution for
communications management, public relations, media monitoring, employee
notification, business continuity and more.
PIER provides a
single, easy to use web-based control panel facilitating communication
during routine events, minor incidents and major catastrophes affecting
employees, the public, investors, the media and other key stakeholders in
business affairs. PIER Systems also provides strategic services and
technical support including crisis communications planning, training,
exercises and implementation during a crisis or emergency
response. As many of us in the emergency management field
understand, all of these features and functions are critically important
at the time of an incident. Even the best operational response can
be perceived by stakeholders as having failed if crisis communications are
not effective. Of course, stakeholders can include elected
officials, agency representatives and communities.
Also, as you probably know, the need for effective
communication is addressed through the mandatory use of the National
Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System
(ICS). The critical components of ICS are the Public Information
Officer (PIO), the Liaison Officer (LO), and the Joint Information Center
(JIC). PIER Systems' professionals are experts in these required functions
of ICS and further enhance O'Brien'sRM complete response management
capability. In addition, PIER Systems' software significantly
increases the capability to effectively manage this important ICS
function and critical crisis communication. For everyone who understands
the critical communication needs at the time of a crisis (or better yet,
before the crisis), PIER is for you! For more information
contact Tim O'Leary at (281) 320-9796 or email toleary@obriensrm.com.
CLICK HERE for a demo of PIER Systems.
Visit www.piersystems.com
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Solid
Resources, Inc. and O'Brien's Response Management Announce Merger
and Integration
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O'Brien's
Response Management Inc. (O'Brien'sRM) announced its plan to merge and
integrate Solid Resources, Inc. (SRI) into its Government Services
Department. This action is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009.
SRI was acquired by O'Brien'sRM in 2007. Based in Maitland,
Florida, SRI is a highly specialized professional consulting firm that
has been providing preparedness, response, and recovery consulting
services to state and local government agencies since 1992. SRI's
services include public assistance consulting and debris management and
monitoring associated with the FEMA and Federal Highway Administration
programs. Additional services include technical consulting and
assistance with mitigation plans, continuity of operations plans, debris
management plans, recovery and debris management training and grant
management.
Effective January 1st, SRI will become the Government Services
department of O'Brien'sRM.
O'Brien'sRM Government
Services Department supports federal, state, and local governments in a
wide range of service areas, including emergency preparedness (plans,
training, and exercises), emergency management, homeland security, public
health preparedness and response, disaster response and recovery and
regulatory compliance programs.
For more information contact Tim O'Leary at (281) 320-9796 or email toleary@obriensrm.com.
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O'Brien's
Response Management 2009 "World Tour"
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Chris Gregory, Executive
Vice President of Vessel Services, and Tim O'Leary, Vice President of
Communications, recently concluded the 2009 O'Brien'sRM Spill Management
Team Tabletop Exercise (SMT TX) "World Tour" in which they
visited marine transportation industry clients in 18 cities around the
world:
Seattle,
USA Houston,
USA
London,
UK Hamburg,
Germany
Oslo, Norway
Athens, Greece
Limassol,
Cyprus
Istanbul, Turkey
Dubai,
UAE Mumbai,
India
Tokyo,
Japan
Imabari, Japan
Kobe,
Japan
Busan, Republic of Korea
Shanghai,
China
Taipei, Taiwan
Hong
Kong Singapore
Chris and Tim met with
more than 800 clients representing over 400 vessel response plan holders
during this trip. The purpose of these visits was to conduct a spill
management team exercise (SMT TTX) in order to keep vessel response plan
holders in compliance with USCG and certain state regulations. At
O'Brien'sRM we are "Partners in Compliance" with our marine
transportation industry clients; working closely with clients to keep
their ships current with the multitude of regulatory requirements
necessary to operate a vessel in US waters. The highlight of the
exercise was a Qualified Individual (QI) briefing provided from an O'Brien'sRM
QI. Our QI conducted the brief from our command center in Slidell,
Louisiana via the internet. The QI used O'Brien'sRM proprietary
CommandPro® software that automates Incident Command Systems forms and
processes. These exercises also provided O'Brien'sRM with the
opportunity to talk about the impact critical news media coverage of an
incident could have on a company's reputation. Chris also provided
a comprehensive regulatory update.
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O'Brien's
Response Management Serving the Americas
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¿Habla Español, Portugués o Papamento? O'Brien'sRM
understands the needs for reliable emergency preparedness and response
management programs for the Caribbean, Central and South America.
With the same commitment to quality service that has characterized us for
over 25 years, we stand ready to serve by planning and facilitating
exercises, training incident mangers and responders, and developing
customized contingency plans (from tactical oil spill guides to business
continuity plans). So whether your company conducts operations in
the Caribbean, Central or South
America, O'Brien'sRM is able to provide services to
meet your company's requirements.
For any inquiries, please contact Ian Hernandez, Consulting Services
Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at +1 (281) 320-9796 or by
e-mail at ian.hernandez@obriensrm.com.
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4th
Quarter Response from O'Brien'sRM
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 The fourth quarter of 2009 has been very busy for
O'Brien'sRM and the Slidell Command Center. During this period we
received 232 calls for service. Calls for service are those
incident reports we receive from our clients that require O'Brien'sRM, at
a minimum, to notify the appropriate federal, state and/or local
regulatory agencies. Of those 232 calls for service, further action
by O'Brien'sRM was required for fifteen of those calls. What
is really significant in those fifteen responses was the fact that all of
those were product or chemical spills.
Several of these incidents required the mobilization of a
spill management team and the establishment of an incident command post
remote from the Slidell Command Center. These included a 10,500 gallon
bunkers spill in the Port of Houston, a 400-800 gallon bunkers spill in
San Francisco Bay and a 12,000 gallon bunkers spill from a ship in the
Mississippi River. In addition, O'Brien'sRM supervised the aerial
deployment of dispersant in the Galveston lighterage area following the
collision of a tanker and an offshore supply vessel. We still have staff deployed
from two of these incidents. The two larger responses occurred on the
same day and for two days, the Slidell Command Center managed two major
events at the same time. This is not the first time that has
happened and it keeps us on our toes, but as always, we stand ready to
respond to all future incidents. For more information, please
contact Ben Benson at (985) 781-0804 or email ben.benson@obriensrm.com.
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TRAINING, EXERCISES AND DRILLS
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2010
Training
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 Let's say farewell to 2009 and look forward to a busy and
productive 2010 training year. Thank you to all that scheduled a training
course or attended our open enrollment classes last year, we appreciate
your continued support. We look forward to working with all of you
that have training and compliance responsibilities and to seeing all of
the participants again next year.
In
2010 we will roll out some new courses as well. In addition to our
on-site training courses, we are also offering open enrollment training
courses for 8hr and 24hr HAZWOPER, Spill Management Team (SMT) Workshops,
SPCC Regulatory Updates and Media and Public Relations Workshops. These
classes and more are on our 2010 schedule and are available now for
registering. Click Here to view our 2010 Open Enrollment Training
Calendar. For more information, please contact us at (281) 320-9796 or
email training@obriensrm.com.
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LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS
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EPA
Releases Guidance to Help Federal Facilities Better Manage Stormwater
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The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued guidance to help
federal agencies minimize the impact of federal development projects on
nearby water bodies. The guidance is being issued in response to a change
in law and an Executive Order signed by President Obama, which calls upon
all federal agencies to lead by example to address a wide range of
environmental issues, including stormwater runoff. For additional
assistance with Storm Water Permitting, please contact John Carroll at
(281) 320-9796 or email john.carroll@obriensrm.com.
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Greenhouse
Gases Threaten Public Health and the Environment
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After
a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful
consideration of public comments, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the
public health and welfare of the American people. EPA also finds
that GHG emissions from on-road vehicles contribute to that threat.
GHGs are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter,
longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor
and elderly. In addition, there are increases in ground-level
ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses, as
well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans.
(Source: EPA)
As a result of this EPA determination, GHG emissions
regulations are on the way. In addition, voluntary GHG assessments,
planning for reductions, and transparent reporting are gaining in
popularity among businesses. If O'Brien'sRM can assist you, please
contact John McHugh at (281) 320-9796 or email john.mchugh@obriensrm.com.
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2009
SPCC Amendments Update
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 The EPA 2009 SPCC Amendments finalized or removed certain
provisions previously published in 2008. O'Brien'sRM has been
engaged by API to update their SPCC guidance (RP D-16 SPCC). In
addition, we will be participating in regional seminars and are hosting
our own SPCC workshops, but in the meantime, here are some things you
should know.
As of January 14, 2010,
facilities can use the streamlined SPCC compliance allowed for Qualified
(Tier I) Facilities, various exemptions, and greater flexibility allowed
by regulation.
"Tier I"
facilities are a subset of the Qualified Facilities promulgated in
December 2006. These facilities may use an EPA-developed template
to write and self-certify their plans where no oil container is greater
than 5,000 gallons and the aggregate capacity of the facility is 10,000
gallons or less. If a facility cannot meet all these requirements
as outlined in the template, then a Professional Engineer (P.E.) must
certify any deviations. O'Brien'sRM can evaluate the options and provide
P.E. certification of such deviations, as necessary. One of
the more noteworthy exemptions allows Exploration and Production
(E&P) facilities to comply with alternate requirements to size
containment for flow-through process vessels, however, this does not
remove the obligation to provide general containment. O'Brien'sRM
can assist you with how best to provide general containment whether by
active or passive means.
While the Agency considers that the integrity testing requirements
allowed for Qualified Facilities to be streamlined compliance and
available to all applicable facilities, the Rule requires "you must
determine, in accordance with industry standards, the appropriate
qualifications for personnel performing tests and inspections..."
Does your current Plan cite industry standards and are you in full
compliance with these standards? You may still deviate from the
industry standards if alternate measurements provide environmental
equivalency. O'Brien'sRM can assist you with evaluating your
integrity testing program, required deviations, and provide P.E.
certification. For more information contact Donald Kluth at (281)
320-9796 or email donald.kluth@obriensrm.com.
Don't forget about our SPCC
Regulatory Update Workshops! Click Here for more information.
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H1N1
Flu
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We are in the
midst of a global H1N1 flu pandemic and the prudent manager should
heed advice offered by health ministries, the World Health Organization
and the Center for Disease Control. O'Brien'sRM has full-time staff
members with advanced degrees in epidemiology and public health and ample
experience developing pandemic influenza plans and flu advice for facility operators. If
interested, you can contact us by calling +1 (281) 320-9796 or by
emailing Clint Ladd.
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Twitter
and Emergency Communications
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 A PIER Systems Inc. White Paper
By Gerald Baron,
PIER Founder and Director of PIER Strategic Services
Twitter is one of many
social media Web applications to emerge on the Internet during the past
few years. Twitter's Internet success story was realized in February
2009, after the service's popularity grew at a staggering 1,382 percent
over the previous year (according to data from Nielsen Online) and Twitter.com
registered more than 7 million unique visitors in the U.S. in one
month. Today, Twitter boasts over 25 million users and has evolved into a
mainstream communication tool utilized daily to send and receive instant
news and updates. Within government organizations, Twitter has become an
important part of communicating with both citizens and the media.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is intended to
give people a fast and easy way to distribute, share and receive content
across the Web. Essentially, Twitter is a social networking and
micro-blogging application designed to send and receive messages (called
tweets) to one another in 140 characters or less-in order to fit within
the text-message limits of cell phone carriers. Users can send updates to
Twitter using a variety of means including logging in directly to
Twitter's Web site, using smartphone applications, sending SMS text
messages and emails, or via popular third party applications such as
TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop. Content sent to Twitter is published to
the user's Twitter Web page, which has its own unique Web address (i.e. twitter.com/whitehouse).
Why Does Twitter
Matter?
In an era of instant
communications, social media sources such as Twitter, Facebook and
MySpace, matter to the persons charged with managing media and public
relations for a crisis. On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549
successfully ditched into the Hudson River. As passengers were
evacuating the airplane, Janis Krums, who was standing near the Hudson
River, snapped a picture of the plane with his iPhone. Being a
Twitter user, Krums updated the photo using a Web application called
TwiPic. Immediately, all of his followers were notified of the
incident. From there, the photo and related tweet quickly made
their way to the mainstream media. While Krums assisted rescue
efforts, he was contacted by MSNBC. Thirty-four minutes after the
crash, Krums was interviewed by the cable channel with his TwitPic photo
displayed under the breaking news banner on the TV screen. What
followed was the typical media maelstrom, but the focus was now Janis
Krums and his photo. Krums did two phone interviews with MSNBC, one
with CNN, was on Good Morning America, 20/20, Inside Edition, the New
York ABC affiliate, BBC, and live with Rick Sanchez on CNN.
If crisis communicators
are not actively monitoring Twitter and other social media sites (as well
as Blogs), you may not have all of the information regarding the incident
in order to form a complete picture. Communicators, and ultimately
the Unified Command/Incident Commander, need to know what information is
being disseminated and what is being said in order to proactively
respond. PIER Systems professionals and the software used to
monitor social media sites such as Twitter, can provide the assistance and
tools necessary in our era of instant communication.
This article is an
adaptation of a white paper entitled "Twitter and Government
Communications" written by Gerald Baron, PIER Systems founder and
current VP, Strategic Services.
To read the complete
article, go to http://www.pierstrategicservices.com/go/survey/1942/1671
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Donald
Kluth, Senior Project Manager/Subject Matter Expert
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 Don Kluth, Manager of Compliance Services, is our featured
employee this quarter. Don has been working hard to keep abreast of
the recent changes to the SPCC rule. The long awaited rule change
appears to be the final step for many companies that were waiting to
expend the time and resources to finalize their SPCC compliance
programs. The short window, between the rule's November 13, 2009
publication date and its January 14, 2010 effective date, has provided
very little time for companies to react to the changes. Don has long been
considered by the EPA, HQ, and regional offices as one of industry's
leading experts on the rule and has been serving clients through many
industry sectors. In addition, he has been busy updating the API RP
D-16 SPCC Template and Guidance Document and laying the groundwork for
rolling out O'Brien'sRM 2010 SPCC workshops.
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O'Brien'sRM
Welcomes New Employees!
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We
would like to send out a special welcome to all our new employees from
PIER Systems Inc. out of Bellingham, WA and newly integrated Solid
Resources Inc. out of Maitland, FL and Miami, FL. Welcome to the
O'Brien'sRM Team!
Other new O'Brien'sRM employees include:
- Dave Thomas, Senior Emergency
Management Consultant
- Sue Alexander, Emergency
Management Consultant
- Gautam Agrawala, P.E., Ph.D.,
Project Manager/Engineer
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