EMC226   Bulletin Focus
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC226   Bulletin Focus           For release  2/28/00

Query: Why are the Emcomm Bulletins sometimes on topics
which don't seem relevant to Emergency Communications?

Response: Emergency communications do not occur in a vacuum
unrelated to people and management. The purpose of a bulletin
may be to stimulate unit leaders to think - about an idea or
application of interpersonal relations or management - for
themselves. Such bulletins may not appear to be relevant since
it isn't readily evident to Emergency Communications as such.

Unit management help and ideas are the most consistent need as
indicated by the responses from bulletins on administration,
management, organization and plans. Therefore the bulletins 
address ideas, aids, suggestions and offer encouragement in
management as well as creating, establishing and operating a
unit. They also cover aspects of the human mind since the way
that a person thinks affects everything they do, like the EOC
manager who thinks he/she doesn't need an Emcomm unit. There
are ways to reach that person, albeit it takes time. 

Few management and people aspects are Emergency Communications
specific. For instance a portion of bulletin 219 read: 
  "when you unconditionally accept someone just the way they
   are, that acceptance gives them the space to change......
   ..... and ..... change they will."
That's something some people don't want to hear. Others will 
resist that idea until their death; while for others it will
not make any sense. Yet, it is true and when a person has the
time to think it through and actually test and apply it, the
evidence is there and convincing. That is a basic principal
that applies to Emcomm unit managers and participants as well
as to people in general. It isn't emergency communications
relevant on the surface, yet it directly affects every unit
and every person. But it takes willingness and an effort to
discover how it affects a unit and its paraticipants.
   
This is how we recommend the Emcomm bulletins be used.
  Consider then to be primarily for COORDINATORS or MANAGERS;
meaning the paid staff of the agency and the unit volunteer 
leaders. Then 
  (a) make sure the bulletins physically get into the hands of
      those coordinators and officers. 
  (b) develop a process where by the coordinator and senior
      officer(s) discuss bulletin content or ideas.
  (c) ascertain that within unit leadership there is a real
      effort to test, apply or discard them, or use them to 
      create something better in your own unit.
  (d) come up with your own ideas and suggestions and send
      those appropriate to us for inclusion in the bulletins
      so many others can share in what you've learned.

It helps when you let us know of your results with any of
the bulletins. Thanks for your feedback, suggestions and
ideas: cary.mangum@macnexus.org or cary_mangum@oes.ca.gov 
                         ---
To subscribe to bulletins, use the Subscription Services
web page at <http://acs.oes.ca.gov/subscribe.html>. If
you don't have web access, just send an e-mail message to
<mailto:emcomm-bulletin-sub@harthaven.com>.

Bulletins are on the ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov
-and a Landline BBS: 916-262-0856 (graphical & standard
interface); and an FTP archive at: ftp.ucsd.edu/emcomm