Disaster Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.