Overcoming the challenges of starting a UAS program  As we approach the close of this calendar year and look forward with optimism to what 2021 may bring, this is a good time for reflection. As a public sector employee, there were many occurrences in 2020 that I found to be predictable and just as many that frankly were not. I am a lifelong learner and specifically a student of leadership, situational awareness, and emergency management. All those disciplines require pre-planning and being prepared for whatever may come. Let's take a look at emergency preparedness. We had a collection of wildfires here in Northern California starting in ...

Overcoming the challenges of starting a UAS program Today's public safety agencies face more pressure to meet increasing expectations with fewer resources and overtaxed personnel. More and more agencies are looking for new opportunities and solutions. Drones known as sUAS (Small Unmanned Aircraft System) are increasingly becoming a valuable tool for Public Safety agencies to augment field personnel and through Drone First Responder (DFR) programs responding to the scene arriving prior ground units, giving critical pre-arrival information.However, citizen understanding of commercial and first responder drones is limited, and as a result, commu...

Acknowledge, Express, Act, Reconnect  All of us, at some point in our lifetime, have experienced loss or change. It is the one thing that unites us as human beings. Grief and stress are the natural response to any loss or change in our lives – even positive change. Life will never be the same.In these challenging times, we are living in what we call 360 Grief/Stress. Every area in impacted, every part of our life is affected. It is invisible and at this time has no endpoint. The two factors that make stress more intense are - being out of control and being isolated. Whether you are dealing with family members at home,...