King County Mass Care Regional Forum Agenda Announced

The goal of this free forum is to bring together government, non-profit, faith-based and other partners who would have a role in Mass Care (shelter, feeding, distribution of emergency supplies, etc.) for disasters in King County. The Forum is hosted by the King County Mass Care Workgroup.

To sign up for the event, please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/masscare2011. Drop ins are also welcome. People from Vashon will probably car pool to Renton. Contact Cathy or John to join in.

Mass Care Forum Details

Wednesday, June 8, 2011
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
King County Regional Communications & Emergency Coordination Center (KC RCECC)
3511 NE 2nd, Renton

Optional Preliminary Session

8:00 – 8:45 am Mass Care 101 (breakout room)
Overview of the basic building blocks and different components of Mass Care.
Sarah Miller, City of Auburn Emergency Manager
Dave Nichols, Public Health—Seattle & King County, Medical Reserve and Workforce Deployment Manager

Mass Care Forum Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 Register / Network

9:00 Welcome/Overview
Jill Watson, Chair, King County Mass Care and Shelter Workgroup
Dave Nichols, Vice Chair, King County Mass Care and Shelter Workgroup

9:10 Keynote - Japan: Scenes from a Triple Disaster
Observations on the human impact of events in Japan.
Joy Portella, Communications Director, Mercy Corps

10:00 Break / Networking / Resource Tables
What are your concerns/questions/ideas? Write down and submit these for the next session.

10:15 Sharing Session
A facilitated session addressing concerns, questions and ideas submitted through the registration process and during the break. Potential topics include:
 Impact of the new statewide mutual aid law on standing up shelters
 Mutual aid agreements
 KC OEM code change to coordinate all resource sharing across the county
Facilitators: Mike Ryan, Zone One Emergency Management Coordinator and
Bryan Heartsfield, Deputy Directory, King County Office of Emergency Management
 

Emerging Issues in Mass Care

11:00 Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)
How new guidance impacts mass care services.
Sue Bush, Director, Office of Emergency Management, Department of Social and Health Services

11:20 Development of King County’s Disaster Behavioral Health Plan
By 2012, King County will have a Disaster Behavioral Health plan that will outline the response to address the mental health needs of disaster survivors and responders.
Onora Lien, Health System Response Planner, Public Health – Seattle & King County

11:40 Emerging Issues and Current Activities from King County Office of Emergency Management
A highlight of issues impacting Mass Care that the King County Office of Emergency Management has been working on.
Bryan Heartsfield, Deputy Directory, King County Office of Emergency Management

12:00 Close
King County Mass Care Workgroup

Keynote Speaker

Joy Portella, Communications Director, Mercy Corps
Joy Portella is the Communications Director at Mercy Corps, a humanitarian agency based in Portland, OR. She leads a team of communications professionals in the US and the UK whose work is to share Mercy Corps’ most compelling stories of turning the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress. Joy has traveled with Mercy Corps to disaster zones in Haiti, China, Pakistan and Japan, and has documented development struggles in countries including Afghanistan, Guatemala and North Korea.

Prior to joining Mercy Corps in 2007, Joy spent ten years at various public relations agencies in New York City, Washington DC and Seattle. She has designed and implemented communications campaigns for non-profit, corporate and government clients including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pfizer Philanthropy, the Packard Foundation, and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. She was also the Director of Communications at NetAid, which merged with Mercy Corps in 2007.

Joy holds a BA from Yale University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.