Live-blogging from the H1N1 Clinic

11:00 AM
"So, what is DisasterMan doing today? Saving sturdy buildings from fire-breathing kittens? Rescuing the homeless from homes? Searching for 'Lost' DVDs for the homebound?"

"Putting baby powder in his super-tight spandex suit, in a vain attempt to grow babies?"

Why, yes! All those things -- and more! I'm also sitting on my butt in some bleachers at a high school, waving the occasional family in a direction that's already obvious, to go get their H1N1 flu shots.

Cracking the Codes

Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS), people are supposed to avoid use of acronyms and 10 codes on the radio, such as 10-4. (Though that one is probably OK). They vary too much from department to department, which inhibits communication in joint operations.

They also can vary a wee bit in severity. For example, 10-89 can mean a bomb threat, but for the Salt Lake County Sheriff, it means stolen bicycle. Other examples:

Alphabet Soup

Under the National Incident Management System (NIMS), use of acronyms is supposed to be avoided, because they vary between agencies and can be unclear. Instead, people are told to just speak plainly.

FEMA still has a ways to go on that. These are from FEMA documents:

"... After-Action Report (AAR) for the Top Officials (TOPOFF) 4 Full-Scale Exercise (FSE) ... composed at the After-Action Conference (AAC) ...

"TOPOFF 4 (T4) - The T4 FSE used a radiological dispersal device (RDD) scenario based on National Planning Scenario (NPS) ... As observed in T3 ... departments and agencies (D/As) ...