Member Spotlight: Lorraine Schneider + the COVID-19 Heroes Podcast
BY MARISSA MORAN
In April, when the magnitude of the COVID pandemic had become clear, Lorraine Schneider saw a gap in the marketplace of ideas. While streams and feeds battered us with discouraging news, Lorraine, a Certified Emergency Manager and Pacific Council member, was picking up inspiring stories of people stepping up to adapt and help their communities during the darkest time in recent history. She saw people with different professional and personal backgrounds finding practical ways to curb the spread of COVID, provide essential services, or continue to serve their neighbors.
“I wanted to give a spotlight to those people and also show how COVID has impacted all areas of life and all people,” Lorraine told me in a recent interview. “And it started with curiosity.”
COVID Heroes Podcast
Lorraine launched the COVID-19 Heroes Podcast about a month ago and has released 20 episodes so far, each featuring an interview with someone who has stepped up during the pandemic, either by choice or necessity. Lorraine speaks with nurses, COVID-19 survivors, small business owners, church leaders, flight attendants, and more. The experience is teaching her that everyone has a role to play in responding to this pandemic and being a good citizen – even if that means simply staying at home.
She has also noticed a trend – that individuals stuck at home are looking across their networks to see how they can make matches between someone in need and someone who can offer a solution, whether it be grocery and prescription pick-ups or job searching. Lorraine is also hoping to reach a global audience with her podcast. She has interviewed a German flight attendant and has featured stories from Nepal and Haiti, to explore how COVID is affecting other countries long-term.
“This pandemic makes for a unique life experience that has impacted everyone around the world,” she said. “We are all interconnected and this should bring us together.”
What else has Lorraine learned from the podcast experience so far?
“We are resilient and adaptable, and we are good. Almost all of us want to do good.”
What is a Certified Emergency Manager?
We might not all know someone who specializes in emergency management, but I bet you would like to right now. I asked Lorraine to share more about her profession and how the field has grown in recent decades.
PC: Who hires emergency managers?
LS: We work for local jurisdictions – like cities or states – or private institutions and help those entities prepare for emergencies and disasters.
I just transitioned to corporate last year [Lorraine is a Program Manager in Training & Exercise Design for The Walt Disney Company's Global Crisis Management team]. Most of the time corporations have business continuity professionals, but the emergency management function is missing.
Did the field emerge in response to anything in particular?
Emergency management grew as a field post 9/11, with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and also after Hurricane Katrina. These events led to more jurisdictions having emergency management. Also in higher education after the Virginia Tech shooting. The job is applicable to all industries.
What are challenges you face in your role in “normal” times?
There is a trend in emergency management where people don’t like thinking about bad things that could happen (like earthquakes or wildfires) and don’t like thinking it will affect them. If you have an incident, interest levels increase and then it’s forgotten, which makes our jobs harder. Active shooter trainings are popular after shootings are in the news. After the 2019 summer earthquakes in LA, earthquake training regained popularity.
These events mean emergency management is gaining legitimacy. But still, elected officials and company heads need to be okay running through simulations and supporting the preparedness. A lot of our job has to do with building relationships with different department leaders and building trust so that necessary people will be part of an emergency response when it happens.
How do emergency management teams respond in moments like this pandemic?
Emergency managers are responsible for setting up emergency operation centers (EOCs), where subject matter experts come together to respond, gather information, and manage resources. Traditionally, EOCs operate in a physical location (such as during a wildfire response), but COVID-19 has forced many entities to go virtual. It’s been good to see how we can use virtual EOCs more in the future and learn from this. This has been the largest activation of EOCs we’ve ever seen.
Why did you get into this work?
I thought I wanted to go into security and defense, but after I came to UCLA for undergrad study abroad, I was drawn to it. I grew up in France and Germany, but there are more disasters in places like California (especially natural disasters). I joined UCLA Extension’s certificate program in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. After the first class, I went home in tears thinking what did I get myself into? Within a few weeks I fell in love with the topic because it’s dynamic and tangible. Nothing remains the same. And I can serve my community.
If you know someone who should be featured on Lorraine’s COVID-19 Heroes podcast, send her a note at lorraine.schneider@emginitiative.org. Tune into the COVID-19 Heroes Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts.
