Show Notes
Host Captain Shawn Millerick is back in the studio with OES PIO Brianna Viteri and the team for Episode 19 of the PIO Podcast.
Episode Highlights
Inside the Office of Emergency Services (OES) Shawn sits down with Brianna and the OES communications team to break down what the Office of Emergency Services actually does. From coordinating county departments to supporting cities, towns, and partner agencies, the conversation pulls back the curtain on the behind the scenes work that keeps communities informed and prepared during emergencies.
FEMA Drills, Training, and Regional Coordination The crew recaps a large scale FEMA style drill involving cities, schools, and the National Weather Service. Brianna explains how OES plans, facilitates, and strengthens interagency communication so everyone knows their role before a real emergency hits.
From Media Specialist to PIO Life Brianna shares her path into emergency management starting as a media specialist with no background in the field, then quickly stepping into the Public Information Officer role during real incidents. The group talks first emergencies, learning acronyms, building confidence, and why relationships are everything in emergency communications.
Preparedness First, CERT, Alerts, and Community Outreach The episode highlights OES’s push for preparedness including CERT and Teen CERT training, Ready Block Parties, and proactive outreach. Brianna explains the importance of preparing communities before disaster strikes and how trust is built long before an incident.
Emergency Alerts, Apps, and Public Tools Listeners get a walkthrough of the county’s Telephone Emergency Notification System and the newly launched county preparedness app. The team explains how alerts work, why residents should sign up, and why deleting the old app and downloading the new one matters.
Innovation, AI, and Modern PIO Work The conversation shifts to creative tools including the use of AI voice cloning for cleaner messaging and content production. The crew has fun with an AI generated Sean and Ryan exchange while discussing where technology helps and where human judgment still matters most.
Team Growth and What’s Ahead With the department expanding and a full communications team coming together, Brianna looks ahead to 2026, sharing excitement about growth, innovation, and deeper community engagement including the return of the seismic simulator and hands on preparedness tools.
This Day in History The episode wraps with a day in history segment jumping back to December 18, 1620, when the Mayflower anchored in Plymouth Harbor. The crew talks history, tiny ships, pirate accents, and why the story still fascinates centuries later.
As always, the conversation blends education, insight, and humor, reminding listeners that preparedness, relationships, and a little creativity go a long way.
Links Mentioned in the Episode: This Day in History Ready SB County Info & App
More from San Bernardino County Fire: PIO Podcast
This episode marks a milestone, the show’s 40th installment, and it comes together in an unusual way. Part of the conversation was recorded back in June, and part was recorded this October, so the show jumps between the two recording sessions, almost like time travel in a movie, to bring five different segments into one episode. The show kicks off by digging into a box of old VHS tapes, including a mystery news clip from 2006 that has the studio trying to guess which current department member is on screen. The real news of the episode is the announcement of this year’s Salute to Service award winners. The crew walks through every category and announces this year's winners: Sustained Superior Performance Champions of Change Awards (Mentorship Excellence, Synergy Star, Rising Phoenix) Legacy Award Exceptional Service Award Annual Awards (Ambulance Operator of the Year, Fire District Employee of the Year, Firefighter of the Year) Fire Chief’s Distinguished Service Awards Medal of Valor Award Tech Corner covers two drones now in testing, one built to drop water on hot spots and another designed to fly hose packs up to firefighters on steep terrain, plus a new robot dog making its debut around headquarters. The episode wraps with surprise phone calls to a retiring 20 year veteran on his way out the door and a firefighter with a wild past life as a Dodger Stadium visiting clubhouse bat boy, along with groundbreaking news on Fire Station 227 and updates on several more stations in the pipeline.
CAL FIRE Battalion Chief David Acuña joins the PIO Podcast to walk through a career that started with the Orange County Fire Explorers back in 1986 and wound through paramedic work, a stretch away from the fire service entirely, and stops at Riverside County Fire, CAL FIRE, the Emergency Command Center, and now statewide Battalion Chief and Public Information Officer. He breaks down what a CAL FIRE PIO actually does day to day, covering a coverage area that stretches from Siskiyou to San Diego, and shares a crash course in fire weather and behavior fundamentals including LCES. Acuña talks about Aware California, a platform set to change how agencies share incident information, and talks candidly about the personal impact of the 2020 Creek Fire. The conversation wraps with his thoughts on mentoring and recruiting the next generation of firefighters.
Second District Supervisor Jesse Armendarez welcomes the PIO Podcast into his own office for a conversation on Fontana roots, public service, and building opportunity from the ground up.
Vice Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. joins the PIO Podcast for a wide ranging conversation on family, public service, and what's coming next for San Bernardino County. Baca, Jr. talks growing up in Rialto, his years as a teacher and softball coach, and how those experiences shaped his approach to representing the 5th District.
Host Captain Shawn Millerick is back in the studio for a conversation with San Bernardino County’s Third District team: Chairman of the Board Dawn Rowe, Chief of Staff Claire Cozad, and Communications Director Scott Ward. Chairman Rowe shares her path to the board, from losing her husband in Iraq and staying in Yucca Valley to raise her kids, to land use frustrations that led her to the planning commission, town council, and eventually the county board. She talks about the steep learning curve of representing the largest district in the county, which touches Arizona, Nevada, and LA County and has been ground zero for the El Dorado Fire, the Line Fire, Hurricane Hilary, and Snowmageddon. Chief of Staff Claire Cozad discusses her work on Capitol Hill, her experience as a chief of staff managing a team of twelve, and the advice she would give any young person starting out. Scott Ward reflects on more than three decades in radio at KFROG, including a Blue Angels ride that produced a memorable barf bag photo, and the transition to public service communications. The group also digs into county budget priorities, the importance of Starlink in remote desert response, leadership lessons, and a mass casualty incident exercise that turned into an accidental rescue of a county supervisor stranded in the desert with a group of high schoolers.