WSEMA!
This week has felt a lot like living with my four-month-old Malinois puppy: constant motion, slightly feral, and an ongoing exercise in managing a little chaos. Between election coordination, storms, and a puppy who believes everything is a food group, I’m reminded that emergency management isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. Luckily, it seems both emergency managers and herding dogs can thrive on structure, snacks, and little sleep.
This week’s mellow update brought to you by a tiny landshark who believes sleep is for the weak and bitey zoomies are a valid form of communication. But it’s fine. Totally fine.
Let’s get into it!
Association News
- WSEMA Challenge Coins: It is time to design this year’s WSEMA challenge coin to help raise money for the scholarship fund. What should go on it? Send me your ideas and sketches or else you may see my face on one side of the coin. If your idea makes it on the coin, I promise you a little fame and a free coin!
- 2026 Conference: Speaking of input, don’t forget we would love your ideas for the conference theme. Here is what I have so far:
- Uncharted: Navigation Unknown. Indiana Jones meets EM
- Bridges and Breakthroughs
- Resilience in Action: Ordinary people with extraordinary missions
- Strong Together: Thank you for Being a Friend in Emergency Management (Picture it, Muckleshoot, 2026)
Emergency Management in Washington
- SNAP and Food Assistance Impacts at DSHS: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services issued a FAQ about how the federal government shutdown will impact Basic Food (SNAP) and Food Assistance Programs in Washington. The state moved $2.2 million from its state-funded Food Assistance Program to support food banks.
- Measles Exposure Tracker: The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has created a new online tool to help people see where measles exposures may have occurred in the state. The Measles Exposure Location Tracker shows public places where a person with contagious measles recently spent time. This tool helps people determine if they may have been exposed and includes links with instructions about preventive measures and next steps if they were exposed.
- FIFA World Cup 26 Safety & Security Planning Updates
- Have something you’d like me to feature? Send it my way at president@wsema.org by 8:00 a.m. on Fridays. Trainings, news, shoutouts, or anything you think WSEMA should know about!