Do you know what to do in an emergency? Chances are, you don’t have the level of preparedness Bryan Gran has. Bryan joined UConn Health as our emergency management program specialist in December and oversees our emergency operations planning and programs to ready us to respond to hazards and emergencies. It’s a serious task for a serious man with a serious background that includes decades of service first in the military and then in the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

You come with an impressive background. How has your experience shaped you into who you are today?

I have to say, first and foremost, that my experiences as a husband and father have shaped me into what I am today. Without my wife, Carol, of 35 years by my side I would not be where I am today both personally and professionally. I have spent my life in service starting with the military which I joined in 1981, at the age of 18. Through my 32 years of military service I saw the roles and missions of the military change from a Cold War emphasis to counter insurgency, nation building and now to the global war on terror. When September 11, 2001, happened, everything changed. As a member of the Connecticut National Guard our mission was immediately focused on the home front and homeland security; securing key infrastructure and protecting the citizens of Connecticut. Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and our mission scope included supporting emergency management efforts, something that has continued through hurricane Sandy and numerous other storms and hazards. For me it’s about the desire to protect and serve; my family, my country, the citizens of Connecticut and now UConn Health.

What is the most common step most of us could take to make us better prepared for an emergency?

Preparedness starts with you, the individual. First, when disaster strikes you may not be with your family so have a plan. Your plan should include communication methods, contact rosters, emergency meeting locations, medical information, transportation plans and other key information that will assist you and your families in times of disaster. Having a plan will also help you concentrate on your own safety if you are not at home but at work and active in life saving response operations. Second, make a kit. There is no standard for kits but there are a few things to consider including medications, flashlights, batteries, meals ready to eat, water, first aid kits, whistles, matches, personal sanitation items, seasonal clothing, maps, cell phone chargers, identification, passports, etc. Third, be aware of your environment and surroundings and get involved, so if you “See Something Say Something” and get involved at home and at work. Talk to your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers about what to do in disasters.

Why are drills/exercises so important?

Training and exercises (drills are a form of exercise) are important to everything we do, especially when it comes to emergencies. Training teaches us what to do while exercises help us practice what we learned. The more we train and exercise the more proficient we become and the more our actions become second nature and instinctive, allowing us to react quickly and effectively in a disaster. The Emergency Management Preparedness Cycle sums it up; plan, organize, train, exercise, evaluate and improve….and then do it again.

What are some questions we should ask ourselves in the name of emergency preparedness?

What is your role in your departments emergency action plan? Do you know two ways out of the building you’re in? Where will your assembly area be? Do you know how to get there? What if you have to leave campus, where will you go? Take a few minutes and talk to your family and coworkers about what you would do during an evacuation, a lockdown or if you received a notification to shelter in place. It only takes a few minutes and can save lives.

Do you have a not-so-serious side? What’s something you enjoy doing that’s not work-related?

No, not really, or not at least until I became a grandfather – where I act like a kid with excitement when I am around my one-year-old granddaughter Maggie.

Spend enough time in a UConn Health building and there’s a good chance you’ll cross paths with a tall, lanky, bearded fellow in a tradesman’s uniform… and he’ll try to make you laugh. Known to many as “The Joke Guy,” Cliff Williams joined UConn Health 16 years ago for a job that, despite our comical encounters with him, is actually pretty serious. He lives in Farmington with his wife, Joan, who also works at UConn Health, as a business services manager in the UConn School of Dental Medicine.

What is your day job?

My job here is not being the joke man, that’s for sure. I’m a QCW electrician. QCW stands for “quality craft worker”—I didn’t dream up the silly name. In electrical, we’re responsible for maintaining the reliability of the electrical system in the Health Center, all the buildings here, and the outbuildings. We have certain maintenance things we do on a regular basis and also sometimes we’re scrambling because there’s a problem somewhere that needs to be corrected. It could be lights not working, or outlets not working, and we also assist the plumbers and the HVAC guys when they have electrical problems with their equipment. There’s a lot of stuff here, and no matter how well you maintain anything, stuff can break. That’s why we’re here, to try to keep the lights on and the power flowing for all of the patients and staff here.

A lot of folks here recognize you not as the electrician but as the tall bearded guy who tells jokes. How did that come to be?

I think this has been going on for maybe the last five or six years. Most of my jokes are puns. I happen to enjoy puns very much. I could have gotten that appreciation from [Hartford radio legend] Bob Steele. I admired his sense of humor and he did not tell any what he called “parlor” jokes, and I always liked that. There are people who see me and want me to stop and tell them a joke. They know that I’m normally good for a joke.

One thing that’s interesting is, I have a colleague, George Kazimierczak, also a QCW electrician. Sometimes George has a beard, and he’s tall and thin, and people often confuse the two of us. From time to time, people are stopping George in the elevator or walking down the hall and they are demanding a joke from him. Sometimes they don’t want to believe that he’s not me.

And I should point out, my corny jokes, women seem to appreciate them more than men. I could be in the elevator, and a woman will look at me and say, “Well?” And I say, “Excuse me? Well what?” And she’ll say “Aren’t you The Joke Guy? I’m waiting.” So to some degree, sometimes I’m on the spot to perform.

I’ve told well over a hundred jokes, but I don’t remember the ones I used last week.

What’s one of your favorite jokes from over the years, that you can remember?

What’s the difference between a well-dressed man on a unicycle and a poorly dressed man on a bicycle?

Attire.

Does it ever happen that people see you and try to avoid you because they don’t want to hear a joke?

No… oh, wait a minute. There’s one doctor, a researcher, Ph.D., he sees me and tries to avoid me. There is at least one person who tries to avoid me.

When you’re not at work, what do you like to do?

We enjoy very much working in our garden. Joan enjoys her flowers very much, and I’m in charge of the vegetable garden. We enjoy our annual vacation to Mexico in the winter, because it’s very nice to get out of here, and it’s much too cold to do yardwork anyway. Tulum, Mexico, has been our favorite place for eight or more years. And I do speak a little German. I actually know three and a half German jokes that I can tell, for what that’s worth.

Do you have a joke you’d like to leave us with?

What do dogs do that people step in?

Pants!