Based on the final comments by the 77 participants after a four-day training course at the Emergency Management Institute, it's safe to say the Des Moines County group learned a lot in its time on the FEMA campus.
A lot of laughter, some tears and an impromptu song about tornado safety from a sheriff's deputy marked the final day.
Barbara Baker was emotional as she described what she would take from the week.
"I respect everybody in this room and them being here today, just proves I was right," the recently retired Des Moines County Public Health administrator said, her voice cracking.
Tim Fencl, general manager and CEO of Danville Mutual Telephone Co., was unsure how his skills and services would be valuable to the course, but iwas glad he attended and made new connections.
"I had zero expectations coming into this and I think I knew three, maybe four people in the room," Fencl said. "So I guess looking at this, what we can add in the private sector to the public sector and having a better understanding, I think is going to speak volumes going forward. I think we've got a very good group of people and it makes me happy to call Des Moines County home."
Between networking opportunities, real-time disaster simulations and subject matter, experts and mentor participants scarcely uttered an ill word about the group's experience. Des Moines County Emergency Management coordinator Gina Hardin began the application process to attend the course two years ago — only 10 counties are chosen annually — so local business leaders, public safety officers, elected officials and private sector citizens could be better prepared for a large-scale emergency. Class participants learned from a variety of professionals about every aspect of disaster preparedness and response, from how to set up an Emergency Operations Center to debris management and how social media influences the public in crisis situations.
"The topic that got covered here I thought was excellent was Amtrak," said Burlington city manager Jim Ferneau. "That presentation was excellent. Just phenomenal. I think it was very eye-opening to be able to have folks think through these are issues we need to make sure we have an understanding of. I heard a lot of good cross-talk about when an event occurs, there's a different role of what goes on from Amtrak versus what our expectations may typically be."
Steve Fruchtman, senior manager of emergency response for Amtrak, shared the inherent dangers of having a major rail line running through a community.
"Everything on the railroad is big and all of it can kill you. It is an unforgiving environment," Fruchtman said. "The standard California Zephyr train for Amtrak that runs through your community has two diesel locomotives, each weigh about 265,000 pounds. It has 10 additional cars on it that each weigh about 130,000 pounds. You have a million pounds of steel — more than a million pounds of steel — running through your community with two or 300 people on it a few times a day."
He emphasized to the group how important it is for law enforcement and firefighters, in particular, to be conscious of the railroad because they will be the first at a local incident. It can take Amtrak officials up to eight hours to arrive at an accident, Frutchman said.
Joyce Flinn, operations division administrator for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department, recommended the county keep practicing how its Emergency Operations Center operates during a disaster, to give officials a more accurate sense of who they will be working with and how the group will function.
"I think the best thing they can do is — because a lot of people commented on, 'I wouldn't be in the EOC,' — — I think doing a local EOC exercise with just the people who would be in the EOC — and have the guys who'd be out in the field, out in the field — I think that would probably be a good thing for them," Flinn said. "And then give them a better perception of exactly what it'd be like in an event."
Even though everyone said communication flow during Wednesday's simulated tornado exercise improved significantly throughout the day, they also agreed the lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities plagued everyone in the EOC, from the public works department to mass care units and resource logistics. The elected officials, who operated separate of the Emergency Operations Center, found it difficult to make policy directives and big-picture decisions during the crisis rather than responding to incidents as they occurred.
"The theme that's come out that I've heard the most is communication," Ferneau said. "And how do we make sure we communicate between each other, between what's going on in the EOC and policy folks, what's going on to make sure the PIOs (public information officers) are getting information from different groups and it's accurate and consistent."
Burlington Fire Department Chief Matt Trexel referenced a conversation he had with a classmate earlier in the week who said, 'Don't let your emergency become a disaster.'
"I thought that was a really good observation," Trexel said. "I'm going to use that for my own self and for people back at work."
Many others highlighted the importance of educating the community about how they can help themselves be prepared in the event of an emergency and building on the positive momentum derived from the course.
"The things that we've learned these last few days, we need to make sure we continue to work on these," said Burlington Police officer John Stirn."We need to practice. These are all perishable skills. If we do not continue to work on this stuff, these skills are going to go away. So I definitely want to see us go back and do more training back in Des Moines County and continue to work on this."
Today the most of the group will venture 14 miles north of Emmitsburg to Gettysburg, Pa., to see the reenactment of the Civil War battle that took place 153 years ago this weekend. Following the trip to Gettysburg, most will board a flight in Baltimore to journey home.
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