"Everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth," said Joe Goldsberry, an Integrated Emergency Management training specialist.
Goldsberry's words early Monday morning when Des Moines County began day one of the 4-day training course, foreshadowed the week ahead for business leaders, public officials and safety officers participating in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's training program.
Seventy-seven participants arrived on the Emergency Management Institute's campus Sunday afternoon with little knowledge of what the next few days would bring.
The college campus-turned-federal institute was founded in 1809 as an all girls Catholic school and has been used by FEMA since 1981 to educate civilians through an emergency management curriculum, with over 500 courses available.
After check-in at the front desk and settling into their individual rooms, many participants flocked to the campus Command Post Pub to socialize and unwind after a long day of travel.
But by 8 a.m. Monday morning, everyone was settled into a classroom and ready to learn. Much like days of their youth spent taking notes and listening to an instructor, the first day in Emmitsburg comprised mostly of reviewing course objectives, learning about the Des Moines County Emergency Management Agency and hearing from members of the group about the role various agencies in the county would play in responding to an emergency.
"Every disaster is local," Goldsberry emphasized throughout the day.
In the event of an emergency, communities must be prepared to fend for themselves before outside help from state and federal agencies arrives. With that mentality in mind, Goldsberry stressed the importance of the "whole community" approach to disaster preparedness and relief. One of the benefits of the course is the ability to bring together a wide variety of people from different sectors of the community to better understand how they can work together when disaster strikes and foster working relationships so the line of communication is established well before an emergency occurs.
The Mississippi River flood of 2008 was referenced throughout the day as an example of a large-scale disaster that required local, state and federal agencies to respond. Des Moines County emergency management coordinator Gina Hardin said 2008 was the only time in the last 20 years the county officially activated its Emergency Operating Center (EOC), even though a federal state of emergency has been declared 12 times in the county over that same period. Located in the conference room of the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office in Burlington, Hardin said the EOC is activated only when multiple agencies need to coordinate face-to-face continuously and for an extended period of time during an emergency. It is the job of an EOC to visualize the big picture response to a disaster and prioritize the community's needs accordingly.
In the afternoon, participants were broken up into four groups based on the role their agency would play during an emergency: EOC management and support, public information officials, emergency support functions and policy makers.
As the groups analyzed Des Moines County's comprehensive emergency management plan, though most aspects of the plan were agreed upon and self-explanatory, discussion arose about a community's expectations for long-term recovery in the wake of mass devastation. Is it reasonable to expect a city will be able to fully restore its facilities and services to pre-disaster conditions? Lack of clarity on that point was discussed and tabled for officials to work toward clarifying during the week.
Looking forward to the rest of the week, Greater Burlington Partnership CEO Jason Hutcheson said he was impressed by the wide cross-section of community members brought together for the training.
"I didn't completely know what to expect, and certainly emergency response is not my area of expertise," Hutcheson said. "But I really was impressed with how well most of the people here know each other and have worked with each other already, so that shows good cooperation between community groups. And I think it really speaks to the importance of having so many people out here because it really does take a whole community to respond to a major disaster."
Two men with a wealth of emergency response experience pointed out the responsibility course participants have to their communities when attending training like this, so they can bring what they learned back to their agencies and apply it effectively.
"I think, overall, with the size of the group that you have out here - the diversity of the group - the take back is really going to be something that's going to be advantageous for the county for any future, either plan development or any disasters that might happen," said West Burlington Fire Department chief Shaun Ryan. "I just think the ability to put this many different walks of life, entities into one room - getting the same message - it's going to be a great thing. And the fact that we were able to include private and public sectors ... that helps a lot."
Jesse Logan, assistant police chief in West Burlington, noted the ability of various agencies within Des Moines County to work well together compared with other communities he has observed.
"Going to different conferences throughout the state, you can tell, you just talk to other agencies where there's no cooperation between the city or county organizations," Logan said.
"Unlike Des Moines County where everybody works together," Ryan added. "It's been getting better and better every year."
Mediapolis city councilman Jimmie Spence said the first day was "very informative" and a good introduction to the next three days. The community-wide approach to emergency management was an aspect of the training Spence was glad to see emphasized.
"It takes everybody in a community to take care of these problems, you know. You can't just sit down and say, 'Huh, the city will take care of me.' The citizens have to contribute."
Hardin noted the county's recently launched emergency messaging system - Des Moines County/Alert Iowa! - as a way for residents to easily stay involved and informed in the event of an emergency or severe weather. By signing up for the free service, an alert will be sent to the phone number or email address provided to Des Moines County Emergency Management. County residents can sign up for the alerts by visiting the Emergency Management page on the Des Moines County website, dmcounty.com.
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