Monday, November 22, 2010

Glenn Hagfeldt Columbia REA presented with the Emergency Preparedness Award

Emergency Preparedness begins at the community level. Effective emergency management relies on valuable relationships between the private and public sector. As a representative of Columbia Rural Electric Association, Glenn Hagfeldt played a vital role in strengthening that relationship and helping to make Columbia County more resilient should an emergency arise.

Glenn is the first recipient of the Columbia County Emergency Management Preparedness Award. Glenn is a member of the Columbia County Emergency Management Advisory Council, the Local Emergency Planning Committee and the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Committee. Glenn has attended every meeting while serving on the various committees and also attended every Emergency Management Workshop in 2009 and 2010.

When you see Glenn on the street, take a moment to thank him for his dedication to our community and wish him well in his retirement!

Columbia County Emergency Managment Hosted the Senior Officials Workshop on November 17th, 2010

Bill Peters, Director, Emergency Management, Steve Keim, TEEX, Ronnie Taylor, TEEX, Lisa Caldwell, Emergency Management, Dick Jones, Columbia County Commissioner



Steve Keim and Ronnie Taylor, TEEX.




All-Hazard Preparedness.

Discussing the scenario for Columbia County.





Break-out Session.

Prior to this flood season and in anticipation of a La NiƱa type winter weather pattern, Columbia County Emergency Management hosted a Senior Officials Workshop for All Hazards Preparedness. The National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) a division of Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) a member of Texas A&M University, instructed the Workshop.

The purpose of the was workshop to provide a forum to discuss strategic and executive-level issues related to disaster preparedness, share proven strategies and best practices, and enhance coordination among officials responsible for emergency response to a disaster.

Major discussion threads included:
*Roles and responsibilities and preparedness challenges

*Domestic preparedness resources and how to leverage them for our community

*Strategic Planning as it relates to risk and nees assessment and the Emergency Operations Plans for our jurisdiction

* Executive-level incident response and recovery considerations, including medical/public health, situational appraisal, incident managements, mutual aid agreements, media relations, recovery and restoration processes, Federal assistance, and business/economic recovery.

Morning: Review of the Oklahoma City Bombing and Minneapolis Bridge Collapse. Videos with actual footage of incidents and discussions with Elected officials and first responders of lessons learned.

Afternoon: Breakout session. Scenario designed specifically for Columbia County. All participants used the tools they learned from the morning session to work through the scenario. When the scenario was completed, the participants were able to identify deficiencies and successes. With the information provided, corrective actions will take place in the planning and preparedness process.

There were 32 participants from Columbia County to include 3 County Commissioners, The Mayor's of Dayton and Starbuck, Walla Walla Emergency Management, Region 9 Homeland Security Coordinator, Dayton Chamber of Commerce, Columbia REA, PSE, VESTAS, Dayton General Hospital, Dayton, Superintendant of Schools, Columbia Rural Fire District 3, Columbia County Engineer, WADOT, Public Health and many more.

Columbia County Emergency Management plans to provide additional workshops in the up coming year.