FEMA trains colleges at MCC-Blue River

Last week, MCC-Blue River hosted a FEMA-sponsored training for colleges. The training, entitled “Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Higher Education,” covered various elements of emergency management.

With recent events serving as a sobering reminder that public safety incidents are difficult to predict and to prevent, campus safety is at the top of local school officials' minds. However, these days, first responders are not the only people who should be prepared to react to emergencies, says MCC-Blue River's Dean of Instruction Cheryl Carpenter Davis.

In addition to MCC campuses and other Kansas City-area colleges, officials from colleges in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Pratt, Kan. also attended the training.

The training covered topics such as:

• The phases of emergency management
• Identifying hazards and using risk assessment processes
• Responding using ICS (Incident Command System) and setting up an Emergency Operations Center
• Partnering with the community
• Developing plans; training and testing the plans 
• Engaging the campus community

Participants engage in small group activities during training.

FEMA materials said the premise of the training was to equip six to eight individuals from each institution to “take skills and knowledge back to their own campuses to facilitate the emergency planning process.”

Members of the press were invited to observe the event on Wednesday, February 16. Reporters from The Kansas City Star and the eastern Jackson County publication The Examiner covered the event.

Participants indicated an increased comfort with emergency management after attending the workshop.

“One of the many things I found helpful from attending the training was the guidance the instructors provided in designing sound plans for either man-made or natural emergencies,” said Bob Florence, MCC-Blue River marketing coordinator. “The table-top exercise and other group work were great ways to practice what we learned in the course.”