Hundreds of emergency workers from
around the state now have a better idea of how to deal with a disaster. The
Center for Threat Preparedness held its third annual preparedness conference
Wednesday at West Virginia
State University
Event director Jerry Rhodes said
the event is a great place to learn from fellow first responders and the
experts they bring in to teach workshops.
“They all have the same purpose. In
a disaster, they’re called in to take care of the public’s health,” explained Rhodes .
From EMTs to police officers,
behavioral health experts to Office of Emergency Services directors, Rhodes said everyone has something to learn from others
in the room.
“We want them to know each other,
what their resources are, what their needs are. So that ultimately when the
incident occurs, whether it occurs at a local level or a state level, it will
just be managed better and we can do a better job of taking care of the
public’s health,” explained Rhodes.
He said no matter what the crisis,
emergency responders must know how to handle the situation.
“Our job is to make sure that we’re
prepared irrespective of whether it’s a water event, a flood, a derecho, a
pandemic or what ever it may be,” stressed Rhodes .
He said the Elk River water
crisis was not that much different from disasters they deal with on a more
regular basis. He says when it comes to response, it all depends on how well
the team is trained and how well they work together to help solve the situation.
