Development authority hosts emergency preparedness class

With severe weather season in full swing, many businesses and industries in Russellville have begun making preparations for what to do in the event of an emergency situation like the county experienced last April.
As part of their quarterly Business and Industry Leadership Forum meetings, the Franklin County Development Authority recently sponsored an Emergency Preparedness Certification Course the A.W. Todd Centre to help these local businesses form plans and get ideas to be more prepared.
“We had a lot of interest for this course and we ended up having around 30 people representing different businesses and organizations in the area who took the course,” said Sherye Price, assistant director at FCDA. “We provided this course as a free service to our local industry and they have learned some valuable information.”
Advanced Regional Response Training Center partnered with the University of South Alabama to offer the courses and provided continuing education units (CEUs) to those in related fields who could use the professional development training.
David Wallace, director of Preparedness Training Center for Strategic Health Innovation at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, said they have been doing this type of preparedness training since 2004and the people who take the courses always find them beneficial.
“We have an in-house class that lasts two days that people in the Mobile area can take and then we have the road show version, which is what we had here, that last for one full day,” Wallace said. “The road show version is great for places that aren’t close to Mobile where people would have to pay to come down for the class and miss several days of work.
“Bringing the class to them is more convenient and we get more participants this way. Where we might normally have 5 people make the drive to Mobile, we have 30 people in he local class and that means more people learning this important information.
Wallace said there are many different classes and topics to choose from depending on the needs of a particular area such as surge capacity management for dealing with large numbers of injured patients; hazard assessments and how to determine the greatest risks for a community; crisis communications and how to communicate before, during and after a disaster; altered standards of care during a disaster; and how to properly wear personal protective gear.
“We think the best training is local training,” Wallace said. “Everyone is a part of the local team and building relationships through courses like this is an important tool and proves to be invaluable in disaster situations when everyone has to work together.”
Rocky Milliman, long term community recovery and state disaster recovery coordinator with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, attended the event and agreed that courses like this are important tools in a disaster situation.
“Biggest thing with public health is working with the healthcare agencies to have plans in place in case of a disaster,” he said. “My background is in EMA and this is something we push as well. If you are in a disaster situation, you want to know the guy working next to you.”
Milliman, who has been working closely with Phil Campbell since the April 27 tornadoes destroyed much of the town, said two disaster assistant employees from the state have been relocated to the area to provide long-term support and a direct line to ADECA as the county moves forward in the rebuilding process.
“Phil Campbell has had some great support and people really know how to work together here and get things accomplished,” Milliman said. “People taking the initiative, like with this course, are what make the difference in these situations.”