Scott Spencer, manager of Campus Services at MapleCreek, was chosen by the Kent County Health Department to attend as their guest the Great Lakes Homeland Security Training Conference and Expo, May 3-5, 2011, at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.
“One workshop I am looking forward to,” Spencer said, “is ‘Psychological First Aid and Disaster-Related Stress,’ focusing on the care of the emergency services provider or healthcare worker during a disaster,” Spencer said. Another workshop he hopes to attend addresses why frail elders are adversely affected by disasters, what health care professionals and public health planners can do to mitigate those adverse effects, and resources for returning home and preparing for the next possible disaster.
More than a thousand people are expected to attend this conference. It will bring a wealth of updated information and workshops on latest emergency planning techniques, with former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the closing speaker. The county health department will cover Spencer’s registration fee.
The Kent County Emergency Manager considers this DMHHS committee to be the standard for similar committees across Michigan. It meets monthly at the county health department and is made up of healthcare and human services providers. Scott Spencer has attended as MapleCreek’s representative since late 2007. He serves on two sub-committees, the (Disaster) Exercise Design Team and the Communication Workgroup. After the recent severe Groundhog Day snow storm, Spencer initiated a committee discussion about how things were handled by care providers. The result was a report generated by Pat Draper, County Emergency Preparedness Specialist, now used for training purposes.
Spencer said he continues to take courses with the county on emergency preparedness on his own time, and plans on also taking classes from the Michigan State Police and Department of Homeland Security. “I hope to eventually take an exam to become a Certified Professional Emergency Manager.”
Spencer just received his HAM Technician Class License and joined the Kent County R.A.C.E.S. (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service), which provides support communication during local emergencies. He is also a weather spotter for Kent County Skywarn, made up of volunteers who keep an eye on the sky during periods of severe weather and report directly to the National Weather Service or local TV weather departments.
In addition, he serves as a member of Kent County C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Team) which is only activated by order from the County Emergency Manager. Through Spencer’s efforts, they now meet once a month at MapleCreek. “I hope all of this additional experience will help me to continually improve the emergency planning and response not only here at MapleCreek but for all of LSSM,” Spencer said.
Subscribe