National Rural Water Association
2915 S. 13th Street
Duncan, OK 73533
580-252-0629 FAX 580-255-4476
Contact:
Chris Wilson, nrwacw@nrwa.org
May 20, 2009
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Rural Water experts certified at Emergency
Response training
NEW
ORLEANS, La. – Hurricane Alpha is bearing down on the Florida Panhandle
and groups are scrambling to make plans and arrange supplies for the
eminent landfall. Fortunately for the harried groups, this is only an
exercise. The tabletop exercise was part of a three-day track of
emergency response training presented during the National Rural Water
Association’s in-service, held May 12-14 in New Orleans, La.
“This is one step to getting us to our dream – systems
helping systems,” said Robert Johnson, NRWA CEO.
The training program was designed as the first step in
creating a nation-wide network of emergency responders to deal with
disasters that affect rural and small water utilities. Fifty delegates,
one from each of the NRWA’s state affiliates, attended the session. The
group was trained in a range of emergency response topics, from
preparation to hands-on assistance, so that the attendees could return
to their home states to train their staff and utilities.
The highlight of the training was a session of hands-on
training conducted at Jefferson Parish Water Works. Louisiana Rural
Water coordinated between parish officials and KDM Generators to provide
several hands-on stations, covering generator connection, bypass pumps,
variable frequency drives, maintenance and safety. Superintendent Doug
Pertuit also provided a tour of the facility’s emergency equipment,
including the emergency generators and an elevated safe house designed
to withstand winds up to 250 miles per hour.
The training also included a variety of classroom
training and thought exercises. A table-top exercise provided the class
an opportunity to think through the problems facing a system as a
hurricane approached.
“What we’re trying to simulate is an emergency event
that you have some prior knowledge,” explained Gary Williams, executive
director of the Florida Rural Water Association.
The exercise put groups in a position to consider, plan
and decide in all the areas affected by an impending disaster –
operations, finances, logistics, and planning. The scenario was designed
by Florida Rural Water to prepare rural utilities for the decisions and
plans needed in emergency response.
“This is really a great exercise because it forces
people to think outside of their comfort zone,” said Patrick Credeur,
executive director of the Louisiana Rural Water Association.
“The most important thing is the conversations you’ve
had in these groups,” Williams added. “This is where utilities share
ideas and build relationships.”
Other sections focused on the preparations needed before
an emergency, especially communication and coordination with other
agencies.
“We’re trying to get you to start communicating now,”
said Rusty Reeves, LRWA Water Circuit Rider. “You have to become part of
your state response now.”
The training covered other aspects directly-related to
sending staff into impacted areas to provide assistance, such as
supplies, payroll and immunizations. The training even covered issues
with the stress and grief of providing assistance to impacted areas.
The training was designed and presented by water
professionals with extensive experience in emergency response and
disaster relief, including Patrick Credeur and Rusty Reeves from the
Louisiana Rural Water Association; Gary Williams, Troy Hamburger, Robert
McVay and Scott Phillips of the Florida Rural Water Association; Larry
Bell of the Texas Rural Water Association; Jeff Ford of the Arkansas
Rural Water Association; and Tom Abernathy of the Mississippi Rural
Water Association.
Each delegate received a Certificate of Demonstrated
Competence, making them the first certified emergency responders in
rural water.
“You are now a part of what I’m calling the Rural Water
Emergency Response team,” Credeur said. “If something happens in my
state, I know who to call and I’m asking for you guys by name.”
The certificates were a formality for many in the class,
who already had experience responding to floods, tornados, ice storms
and hurricanes. Even without specific disaster experience, Williams
pointed out that rural water field staff is still in the business of
emergency response.
“You are all in the emergency response business,” he
said. “When you provide technical assistance to a system, it’s an
emergency to that system. The only difference is when it’s a widespread
disaster, that assistance is at another level.”
See In-Service Photos below:
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