Author: Gill Finley
Major Program: Disaster Preparedness
The State of Kentucky faces many disasters that are mostly weather related; from winter storms, heavy winds, tornadoes, lightning, and flooding. In addition to these natural disasters that call for emergency preparedness, Kentucky recorded 1,330 overdose deaths in 2016. With so many challenges revolving drug overdoses to multiple gun shootings as well as natural disasters, preparing the youths on how to respond became a necessity. Therefore, the Youth Emergency Preparedness (YEP) event of Ke
Author: Linda Brown-Price
It’s always a good idea to keep important papers in a safe place such as a safe-deposit box or in a fireproof, waterproof, and burglar-proof home safe. This is even more important during emergencies when you need information in a hurry. Sometimes, though, such papers are lost, stolen, or destroyed. . A class on Emergency Preparedness in Recordkeeping was taught to older residents in Kenton County by the Kentucky State Area Specialist for Family and Consumer Sciences. Topics covered include
Author: Roberta Dwyer
Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico, the San Luis Rey wildfire and other disasters showed racehorses in dire straits on national news broadcasts. The 8th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit was held June 2018 in Lexington, KY. Disaster preparedness as it related to racehorses was a topic of discussion to the 200 people in attendance and the international audience who viewed via live stream. The presentations are archived on the Jockey Club website for free viewing. Multiple social media o
At the 2017 National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs Conference, animal disaster experts from Extension, government, private sectors, and industry met in Gulfport, MS. There was no shortage of topics to discuss. During 2017, the US experienced 17 separate billion dollar disasters related to weather events. A lecture and workshop was held during the meeting about the lessons learned from Multi-Jurisdictional Animal Coordination Exercise (MARCE) 2017 and the ensuing re
While human safety is paramount in disaster response, Hurricane Katrina taught us that unless pets and animals are also considered, people will risk their lives returning to a disaster zone for their animals.The Multi-Jurisdictional Animal Coordination Exercise (MARCE) 2017 is a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) functional exercise testing the disaster response capabilities of state emergency operation centers. This was conducted July 11-14, 2017 and involved 137 particip
Author: Melissa Morgan (Newman)
Animal response personnel typically are not well-versed in the processes required to request and offer assistance between states via the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) and request assistance from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) via memorandums of understanding (MOUs) or from the federal government via the Resource Request Form (RRF). In addition, few mission ready packages (MRPs) for animal resources exist within states or in the Mutual Aid Support System (MASS). Similarly,
Author: Kevin Lyons
According to the American Red Cross, seven people die every day from a home fire, most impacting children and the elderly; thirty-six people suffer injuries as a result of home fires every day; and over $7 billion in property damage occurs every year. If a fire starts in a home the inhabitants may have as little as two minutes to escape. During a fire, early warning from a working smoke alarm coupled with a fire escape plan can save lives. The Monroe County Cooperative Extensio
Author: Myron Evans
September 18th was the first day of National Farm Safety Week. I had talked with Mr. Kenny Brammell, the East Carter FFA instructor and Mr. Will Davis, the West Carter FFA instructor and learned that they wanted to combine the two schools to do a farm safety program at East Carter High School for the two schools. I asked them about the possibility of the Extension Office teaming up with them and doing a second program in the evening for the adults at our Annual Farm and Family
