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Moderator
Steve Jones (right) with panel
members.
Dave
Shelly--Campus Photography |
On a cold day early last January,
a blinding snow squall caused several
multivehicle pileups on Interstate
80 in central Pennsylvania. One, by
the Milesburg exit in a rural section
of Centre County, involved 17 cars
and 30 tractor trailers. Six people
lost their lives. It was a disaster
that called for a coordinated response
effort among several agencies--including
emergency medical services, several
fire departments, local and state
police, and hazardous materials experts.
More than 700 emergency personnel
from 80 agencies from seven counties
responded to this disaster.
"We needed a unified command
that day so that decisions could be
made in one place and then delegated
to the proper authority," said
Bellefonte Fire Chief and I-80 Incident
Commander Tim Kniseley. "That
way everyone was aware of what was
going on. An incident like this can
happen anywhere. But you don't think
it's going to happen in your own backyard.
It comes down to preparedness."
Kniseley was a panelist in a recent
live, interactive satellite uplink
training program to encourage preparedness--particularly
in rural areas, where the individuals
who come together in an emergency
might not have had the opportunity
to work together. The program, titled
"Rural Emergency Preparedness:
Communicating Across Professions,"
was sponsored by the Pennsylvania
Office of Rural Health, located at
the Penn State University Park campus,
and the University of Pittsburgh at
Bradford's Center for Rural Health
Practice.
Kniseley and other panelists used
the I-80 pileup as an example of an
emergency, showing clips of the wreckage
and providing opportunities for audience
discussion. Participants--first responders
and emergency personnel--sent in questions
before or during the program, which
Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB)
uplinked by satellite; PSPB's Steve
Jones moderated the event.
The program was the first in a series
of similar training efforts coming
from Penn State and the Center for
Rural Health Practice. "Penn
State has tremendous outreach throughout
rural Pennsylvania," said Michael
Meit, the center's director. "We
see Penn State as a partner."
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Eighty
agencies came together to respond
to the
I-80 crash.
Courtesy
of the Centre County Emergency
Management Agency |
Communication
Is Vital
Meit added, "The title of this
program says it all. Having people work
together and know one another is the
main objective."
Lisa Davis, director of Penn State's
Office of Rural Health, said, "Response
across the state is complex, and it's
more so in rural areas. There are a
smaller number of people, and responders
are mostly volunteers. That causes additional
challenges."
Dr. Stephen Pulley, of the Montgomery
Hospital Medical Center in Norristown,
added about the program: "The more
exposure to incidents, whether in person
or through programs such as this, the
better prepared the emergency services
leadership can be."
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