America's Under-served Communities
A Group Discussion on the Challenges of Rural Emergency Management

Dianna H. Bryant, CIH, CSP
Associate Professor and Director
Institute for Rural Emergency Management
College of Health and Human Services
University of Central Missouri

Amy Sebring
Moderator

Feruary 11, 2009
Contents:
Live Meeting Recording (WMV) This is a large file and requires Windows Media Player or Windows Media Components for QuickTime, or a similar product to view.
Transcript (HTML)
Transcript (MS Word)
 Slides (Adobe PDF)
Discussion Questions (RTF)
Ratings
Reviews
Rate/Review This Session
Related Websites:
Institute for Rural Emergency Management
Rural People, Rural Places: The Hidden Costs of Hurricane Katrina
Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium
Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)
Emergency Management in County Government: A National Survey
Up Arrow to Top of Page RATINGS
33 Ratings Submitted: 33 attended, 0 read, 0 viewed
6 (18%) Academia 2 (6%)
18 (55%) Business 4 (12%)
8 (24%) Government 18 (55%)
1 (3%) Volunteers 7 (21%)
0 (0%) Other 2 (6%)
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REVIEWS

"I thought the format was excellent. Sending out the questions was helpful. This was one of the best conferences I've ever been involved with. Thank you very much."
Douglas Hess
Wood County, WV LEPC

"Much needed focus and more is needed in this area!"
Mark Warnick
HPC Consulting

"Excellent topic which sorely needs attention. Call us anytime you need subject matter expertise on rural."
Amy Hughes
Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium

"Thanks for making this meeting available on line. Very helpful."
Sinoel Contreras
Office of the Texas Secretary of State

"I did not know about the forum until last night. I may have been able to contact more of our rural emergency managers from eastern Oregon and eastern Washington had I known earlier. Don't know if I did failed to see an earlier notice about the forum. Very good topic for this area."
Dennis Hull
NOAA/National Weather Service

"I very much appreciate your focus on the challenges faced by the rural communities. This was a very beneficial and lively discussion. It is good to know that there are many of us out there in the same boat and we are working to overcome these challenges. Thanks again."
Rhonda Grandi
Sierra County Health Dept.


"Enjoyed this session and echo the sentiment to continue this long overdue topic. Would welcome future session on 'best practices for rural response and recovery efforts'."
Pat Hays-Moore
NM Department of Health

"I attended with my colleague, Pat Hays-Moore. The discussion was very interesting and the insight of other participants shows that we definitely need more attention focused on rural communities and their stuggles with emergency management. Additionally I appreciated the knowledge and insight of the facilitators."
Joan Murphy
NM Department of Health

"I found this to be very helpful. It gave me an idea as to what our EM is doing or not doing. I do think that our EM has failed the community greatly, but dont know how to address the issues."

"There definitely is comfort in knowing you aren't alone in being rural. FEMA has improved its guidance over the years, but there is still a long way to go (When I first came aboard, everything cheerfully stated that it was designed with a population of 50,000 in mind. I'm delighted to see this focus on the rural. Particularly since the aging population issueand those with significant special needs sometimes prefer a more isolated living arrangement but are more needy of assistance."
Darla
ME EMA

"Very good opportunity to hear how rural areas throughout the United States are dealing with very similar issues."
Steve Tolen
Plumas District Hospital

"The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs works with Tribal governments and the community services their citizens need. Most of Indian country is rural and rates of poverty and disability are high which exacerbates problems with emergency responsiveness. I look forward to the recording and transcript materials and plan to use the data in future grant proposals. The Forum was well run and chock full of information. Thanks!"
Christine Louton
Department of the Interior, Office of Civil Rights

"I think it was an excellent opportunity to bring visibility to our rural challenges. Unfortunately, I am unable to type and listen and read simutaneously. Not sure of a solution but for me the pace was too fast for good comprehension so will attempt to replay for a better appreciation of all that was said."
John Tallas
Coffee County Emergency Management Agency

"This subject is an important one that I believe has not been taken seriously by our government. I'm glad to see that people are talking. I can't wait for the time more questions are answered with ' there's a program for that'."

"It was helpful to hear suggestions about how we can address important challenges to get help for our rural areas. No magic answers unfortunately. However, addressing the issue is a starting point. We do have some excellent connections in the Florida FEMA office, and I'll pass along information to them which I gleaned from this webinar. I do think that we need to have a concerted effort to approach faith-based funders...and perhaps President Obama's White House Faith-based Office."
Rick Heers
I HOPE, Inc.

"Save the Children has developed a guide for including children in emergency planning, which is aimed to be helpful to both urban and rural communities. Please feel free to pass it around. The free download can be accessed at: www.savethechildren.org/usemergency."
Kate Dischino
Save the Children

"Guest speaker was outstanding; questions were thought-provoking; I agree that many in the cities and in Washington have no clue to the difficulties of emergency management, planning, and response in rural areas."

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DIANNA BRYANT

Dianna H. Bryant is an environmental health professional with research interests in emergency preparedness. She is currently the Director of the Institute for Rural Emergency Management (IREM) and Program Coordinator for the BS in Crisis and Disaster Management. She has been a Certified Industrial Hygienist in comprehensive practice since 1991. In 2002, Ms. Bryant achieved the designation of Certified Safety Professional.

The Institute has worked with not-for-profits organizations, LEPC's, economic development agencies, and emergency services departments and provided students with experience in emergency preparedness and recovery planning. Currently IREM is creating a student team, DART, to provide community preparedness and recovery support services in rural Missouri.

From 1989 until accepting her current position in 2007, she taught at University in the Department of Safety Sciences. As a tenured Associate Professor of Industrial Hygiene, she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the fields of industrial hygiene and safety. Ms. Bryant has worked as a public health specialist and hazardous materials emergency responder.

Ms. Bryant earned a B.S. degree in Biology and a M.S. degree in Industrial Hygiene from Central Missouri State University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is currently researching Campground Emergency Preparedness and Rural Emergency Services.