Emergency preparedness and management show great potential as growth areas for Extension programming. This Commentary examines two such programs. In Brown County, Kansas, Extension\u27s decision to get involved in emergency management resulted in significantly increased funding, a renewal of faith by local county government, and a successful response to the 2007 ice storm. In Alaska, the decision to begin teaching emergency response officials and the public how to use Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers resulted in a large new audience in a previously untapped program area outside of 4-H

Brown, Stephen C

Ploeger, Jennifer

English

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The Journal of Extension Volume 46 Number 5 Article 2 10-1-2008 A Kansas and Alaska Example of Extension Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness Stephen C. Brown University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, ffscb2@uaf.edu Jennifer Ploeger Kansas State University Research and Extension, jploeger@ksu.edu This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Brown, S. C., & Ploeger, J. (2008). A Kansas and Alaska Example of Extension Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness. The Journal of Extension, 46(5), Article 2. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/joe/vol46/iss5/2 This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Journal of Extension by an authorized editor of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact kokeefe@clemson.edu. 	 JOEHOME JOURNAL GUIDELINES ABOUT	JOE CONTACT NATIONAL	JOB	BANKCurrent	Issues Back	IssuesOctober	2008	//	Volume	46	//	Number	5	//	Commentary	//	5COM10A	Kansas	and	Alaska	Example	of	Extension	Opportunities	inEmergency	PreparednessAbstractEmergency	preparedness	and	management	show	great	potential	as	growth	areas	for	Extensionprogramming.	This	Commentary	examines	two	such	programs.	In	Brown	County,	Kansas,Extension's	decision	to	get	involved	in	emergency	management	resulted	in	significantlyincreased	funding,	a	renewal	of	faith	by	local	county	government,	and	a	successful	response	tothe	2007	ice	storm.	In	Alaska,	the	decision	to	begin	teaching	emergency	response	officials	andthe	public	how	to	use	Global	Positioning	System	(GPS)	receivers	resulted	in	a	large	newaudience	in	a	previously	untapped	program	area	outside	of	4-H.	IntroductionThe	ultimate	goal	of	many	Extension	endeavors	should	be	to	program	themselves	out	of	existence.What	we	mean	by	that	statement	is	that	responsibility	for	many	initiatives	should	be	handed	off	tovolunteers,	other	agencies,	given	lower	priority,	or	in	some	cases	discontinued	so	that	new	andmore	pressing	issues	can	be	addressed.	One	such	issue	that	currently	stretches	across	the	entirebreadth	of	Extension	expertise	is	emergency	preparedness	and	management.	This	commentaryexamines	two	Extension	programs	in	Kansas	and	Alaska	to	reveal	how	a	programmatic	shift	intoemergency	preparedness/management	has	caused	a	large	increase	in	audiences,	relevance,positive	image,	and	funding.Brown	County,	KansasIn	Kansas,	the	typical	agent	staffing	level	is	two	agents	per	county.	In	most	cases,	there	is	oneAgriculture/Natural	Resources	agent	and	one	Family	Consumer	Science/4-H	agent.	Occasionally	inKansas,	some	county	governments	(County	Commissioners)	are	forced	to	fund	only	one	agentposition	in	a	county	because	of	local	budget	shortfalls.	In	such	a	scenario,	the	single	agent	isresponsible	for	all	four	program	areas.	Quite	a	daunting	task	indeed!	What	often	results	is	a	countyprogram	that	can	barely	keep	its	head	above	water	and	has	little	opportunity	to	excel.Brown	County,	Kansas,	is	one	such	example.	In	2003,	the	County	Commissioners	de-funded	theprogram,	resulting	in	the	elimination	of	the	Agriculture	agent	position.	If	anything,	Brown	CountyExtension	(and	Kansas	State	University,	too)	had	become	a	victim	of	its	own	success.	Examples	ofthis	success	were	everywhere.	Farm	production	was	at	an	all-time	high,	the	county	had	one	of	thehighest	adoption	rates	of	no-till	farming	in	the	country,	and	it	was	common	for	farmers	to	havecollege	degrees	in	agriculture	and	sometimes	even	graduate	degrees.So	why	was	Brown	County	Extension's	program	funding	reduced?	Basically,	it	had	failed	to	evolve.Stephen	C.	BrownDistrict	Agriculture	AgentUniversity	of	Alaska	Fairbanks	Cooperative	Extension	ServicePalmer,	Alaskaffscb2@uaf.eduJennifer	PloegerBrown	County	Extension	DirectorKansas	State	University	Research	and	ExtensionHiawatha,	Kansasjploeger@ksu.eduOther	agencies	such	as	the	Soil	and	Water	Conservation	District	and	the	Natural	ResourcesConservation	Service	had	taken	over	responsibilities	Extension	once	had.	Much	of	the	traditionalagricultural	Extension	programming	had	become	irrelevant,	and	the	County	Commissioners	hadtaken	note.In	2005	that	began	to	change.	Brown	County	Extension	became	involved	with	helping	the	countydevelop	a	Geographic	Information	System	(GIS)	that	could	be	used	by	emergency	managementpersonnel,	as	well	as	other	agencies	(Brown,	2007).	The	County	Commissioners	were	impressedand	began	encouraging	Extension's	further	involvement	in	emergency	management	issues	byasking	it	to	become	a	member	of	the	Local	Emergency	Preparedness	Committee	(LEPC).Realizing	an	opportunity	to	streamline	and	improve	county	government,	the	CountyCommissioners	invited	Brown	County	Extension	to	assume	all	responsibilities	for	emergencymanagement	programming.	If	Brown	County	Extension	agreed	to	this,	the	County	Commissionerswould	provide	funding	for	a	new	agent	position.	That	is	what	ultimately	happened.Normally,	this	would	be	the	end	of	a	nice	story.	However,	Brown	County,	Kansas	was	at	theepicenter	of	the	record-setting	December	2007	ice	storm	(Figure	1).	So,	how	well	did	BrownCounty	Extension	handle	a	disaster	that	left	the	county	without	electricity	for	weeks	and	forcedmany	into	public	shelters?	The	short	answer	is	"extremely	well."Figure	1.Ice	Storm	Devastated	Horton,	Kansas	(photo	by	Jennifer	Ploeger)The	things	that	most	successful	Extension	programs	excel	at	are	communicating	through	mediaoutlets,	managing	people	(particularly	volunteers),	and	coordinating	between	many	differentagencies.	It	turns	out	those	are	the	most	important	skills	needed	in	responding	to	a	disaster	likethe	ice	storm.	Because	Brown	County	Extension	was	extremely	practiced	in	these	efforts,	it	wasnot	difficult	to	perform	them	efficiently	and	effectively.An	additional	benefit	of	Extension	leading	the	disaster	response	is	that	Brown	County	Extensionwas	already	seen	as	an	unbiased	entity	and	one	that	enjoyed	a	long	history	of	public	trust.	Thisproved	especially	important	when	stopping	misinformation	and	rumors	that	quickly	developedduring	and	after	the	storm.Kenai	Peninsula	and	Mat-Su	Borough,	AlaskaIn	Alaska,	the	Global	Positioning	System	(GPS)	is	more	than	a	recreational	luxury.	For	many,	it	is	anabsolute	necessity.	GPS	is	used	extensively	by	hikers,	hunters,	snowmobilers,	and	dogsledmushers,	as	well	as	by	emergency	response	organizations.	Unfortunately,	many	of	these	users	arenot	aware	of	the	subtle	complexities	that	can	be	magnified	by	Alaska's	geography	and	extremecold	(Medred,	2008).	The	result	can	be	life	threatening	and	sometimes	fatal	(Cejnar,	2007).In	the	fall	of	2007	an	introductory	GPS	course	was	developed	for	the	Kenai	Peninsula	District	andmarketed	towards	local	emergency	response	organizations.	The	focus	of	the	program	was	to	teachagency	personnel	"what	the	GPS	owners	manual	doesn't	tell	you."	This	included	skills	such	asrecognizing	different	coordinate	system	formats,	identifying	appropriate	map	datums,	and	specialtopics	unique	to	Alaska	(Figure	2).	The	class	would	be	a	3-hour	hands-on	course.	It	was	initiallyanticipated	there	would	only	be	limited	interest	in	the	class	and	that	the	course	would	thus	havelow	participation	numbers	of	not	more	than	six	to	seven	people.	Given	the	importance	of	the	topic,though,	course	developers	believed	that	low	participation	numbers	did	not	necessarily	mean	lowimpact.Figure	2.Using	GPS	in	Alaska	(photo	by	Michael	Lewis)The	program	was	advertised	primarily	through	word-of-mouth	by	the	Kenai	Peninsula	District	4-H/Home	Economics	agent	who	was	a	member	of	the	Local	Emergency	Preparedness	Committee(LEPC).	Despite	such	a	low-key	advertising	effort,	what	was	originally	to	be	a	single	evening	coursemushroomed	into	six	separate	workshops	over	2	days.	More	than	60	members	of	the	Alaska	StateTroopers,	Civil	Air	Patrol,	911	service,	and	other	emergency	responders	participated	in	theprogram.As	it	turns	out,	there	was	a	largely	unrecognized	need	for	fundamental	GPS	information.	Accordingto	one	of	the	participants,	previous	attempts	at	teaching	GPS	by	other	organizations	had	resultedin	programs	that	were	"too	simple	or	far	too	complex."	Cooperative	Extension's	experience	inproviding	educational	programs	that	considered	the	audience	and	balanced	content	accordinglywas	the	key.Following	the	success	of	the	Kenai	Peninsula	program,	a	similar	GPS	program	was	developed	forthe	Matanuska/Copper	River	District.	Because	this	district	includes	a	large	population	center	forthe	state,	the	program	was	marketed	to	the	general	public	in	hopes	of	attracting	recreational	usersof	GPS.	As	happened	in	the	Kenai	Peninsula,	what	was	originally	planned	as	a	single	eveningcourse,	instead	blossomed	into	11	separate	classes	for	over	400	individuals.ConclusionCooperative	Extension	has	been	involved	in	various	types	of	programming	with	emergencypreparedness	implications	from	its	very	inception.	One	need	look	no	further	than	programs	inhome	canning	and	farm	disease	prevention	to	find	examples.	However,	two	things	have	changedthat	should	cause	Extension	to	rethink	a	stronger	emphasis	on	this	role.	The	first	is	the	new	andexponentially	expanding	part	technology	plays	in	emergency	response,	management,	andpreparedness.	The	second	is	the	government's	shift	in	funding	priorities	in	a	post-September	11thworld.As	evidenced	by	Brown	County,	Kansas,	local	governments	are	more	than	willing	to	fund	Extensionprograms	when	they	meet	an	important	need.	They	are	especially	willing	to	do	this	whenExtension	expertise	leads	to	more	efficient	use	of	public	dollars.	The	Brown	County	Commissionersare	very	eager	to	brag	that	the	local	Extension	program	had	decreased	the	demand	on	taxpayerdollars	while	increasing	needed	services	and	leadership	for	the	county.In	Alaska,	GPS	classes	for	emergency	response	personnel	helped	them	better	respond	toemergencies.	GPS	programs	for	recreational	users	helped	those	users	better	understand	and	applythe	technology	so	they	don't	become	the	target	of	an	emergency	response	effort.	In	conductingthese	programs,	Extension	has	carved	a	new	niche	for	itself	in	a	non-traditional	field.In	Kansas	and	Alaska,	the	unifying	theme	of	both	programs	is	the	need	for	people	to	understandand	apply	technology	to	current	situations.	Just	as	an	early	1900's	Extension	agent	was	aninvaluable	resource	to	the	farm	family,	today's	agent	could	be	just	as	important	when	it	comes	totechnology,	and,	in	the	case	of	this	Commentary,	its	applications	in	emergencypreparedness/management.Funding	for	homeland	security	programs	is	immense	and	will	likely	be	that	way	for	a	very	longtime.	Many	of	the	dollars	to	support	these	programs	will	come	from	existing	programs,	andExtension	is	feeling	the	pinch.	In	times	of	trouble	it	is	natural	to	run	to	traditional	areas	of	strength.Fortunately	or	unfortunately--depending	upon	one's	point	of	view--Extension	has	done	such	a	goodjob	in	its	traditional	programming	areas	that	those	are	the	weakest	places	to	seek	shelter	duringtimes	of	trouble.Emergency	preparedness/management	Extension	programming	across	the	United	States	isbecoming	more	and	more	common.	However,	so	have	the	voices	that	say	this	is	not	a	role	forExtension.	We	would	argue	otherwise,	and	offer	the	Kansas	and	Alaska	programs	as	successfulexamples.ReferencesBrown,	S.	C.	(2007).	The	Brown	County	Online	GIS:	An	example	of	a	multi-agency	collaborativemapping	system.	Journal	of	Extension,	[On-line],	45(5)	Article	5TOT3.	Available	at:http://www.joe.org/joe/2007october/tt3.shtmlCejnar,	J.	(2007,	December	11).	Emergency	responders	go	high	tech,	Peninsula	Clarion,	Soldatna-Kenai,	Alaska.Medred,	C.	(2008,	May	8).	Gear	is	fine	but	won't	replace	skill	or	good	sense.	Anchorage	Daily	News,Anchorage,	Alaska.	Discussion

A Kansas and Alaska Example of Extension Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness

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A Kansas and Alaska Example of Extension Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness

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