Ernst speaks with first responders

Posted 8/30/19

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst empathized with eastern Iowa emergency management coordinators at a Washington County meeting on Aug. 20.In 2001, Ernst was the emergency management coordinator in Montgomery …

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Ernst speaks with first responders

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U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst empathized with eastern Iowa emergency management coordinators at a Washington County meeting on Aug. 20.

In 2001, Ernst was the emergency management coordinator in Montgomery County.

She was paid for eight hours a week plus “a lot of volunteer hours.” As she described her work two decades ago, many of the heads of area emergency management staff nodded in agreement.

Iowa has been hard hit by floods this year, particularly on the western and eastern edges of the state. County emergency management teams are on the front line of responding to those disasters.

Ernst said she flew with President Trump on Air Force 1 along with Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this year when he toured towns along the Missouri River that flooded, urging consideration for the unique situation of farm states when they are flooded. 

While recent disasters were one of the subjects discussed, coordinators wanted to talk about African swine fever and the threat it poses to hog production in Iowa.

It would be devastating if it hit in Washington County, said Marissa Reisen, the county’s emergency management coordinator. She said she is working to develop bio-security plans for every farm.

Brian Wright from Muscatine County called on Ernst to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop rapid response teams to respond to agriculture disease outbreaks similar to the National Transportation and Safety Board teams deployed after train derailments.

Ernst said she has been working to increase the status of agriculture disasters in the nation’s capital.

“Our food system is national security,” she said.

The coordinators also urged the senator to look into dispatchers and their classifications as administrative assistants rather than as emergency responders.

“No one truly understands what they go through,” Mahaska County Emergency Management Director Jamey Robinson said, adding that the burn-out rate for dispatchers is two to four years because of the stress of their jobs.

He thinks the dispatchers should be classified the same as the first responders they are dispatching.

When asked about his concerns, Washington County Sheriff Jarad Schneider said that more funding needs to be available for mental health issues and providing beds for people suffering from mental health issues as a substitute for being taken to jail.