What would happen if there was a disaster at the county fair? And what if that disaster was related to livestock and companion animals?
Nebraska Extension has partnered with Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to host a Virtual Table Top Exercise in several locations across the state. The VTTX will be held on Thursday, June 25, 10 am – 3 pm CST (9 am – 2 pm MST) with an hour lunch break. All Extension professionals are invited to attend the VTTX.
The topic for the exercise is “Disaster at the County Fair,” and the situation manual was written through a collaborative effort between EMI (Emergency Management Institute) and EDEN (Extension Disaster Education Network). EMI realized the need for more agricultural-based exercises.
In any disaster, it’s important to understand the roles of Extension personnel—and others’ roles—in responding to the incident. VTTX are valuable opportunities to interact with local organization and agency representatives and to learn from each other in a no-fault, hazard-specific environment.
VTTX are conducted using a video teleconference platform, and they allow connected sites to assess current plans, policies, and procedures while learning from other connected sites. The following list includes site and registration information:
Norfolk—Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, Transit Building, 1800 Syracuse Avenue. To register, contact Julia Sage, (402) 857-3391 or jsage@poncatribe-ne.org. For site-specific questions, contact Faythe Petersen, (402) 844-2050 o fpeterse@ci.norfolk.ne.us.
Wahoo—Saunders Co. Emergency Management, 387 N. Chestnut. To register or for site-specific questions, contact Terry Miller, (402) 443-5645 or tmiller@co.saunders.ne.us.
Kearney—University of Nebraska at Kearney, Communications Building, Room 101, 1910 University Drive. To register, use the link: https://unk.enrollware.com/enroll?id=705211. For site-specific questions, contact Scott Benson, (308) 865-8448 or bensonsa1@unk.edu.
Scottsbluff—Harms Technology Center, Room E-188, 2620 College Park. To register, use the link: http://go.unl.edu/v4gk. For site-specific questions, contact Tim Newman, (308) 436-6689 or tnewman@scottsbluff.org.
An additional site is the Nebraska Department of Agriculture in Lincoln; this site is for state Extension personnel and specialists and state agency staff.
The registration deadline is Friday, June 19. If you plan to attend, you are encouraged to complete a VTTX 119 form (sent on June 1 to "All County" listserv). If you do not have a FEMA ID or if you do not know what the number is, please visit https://cdp.dhs.gov/FEMASID/ Bring the completed VTTX 119 form with you on June 25, if possible.
For general questions about the VTTX, contact Ashley Mueller, (402) 727-2775 or ashley.mueller@unl.edu.