By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Director of Tucker County Emergency Management Kevin White has been kept busy with events. He updated the Tucker County Commission on the status of his department at the August 9th meeting of the County Commission.
White informed the Commission of his coordination with events. He said his department were updating events on such matters as up to date weather information. “We have mainly been working with a lot of events,” White said. “As far as that goes, weather reports for, we just recently did a week for Picking in Parsons. We’re getting set up now with the County Fair. We’ll get all the local information for the weather reports and lightning strikes and all that stuff. So that we can send out those warnings to events as they are going on.”
White said his department continues to work with the construction companies to release information to the public about the work on Corridor H in the county. “We are still working extensively with Kokosing and Triton and all construction of all the Corridor work. Trying to put out information to the public. Trying to tell them when they can expect road closures or extensive delays such as the steel they are still hanging at 219.”
County Commissioner Mike Rosenau, commended White’s work informing the public on the construction project. “I want to commend you on that,” Rosenau said. “That really effects a lot of people’s lives because a lot of people work in Elkins. So that information you put out is really important for the public.”
White said the collaboration also helps to keep first responders informed. “We work with them to of course get information to the public, but also so first responders know,” White said. “So that Mike’s dispatchers know that, hey, if dispatch something going on 219 south towards Elkins, you know, this is what we need to do to make sure they get through the line and get up to the front and we still have the ability to provide emergency services.”
Rosenau said that White went above and beyond in informing the public of the status of construction. “Well, that’s expected from Emergency Management,” Rosenau said. “For the first responders and stuff, but it trickled on down to the public. So, that’s what I want to thank you about. I would expect the first responders and stuff would have communication with Kokosing, but then to the average tax payer it went down to. So that’s beyond what you are expected to do. I really want to thank you.”
White said he strives to provide as much information to the public as he can. “One of the things I learned many, many years ago,” White said, “the lack of information is worse than giving the information. Some people will not like the information. They’re going to be upset because the road’s going to be closed or something like that. But if you give out the information, the percentage is going to be greater if you just don’t give out the information. So, providing the information, whether they like it or not, works out better than not providing it. That’s why I try to give everything I can to the public.”
White said his department is coordinating with the Tucker County Schools to hold an Active Shooter Training along with law enforcement. “Later this month, we do have one of our Active Shooter Classes coming up,” White said. “Which is going to be put on by the School and Randolph County and Tucker County Sheriff Department. We will be participating in that.”
There will be separate training at all three Tucker County Schools. White said that expressing the need for the training has been an obstacle that was only recently overcome. “I think they start at the High School on the 21st of August, I believe. So we’ve facilitated three events for that. We’ve worked extensively with the board office for the last four or five years to try to get this to happen. Finally, we got the importance of it through to everybody and everybody has come together and agreed to do this. We will do an Active Shooter at Tucker County High School, at Tucker Valley and at Davis. Almost all on separate dates and it will involve our staff. Of course, there will be no students in the facility, or anything like that. It will be on off days. ”
White said the object of the training will be to help School staff to recognize the sounds of an active shooter on the campus. “The teachers will be able to go through live scenarios and the officers will be using blank rounds so they can even hear what it sounds like if something was happening in their building. Cause there’s chances that something that happens at the Career Center, they don’t even know what’s going on at the main building. This will test their capabilities of communication and their plans of action of how they work around that stuff.”
White said his department felt it was important that all the Tucker County Schools were involved. “We thought it was important to do it at all three schools,” White said, “because there’s no plan that works perfect at all three schools. They each have to have their own individual schools.”
According to White the trainings will be held in August, October and January.
The next meeting of the Tucker County Commission will be held August 23rd at 6 p.m. at the Tucker County Courthouse Old Courtroom in Parsons.