New tool aids emergency preparedness efforts

University of Kansas students recently created a tool designed to enhance emergency preparedness efforts.

Officials said military, veteran, and civilian students in the university’s new homeland security master’s program developed and implemented an emergency plan for a long-term blackout during a recent simulation-style practicum at the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

The endeavor involved nine students acting as the Douglas County emergency management team, addressing a malware intrusion, officials noted, referencing Douglas County’s team worked closely with the students leading up to the exercise and would receive the final plan as a resource for future emergencies.

Students took on roles in the areas of logistics, communications, the Army National Guard, law, engineering, first response, and medicine, among others, navigating civil unrest, the media, legal and political implications and unforeseen circumstances.

“This exercise provides an incredible opportunity for our first responders, the National Guard, emergency management officials, and media to test our coordination, policies, and procedures now so we are better prepared for threats to our power grid,” Teri Smith, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, said. “Our emergency management community must be prepared to deal with the challenges posed by a short- or long-term mass power outage, and by training together, we continue building relationships that leave us better positioned to respond to a real-world event. Not only does this permit an opportunity to test our abilities, but it has an impact on students and maximizes active learning while supporting their community.”

University personnel said the exercise was the result of extensive research and modeled after the 2003 blackout of the Eastern Grid and the hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in 2017.