In mid March, we welcomed five International Visitor Leadership Program participants from Kazakhstan who examined “Crisis and Disaster Management.”
The group began their program with a visit to Pensacola City Hall where Councilman Charles Bare welcomed them. They next met with Greg Strader, the executive director of the Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE), to examine how a civil society organization develops disaster plans.
After lunch, the group took a site visit to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where they toured the facility and met with John Dosh, division manager of the Escambia County Division of Emergency Management, to examine the best practices in emergency preparedness, management, planning, and response at the local level. A second site visit, time spent at Escambia Fire Rescue Station #3, complimented the time at the EOC and highlighted practices in firefighting and emergency rescues at the local level.
Discussion continued at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola where Deputy Air Operations Officer Mike McCarthy focused on emergency preparedness and crisis situations management at an airport. To round out their time at NAS, the group toured the National Naval Aviation Museum before heading to West Florida Hospital where Margie Hobbs addressed planning for and managing of medical needs during disasters.
Thank you to everyone who helped advance the cause of citizen diplomacy by volunteering time to meet with our new Kazakh friends.
