What happens when disaster occurs in your community?
For the first time ever, Rock Island and Scott Counties have collaborated in an effort to bring national and local speakers in to share their personal experiences dealing with disasters. The Quad Cities Disaster Readiness Conference will be held on May 21, 2014 at the Isle of Capri Conference Center, and will address lessons learned from actual events in Joplin, MO, Washington, IL, and LeClaire, IA. Presentations will provide firsthand information to first responders, support agencies, community partners and elected officials who will be responding to and managing large scale disasters. This conference is a collaboration of the Scott County Healthcare Coalition, Rock Island and Scott County Emergency Management Agencies, Rock Island and Scott County Health Departments, Genesis Health System, Unity Point Health-Trinity, Rock Island Arsenal/Garrison, American Red Cross, and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges.
The agenda for the conference and speaker bios are below.
7:15-8:00 am
Registration
8:00-8:10 am
Welcome
8:10-9:00 am
Ryan Nicholls, MS Fire and Emergency Management, "Responder Logistical Support"
9:10-10:00 am
Rebecca and Genevieve Williams, "Social Media, Joplin, MO"
10:00-10:30 am
Networking and Vendors (Opportunity for media interviews with speakers)
• ServPro, ProPac, Rock Island Medical Reserve Corp, Red Cross/Quad City VOAD, Werner Restoration, Modern Woodman of America and Grainger
10:30-11:20 am
Breakout Session:
• Donna Dubberke and Maren Stoflet, "Severe Weather Response"
• Lt. Kody Stitz, Coast Guard, "LeClaire Tugboat Incident"
• Troy Erbentraut, RHCC Peoria, "Washington, IL Tornado"
11:30-Noon
Closing Remarks and Evaluation
SCOTT COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Administrative Center
600 W. 4th Street
Davenport, Iowa 52801-1030
Office: (563) 326-8618 Fax: (563)326-8774
www.scottcountyiowa.com/health
Speaker Bios
Ryan Nicholls: Ryan is the Emergency Management Planning Specialist for the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to that, he served as the Director for the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management where he worked in all phases of emergency management for the local governing bodies.
Ryan worked for the FEMA Long-Term Recovery Team following Katrina. Since Katrina, he has worked in Springfield, Greene County as the local Emergency Management Director. He also serves on the Southwest Missouri Incident Support Team. Since his time in these positions, he has worked many disaster incidents such as ice storms, floods, and tornadoes, including the Joplin tornado of May 2011 and Hurricane Sandy of 2012.
Ryan has a Masters Degree in Fire and Emergency Management at Oklahoma State University. He has received his Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers, the Missouri Certified Emergency Manager, and has completed the Emergency Management Advanced Professional Development Series from FEMA. He received his Bachelors of Nursing from Missouri State University. Prior to Emergency Management, he worked as a Registered Nurse in a Neuro-Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He lives in Greene County with his wife and six children.
Rebecca Williams: Rebecca is the managing administrator at Joplin TornadoInfo a Facebook community with over 46,000 fans She is co - author of "The Use of Social Media for Disaster Recovery" a field guide currently in revision. Rebecca is a seventh generation Ozarkian and community activist. She is a 1986 graduate of Missouri Southern State University with an Associate of Science in Nursing. Rebecca has worked as a crisis intervention specialist, psychiatric nurse, home health and labor & delivery nurse. She has experience in radio, television and cable television broadcasting, sales, copywriting, public relations and voice over work. Rebecca is dedicated to promoting disaster recovery social media infrastructure preparedness.
Genevieve Williams: Genevieve is the co-founder and project manager of Joplin Tornado Info, and is obsessed with Web 2.0 and Disaster Recovery. She has worked in Social Media and Web Marketing for the past 4 years. Genevieve is currently working on her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism at Missouri State University and previously studied Alternative Energy at Crowder College where she participated in three DOE Solar Decathlons.
Donna Dubberke: Growing up in tornado country, Donna always wanted to be a meteorologist (from the time she was 9 years old!) She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Meteorology, and then joined the National Weather Service in 1992. Since then she has worked in forecast offices in Texas, Oklahoma, and now the Quad Cities. She is currently the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) for the Quad Cities Forecast Office. In this role, she is responsible for facilitating community safety and preparedness initiatives throughout eastern Iowa, western Illinois, and northeast Missouri.
Maren Stoflet: Mare is the Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Davenport, IA. She earned a bachelor of science degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Maren began her career with the National Weather Service in 2002, and has served as a meteorologist at the weather forecasting offices in Springfield, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas. Her interest in the hydrologic aspects of forecasting brought Maren to her current role as Service Hydrologist, where she oversees the NWS Davenport office's hydrology program and interacts with federal, state, and local partners.
Lt. Kody Stitz: LT Stitz serves as the Supervisor of Marine Safety Detachment Quad Cities in Rock Island, Illinois. As the Supervisor he is responsible for Coast Guard operations in all or portions of a five state area (Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska) that includes over 700 miles of commercially navigable waters of the Missouri, Des Moines, and Upper Mississippi rivers and their tributaries. He leads eleven active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel in promoting safety, security, and environmental protection in the region.
Major ICS events that LT Stitz has been involved with: Towing vessel Stephen L. Colby sinking in the Mississippi River with 90,000 gal of oil on board (2013); Oil tanker Eagle Otome collision in Beaumont, TX spilling 460,000 gal of crude oil into the Sabine River (2010), Hurricane Ike devastation to the Texas coast (2008), Ferry LeConte grounding in Alaska with 109 passengers and 20,000 gal of oil on board (2004).
LT Stitz is a prior enlisted member who achieved the rank of Marine Science Technician First Class prior to selection to the Coast Guard's Precommissioning Program for Enlisted Personnel (PPEP) where he was granted a 2-year sabbatical to complete his Bachelors of Business Administration Degree from the University of Alaska Southeast. Upon completion of the degree LT Stitz attended Officer Candidate School in New London, CT, graduating in 2007.
His military decorations include the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Commandant's Letter of Commendation, Meritorious Team Commendation, Humanitarian Service Award, as well as other unit and team awards.
A native of Madison, South Dakota, LT Stitz is married to Sofia, his High School sweetheart, and together they have been blessed with four wonderful children.
Troy Erbentraut: Troy has his degree in Criminal Justice and spent six years in Law Enforcement as a police officer before coming to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in 1999.
He has worked in various divisions of the medical center including Emergency Services, Materials Management, Facilities, and Clinical Operations.
Troy is currently the OSF SFMC Disaster Preparedness Manager / Illinois Region 2 MRT Director of Response Operations / Region 2 RHCC/ POD Coordinator.
His responsibilities include improving the emergency preparedness of the medical center, regional medical facilities and EMS systems.
Also in his current position, he coordinates the disaster and emergency response for OSF Saint Francis while also managing the Regional Hospital Coordinating Center (RHCC) for Illinois Department of Public Health, EMS Region 2.
Troy is a National Registered Emergency Technician and holds numerous certificates including a Certified Healthcare Coordinator from Georgia College of Medicine.
He is also a member of the Illinois Type III All-Hazards Incident Management Team. Troy has been involved in disaster responses as part of the Healthcare Incident Management Team, as well as being active in medical response teams within the region, throughout the state of Illinois, and internationally.

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad today appointed Ashley Koopmans to the Iowa Employment Appeal Board, John Hodges as the Chair of the Iowa Board of Parole and Dr. Mark Graber to the Medical Assistance Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee.

Koopmans' term on the Iowa Employment Appeal Board begins Friday, May 23, 2014, and ends April 30, 2016. Koopmans, who resides in Des Moines, Iowa, is appointed as the employee representative.

The three-member Employment Appeal Board is appointed by the Governor and serves as the final administrative law forum for state and federal unemployment benefit appeals. The Board also hears appeals of rulings of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and rulings of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS). The three members of the Board are appointed to represent employers, employees and the general public.

In addition to unemployment cases, the Board hears appeals involving peace officer issues and contractor registration requirements. The Board receives 96 percent of its funding from the federal government based on the number of appeals heard and the time taken to render a decision.

Koopmans' appointment is subject to Iowa Senate confirmation.

John Hodges, of Bondurant, Iowa, previously served as Vice Chair of the Board of Parole. His term as Chairman begins today, May 19, 2014, and runs until April 30, 2018. The position is subject to Iowa Senate confirmation.

The Iowa Board of Parole works to enhance overall public safety by making evidence-based and informed parole decisions for the successful re-entry of offenders back into the community to become productive and responsible citizens. The Iowa Board of Parole is established by Iowa Code Chapter 904A and consists of five members, including a Chairperson.

Dr. Mark Graber, a resident of Solon, Iowa, began his term on the Medical Assistance Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee on May 14, 2014. The appointment is not subject to Senate Confirmation.

The Medical Assistance Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee provides ongoing maintenance of the preferred drug list and recommended drug list to the department. The committee develops the preferred drug list and recommended drug list by considering each drug's clinically meaningful therapeutic advantages in terms of safety, effectiveness and clinical outcome. The committee uses evidence-based research in determining the status of drugs on the preferred drug list and recommended drug list.

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(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Student Loan leaders recognized today 20 Iowa high school seniors who each won a $1,500 college scholarship through participation in the Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship, administered by Iowa Student Loan. The high school seniors from across the state were recognized in a special award ceremony at the Iowa Capitol.

This was the first year Iowa Student Loan offered the Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship, which provided Iowa high school seniors the chance to win $1,500 for college while learning important financial literacy skills.

Between December 2013 and February 2014, registered high school seniors were asked to complete two online financial literacy tutorials ? Student Loan Game Plan and the ROCI Reality Check ? which Iowa Student Loan developed to help students understand the consequences of college borrowing and discover how to maximize their return on college investment, or ROCI. In addition, scholarship contenders were required to take an online financial literacy assessment test created by Ednalysis, an Iowa educational research company. Scholarship winners were determined from those who earned top scores on the assessment test.

At today's award ceremony, Branstad congratulated the students and thanked them for seeing the value in furthering their education and learning financial responsibility.

"College should be an exciting time, but in recent years, it's become increasingly stressful for Iowans. I understand that today, more than ever, students and families need help managing the increasing costs of college," Branstad said. "Thanks to Iowa Student Loan and its programs, we are educating more students on how to make wise financial decisions when paying for college."

The Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship was created to provide an additional funding source for college-bound seniors, as well as educate them on ways to minimize their borrowing for college and reach the financial potential of a college degree, said Christine Hensley, Iowa Student Loan board chair.

"We witness firsthand the pressures Iowa students and families are facing to finance higher education," Hensley said. "We wanted to offer a scholarship opportunity for which all Iowa high school seniors could qualify because we feel it's important every student understand the true investment and cost of college."

This past legislative session, Branstad and Reynolds stressed that more must be done to ease students' college debt burden. Branstad told the scholarship winners and their families that he and Reynolds worked to again freeze tuition for Iowa students at the Regent institutions and boost the Iowa Tuition Grant for students attending Iowa's private colleges and universities.

"Encouraging students to earn a college degree or other postsecondary credential is essential, but so is managing the cost," said Reynolds. "To truly address the high debt levels of our state's college students, it's going to take the efforts of everyone ? government, schools, nonprofit organizations, the private sector and families. We're pleased to have been able to freeze tuition in consecutive years for the first time in 35 years, but  we know we must continue our work to ensure out Iowa students understand the implications of student debt."

More than 60 people attended Monday's award ceremony, including 16 of the 20 scholarship winners and their families. Branstad presented each winner with an award certificate; the $1,500 scholarship money can be used at the college or university of the winner's choice in fall 2014. After the presentation, the students and their families were hosted for lunch at the State Historical Museum.

Hensley had the following congratulatory words for the scholarship winners. "All of you are sitting here today because you proved your financial literacy knowledge. On behalf of Iowa Student Loan, I thank you for taking your college education seriously, and because you do, I know your futures are bright," she said.

Winners of Iowa Student Loan's 2014 Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship are: