Moser named Emergency Manager of the Year

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Clayton County Emergency Management Director Sarah Moser was recognized for her contribution to the profession and named Emergency Manager of the Year at the Iowa Emergency Management Association’s annual banquet. Also pictured are Emergency Management Commission of the Year awardees, Scott County EMA and the Mitch Nordmeyer Pillar of the Community award recipient, Buchanan County EMA. (Photo submitted)

By Audrey Posten

Times-Register

Tornadoes, flooding. It’s often severe weather and natural disaster response that comes to mind when one thinks of emergency management’s role in a county.

While a significant part of it, acknowledged Clayton County Emergency Management Director Sarah Moser, “there’s so much more.”

The list includes active shooter training, missing person cases and hazardous materials. Moser even recently did a poverty simulation with Guttenberg Municipal Hospital and Clinics’ Family Resource Center. 

“We’ve done several of those in and outside Clayton County to educate people on poverty so we can make things smoother every day for people in poverty, but also post-disaster,” she explained.

Emergency management is also preparedness and safety—what communities and individuals can do to lessen the impact in disaster time. 

Moser organizes with first responders and the private sector on who comes to help when something bad happens and also works with cities and other entities on mitigation. 

“Every five years, we look through our mitigation plan and revamp that and say, ‘What are projects we’ve done that can help us and what are projects we’d like to do, and what could we do for grant funding to make it more feasible and affordable,’” she said. 

All this can be tricky considering Clayton County’s makeup. Though fifth largest in geographic size, Clayton ranks 42nd in population in Iowa. Yet, it has 18 incorporated communities, as well as fire coverage from outside its boundaries.

“It’s challenging for us having 18 incorporated communities and not one that’s a large central one with a lot of resources attached to it. We’re all small communities, so it’s really challenging if we have something that impacts multiple communities at once,” Moser said. “There’s also the amount of hazards we have—the Mississippi and interior rivers, the railroad. A lot of people don’t have rail or don’t have a big river.”

As one person, Moser relies on local fire departments and city governments and fellow county personnel in times of need.

“That’s why I want that education piece, so we can hold our own a little bit,” she said. “During the derecho, so many counties were impacted and a lot of the rural counties, I don’t want to say they were forgotten, but most resources went to those big, urban communities. I want us to be as efficient as possible on our own so we don’t have to rely on that.”

The same goes for residents. Moser encourages people to visit the website ready.iowa.gov to prepare themselves in case of severe weather, fire, hazardous material incidents and even terrorist events.

She likened it to having a spare tire in your vehicle.

“You don’t plan you’re going to get a flat tire, but you have it just in case. Why not do that instead of, ‘I’ll just call somebody and they’ll come get me.’ I’d rather know, especially with our kids. They’d rather know, ‘If there’s bad weather, this is where I go,’” Moser said. “If we had some of those basic things, we’d be so much further ahead should something happen.”

Another good resource is the state’s emergency notification system, Alert Iowa. Find more information and learn how to sign up at homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/programs/alert-iowa.

Other reliable information can be found on the Clayton County Emergency Management Facebook page.

“We can’t stop all the rumors,” Moser said, “but when we have something going on, I really push, this is where you come for reliable information.”

Looking ahead, Moser is excited that emergency management, in collaboration with 911 and the radio project, is getting a new mobile command vehicle that will be backup dispatch and a quick response vehicle able to assist with missing persons, drone activation and other events. 

The van should be in action by next spring, according to Moser, and will be more user friendly and navigable than the current trailer.

“Those missing person cases, it’s so challenging not having something to set up and have that space for conversation with incident commanders to better plan and prepare,” she explained.

Another area of focus is peer support for mental health. It’s been a push, particularly in the past decade, for traditional first responders like law enforcement, fire and EMS, but resources are now aiding dispatchers, emergency management, 911 and even the National Weather Service as well. 

“It’s really trying to figure out how to sustain people in this job and keep us able to do the job effectively,” Moser said. “We’re seeing the value of it, especially after the derecho and emergency managers dealing with that long-term, especially as their own homes were impacted by it.” 

“That’s what people don’t see,” Moser added. “There are many times we have stuff going on at home and we leave our own family and try to help other people. I’ve left my husband and two kids home with water in our basement to come into work.”

Moser is working statewide, through the emergency management association, and also locally to help responders know where to turn.

“We’re a small, tight-knit community and we know everybody, so sometimes it’s hard for people to want to go and talk to somebody. It’s how to break that stigma and do more education,” she said.

In May, Moser was named Emergency Manager of the Year by the Iowa Emergency Management Association, an award that recognized her other efforts at the state level to grow training programs. Thanks to the committee she chairs, drastic improvements have been made on where training is located, and a grant is helping to fund training opportunities for first responders and emergency managers. 

“It’s very humbling, especially when it’s your peers—people you really respect—saying you’re doing a good job. I have great people who pushed me toward that,” Moser said.

She credited her mentor, Brenda Leonard, EMA from Jones County. When Moser took over as Clayton County Emergency Management Director nearly nine years ago, she had just one day of training with her predecessor.

“When I started, there wasn’t a mentor training program in the state. You’re just thrown in. I was floundering a lot, so I pushed back at our association, and got hooked up with Brenda. Then I started getting in on committees. We have a mentoring committee now and a mentoring program that I helped get going,” Moser said. 

This as one example of how Moser continues to grow in her profession and build more relationships.

“I don’t want to stay stagnant,” she shared. “I’m one of those people who can’t just sit back if I see there is a gap, if I see there is a need. If I can fill it, I’m going to try. It’s truly a rewarding profession.”

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